Kansas City Royals<\/a> entered the MLB offseason determined
\nto raise the floor of their roster, particularly in the outfield and bullpen.
\nGeneral manager J.J. Picollo began making moves that generated headlines after
\nthe winter meetings, though the impact remains more incremental than
\ntransformative.<\/p>\nThe Royals\u2019 biggest additions came in the outfield,
\nacquiring Isaac Collins from the Milwaukee Brewers and signing Lane Thomas in
\nfree agency. Collins, a switch hitter with strong on-base skills, brings
\nversatility and could slot near the top of the lineup. <\/p>\n
Thomas arrives as a
\nbounce-back candidate after injuries limited his consistency, and he is looking
\nto prove his worth as an offensive contributor following a .160 batting average
\nlast season. These moves improve depth and production, but neither player represents
\nthe kind of bat who can truly protect superstar shortstop Bobby Witt Jr.<\/p>\n
Kansas City also acted quickly to bolster relief depth,
\nadding Alex Lange, Nick Mears and the notable addition of Matt Strahm. Strahm
\nreunites with the Royals after posting a 2.74 ERA in 66 games for the
\nPhiladelphia Phillies last year. Together, they strengthen an already accomplished
\nbullpen, fulfilling Picollo\u2019s goal of addressing its depth.<\/p>\n
The Royals have not subtracted from their starting pitching
\ngroup, keeping Cole Ragans, Kris Bubic and Noah Cameron despite trade rumors.
\nHowever, they have yet to add a frontline starter, leaving the rotation reliant
\non internal growth. Mason Black, acquired from the San Francisco Giants, offers
\ndepth but not immediate impact. Without a proven ace, the staff remains a
\nquestion mark, especially if Ragans endures another injury-riddled season.<\/p>\n
The highlight of the offseason was signing third baseman
\nMaikel Garcia to a five-year, $57.5 million extension. Garcia hit .286 with 16
\nhome runs and earned Gold Glove honors in 2025, solidifying himself as a
\ncornerstone alongside Witt. Locking him in long-term ensures stability on the
\nleft side of the infield and gives the Royals a homegrown tandem to build
\naround. The deal is also cost-effective given Garcia\u2019s production both
\ndefensively and at the plate.<\/p>\n
Picollo\u2019s approach has been strategic, improving in the
\nmargins without sacrificing pitching depth. The Royals addressed their outfield
\nand bullpen, but the lack of a major offensive addition leaves Witt without the
\nsupport he needs. Kansas City could make more moves ahead of spring training,
\nbut for now, the offseason feels modest. Extending Garcia was a smart,
\nstabilizing move, yet the rest of the offseason leaves the Royals short of the
\nimpact talent required to return to the postseason.<\/p>\n
Final Grade: C<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n
\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source roundtable.io \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Kansas City Royals entered the MLB offseason determined to raise the floor of their roster, particularly in the outfield and bullpen. General manager J.J. Picollo began making moves that generated headlines after the winter meetings, though the impact remains more incremental than transformative. The Royals\u2019 biggest additions came in the outfield, acquiring Isaac Collins […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2224998,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2224996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-royalty"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/How-the-Royals-Offseason-Grades-Out-So-Far.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2224996","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2224996"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2224996\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2224999,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2224996\/revisions\/2224999"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2224998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2224996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2224996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2224996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}