Royals surprisingly commit to injury plagued arm ahead of non-tender deadline

The Kansas City Royals are in the midst of a jam-packed week of offseason activity.

Both the qualifying offer and the Rule 5 protection deadlines came and went Tuesday, impacting the Royals roster both directly and indirectly.

And now the Royals set their sights on the non-tender deadline at the end of the week, as they’ll have to determine whether several arbitration eligible names are worth keeping in the organization and going through that process with or whether it’s better to just cut ties with them altogether.

One name that seemed poised to be on the path to being non-tendered was former closer James McArthur, after an underwhelming 2024 season followed by a completely lost 2025 season.

However, the Royals announced on Thursday that not only would they not be non-tendering McArthur, but that they’d come to terms with him on a contract agreement for 2026, bypassing arbitration entirely.

James McArthur surprisingly in the Royals’ bullpen mix for 2026

As mentioned already, McArthur is coming off a season where he spent it entirely on the IL due to an elbow fracture, followed by subsequent complications in the recovery process.

And before all of that was the 2024 season, which didn’t go swimmingly for the hard-throwing right-hander to say the least. In 56.2 innings of work across 57 outings, McArthur threw to a near-5.00 ERA (4.92) with a lackluster 1.45 WHIP, .296 BAA and 19.8% strikeout rate and lost his closer’s role in the process.

What makes his return for 2026 even more puzzling, aside from the injury troubles and sheer underperformance, is the fact he’s seemed to have gotten more than what his projected salary was had he and the Royals gone through the arbitration process.

MLB Trade Rumors contributor Matt Swartz projected McArthur’s 2026 salary at $800K. But while it may only be a slightly over value, he’s reportedly set to sign for $810K, as per Anne Rogers of MLB.com.

Perhaps his 2023 performance, where despite a mid-4.00s he threw to a 2.78 FIP and 0.94 WHIP, was what motivated the Royals to want to see more of him in 2026. Or maybe it was the 90th percentile walk rate or 91st percentile ground ball rate in his down year in 2024 that was the reason for the team’s lasting intrigue.

But given the amount success stories they had from right-handed relievers last season – from Carlos Estévez and Lucas Erceg in the backend to breakout middle relief candidates like Steven Cruz and Taylor Clarke – the bullpen seemed to have moved on without him.

Maybe they’re banking on some more magic in 2026 like they saw with Cruz and Clarke last season that could result in McArthur finally putting it all together and breaking out when healthy in 2026.

However, it seems a little too wishful for a team with contending ambitions that can surely land better options on the market. And perhaps that $810K could’ve gone towards reeling in one of those bigger fish.