Crown Jewels: Acquiring a Closer, Spring Position Battles and the NLBM

Spring training is within our sights and the Royals have some questions left to answer before that all begins.

I never intended to not write anything this week before this, I swear. The real world got busy and I looked up and it was Thursday evening and I realized I hadn’t written a single word about the Royals this week. It’s probably not the worst thing in the world given how quiet things have been, at least regarding on-field things. And things are going to get moving soon enough with pitchers and catchers reporting in less than three weeks which means you know players will start showing up over the next couple of weeks and maybe even over the next few days. Plus, I have great news for the content machine. We finally booked our flights to Arizona, so I’ll be there in early March to check out the team in person.

With the weather in Kansas City looking like it might turn next week and booking that sweet, sweet flight to Phoenix, I’ve got spring on the mind. I’ve said this pretty much every year over the last six, and I know there are plenty who aren’t both Chiefs and Royals fans. But the Chiefs making a deep run is such a nice bridge to get to spring training that we never had as fans of both teams before the Patrick Mahomes era. Even if the Ravens end up winning this weekend (man they’re good), that still takes us to within about two weeks of spring training. I can handle that.

I’m not going to dive too deep into this because I’ve already written about the stadium recently, but the vote will now officially be on the ballot in April. I put up a poll a couple of weeks ago and the results were a resounding yes to extend that sales tax. No, that doesn’t mean anything but I was surprised at how big the gap between yes and no was. Maybe it bodes well for the teams in their quest to get a new stadium (and refurbished for the Chiefs) or maybe it doesn’t, but I’m glad the voters will get to make the decision and not the county legislature. It sounds like we’ll get details on the site for the Royals long before the vote, so I’m excited to see that.

Wanted: A Closer?

It was reported in The Athletic yesterday that the Royals still want to acquire a true closer to anchor their bullpen. I’m not opposed to the Royals bringing in another reliever. While the bullpen is starting to get crowded with the three veteran acquisitions - Nick Anderson, Will Smith and Chris Stratton and the returning James McArthur (who I love, but isn’t a sure thing) along with Matt Sauer as a Rule 5 pick, they still lack more of a sure thing. I’ve changed my tune a bit on paying big for relievers for the right ones. I still don’t love it, but I’m more okay with it than I used to be. I just don’t see who that pitcher is at this point.

On the free agent market, Brad Hand, Mark Melancon and David Robertson are the only relievers left with closing experience and all come with questions. Robertson is the one who has had the most recent closing success, but he’s also going to be 39 years old. I suppose they could take a shot on Melancon, but he missed all of 2023 and wasn’t that good in 2022 even. And Hand hasn’t been a closer since 2021 and he hasn’t been especially great since 2020.

So now we’re looking to the trade market. I’ve written this so many times, but it’s hard to know who is available in a trade because it’s not like there’s a list. That said, we can generally have some ideas. David Bednar of the Pirates has been in the rumors for years and they did just sign Aroldis Chapman, but I just don’t think that checks out for me. Maybe the Diamondbacks would move Paul Sewald if they think another of their relievers can step up, but that doesn’t really check out for me either, at least not for the Royals. The Braves have been super active and Raisel Iglesias is pretty expensive, so maybe that’s a spot they trim? I’m grasping here.

Ryan Pressly was the Astros closer before they signed Josh Hader. I feel like they would want a super bullpen, but I could be wrong there. He’s probably the most likely of any of the names I’ve mentioned so far, and I think there are a couple of places the Royals could offer a return to them that they’d be interested in. MJ Melendez could be a perfect fit for them in some role. They also have to think about life after Alex Bregman and the Royals have some third base options as well in Nick Loftin, Cayden Wallace and maybe even Garcia. I wouldn’t advocate that trade with any of those three for a reliever, but I suppose I could see it.

Maybe Tanner Scott or AJ Puk with the Marlins make some sense too, though I’d much rather be working to get one of their starters than either of those two relievers. But there is enough of a match in names that a Royals and Marlins deal does add up to some extent. Kenley Jansen is on a team looking to cut payroll. I guess he could fit. Devin Williams has been a name mentioned, but if the Brewers are going for it, I don’t see it. And Emmanuel Clase was mentioned in the article, but that seems unlikely.

Boy, I just don’t know, but I thought that was a pretty interesting snippet from Ken Rosenthal. If it was me, I’d just go ahead and sign Ryne Stanek and build a solid bullpen with the hopes that McArthur or John McMillon can step up and be that closer, but this is an intriguing story to follow over the next few weeks.

Spring Training Battles

I told you my brain was on spring and I’ve sort of written about this before in a roundabout way, but the Royals have quite a few battles to watch during spring training. We know a few spots that are set. Salvador Perez is behind the plate. Bobby Witt Jr. is at shortstop. Hunter Renfroe is in one of the corners (probably right field). Vinnie Pasquantino is in the lineup. But that leaves a lot of uncertainty. I think the spring starts with a similar lineup to what we saw at the end of the year. Michael Massey is going to be at second, Maikel Garcia at third, MJ Melendez in left and Kyle Isbel in center. But that doesn’t mean the spring will end that way.

I know there are probably people already screaming that Garcia should be locked in at third. I will say that I think he is probably the safest of the players who aren’t total locks, but I do think he could lose his job whereas the others can’t. On the infield, I don’t think Garrett Hampson is much of a risk to anyone as a starter, but that isn’t true of Nick Loftin. My gut is that Loftin needs to have a great spring and Garcia a terrible one for that change to be made, but that a good Loftin spring and a bad Massey spring could actually lead to a change at second base.

I mentioned that Pasquantino is in the lineup. I don’t think he’s a lock to be the first baseman, though I do think it’s very likely. The Royals still do like Nick Pratto, though, even though he hasn’t really given them a lot to like at the big league level. He’s a better defender at first than Pasquantino and Pasquantino is a better hitter than basically anyone on the roster, which means that if the Royals can improve their defense at first base with a solid hitter and their designated hitter spot with the best pure hitter on the team, well, that makes a lot of sense to me. I suppose there’s a chance too that Loftin could factor in at first, but that seems less likely to me.

The outfield is a bit of a jumbled mess, which is why I still think there’s a trade coming (and I’ll get to that). If the season started today, it would both be way too cold and it would feature MJ Melendez in left field with Kyle Isbel in center. Isbel is probably just a shade below Garcia in terms of an almost lock to start the year at his spot, but I do think that Drew Waters has at least an outside shot to knock Isbel out of the starting center field spot. But even with the trade of Edward Olivares, there is still a lot that could change here.

We know that Renfroe is in a corner spot, though he could slot in as DH. That spot seems likely to be Nelson Velazquez after the last two months he had for the Royals, but he could easily lose his job in spring given the lack of a track record. But maybe Tyler Gentry wins a job out of camp, which wouldn’t surprise me at all. Or maybe Waters is a corner outfielder. Then there’s also Dairon Blanco who performed well after his callup and especially after the break. And while I don’t think Nate Eaton has a real shot to break camp with the team, it was just a year ago that he was being looked at as a nice role player at the big league level too. You can see how many potential combinations they have without a trade.

In the past, it feels like bad Royals teams have had way too many set spots coming into the spring. While there are guys somewhat firmly entrenched, I really think there could be some big changes from what we see on the first day of full team workouts and who takes the field on March 28. That’s a welcome sight.

GO TO THE NEGRO LEAGUES BASEBALL MUSEUM

Sorry for shouting, but seriously do it. I probably should be advocating for it even more. It pops in my head again around this time every year because the Royals do a really cool thing where they cover the cost of admission for anyone who goes in the month of February. I don’t care if you’ve gone once or 100 times. I’ve found that every time I step into that building, I take something different away than the time before. And the fact that it’s in Kansas City? Come on. That’s so freaking cool.

I don’t have anything else to add here, but I’ve decided to follow what the Royals are doing and I’m going to give away two All-Star Memberships to the NLBM. To be eligible to win, you must be a paid subscriber and I’ll select the winners after I get back from Arizona. So it’ll probably be around March 10th or so. I haven’t quite decided yet on when, but make sure you become a paid subscriber if you haven’t already for a chance to get that membership!