Royals may’ve found ultimate secret weapon for 2026 with latest minor league signing

The Kansas City Royals have been very productive to start the 2025-26 MLB offseason, ticking off numerous boxes on their to-do list already.

What’s made it particularly productive is how well rounded it’s been to this point. They’ve swung bigger to address clear major league needs like bringing in outfielders Isaac Collins and Lane Thomas as well as the backend of the bullpen with Matt Strahm.

But amidst all the greater fanfare that’s happened, and is hopefully still yet to come in the coming weeks/months, has been some great depth focused moves, including their latest minor league signing of veteran utility man Josh Rojas.

According to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand on Wednesday, the Royals an Rojas agreed to a minor league deal for 2026 with an invitation to spring training.

And if all goes well, Kansas City might’ve found themselves the ultimate secret weapon for their bench.

The Royals might have the ultimate secret weapon for 2026 in Josh Rojas

Now, upon first glance, it’s easy to see why Rojas needed to settle for a minor league contract this winter, as his 2025 campaign with the Chicago White Sox was underwhelming to say the least.

In 211 plate appearances across 69 games with Chicago this past season, he only managed to slash .180/.252/.259 with two homers, 11 RBI, a 44 wRC+ and a -1.3 fWAR.

However, 2025 was truly a worst case scenario for Rojas, as prior to last season in his time in both Arizona and Seattle, he’d been at worst a 1.0 fWAR player for four consecutive seasons – three of which were 1.8 or higher.

Back in his days as an Diamondback the bat was above average, posting 100+ wRC+ totals in back-to-back seasons in both 2021 and 2022.

And while hasn’t exactly been the same hitter since that point, he’s always found ways to show his value elsewhere to help minimize some of his offensive shortcomings.

Sticking with the bat, since 2021, he’s always shown decent plate discipline, never dropping below the 70th percentile in chase rate and posting outside-zone swing rates (
(O-Swing%) below 22.5% in four of the last five seasons.

Then, there’s the defensive versatility, as Rojas has been a jack-of-all-trades positionally in his career. Last season, he appeared at both second and third base as well as left field. He’s also made sizeable appearances at both shortstop and right field in his career. Perfect for getting everyday regulars off their feet when needed.

Lastly, there’s the baserunning ability, that at it’s best can result in double-digit stolen bases and sit comfortably above a 2.0 BsR (2.5 BsR in 2023 and 3.8 BsR in 2022).

Is Rojas someone that defines an offseason for a team? No, especially considering he’s not a shoo-in to make the major league roster given his contract.

However, for a minor league signing, if all goes well in spring training, he offers great low-risk value at a position they could stand to upgrade – given their current utility options of Tyler Tolbert and Nick Loftin have their limitations.

Every team needs that utility spark that does the little things well, and with Rojas the Royals just added another name like that to their mix for 2026.