The Kansas City Royals were in the postseason a couple years ago and above .500 last season. Now, Kansas City is dead last in the AL Central with a 55-74 record, a full dozen games behind first-place Chicago and 8.5 games behind Minnesota for the final Wild Card spot. There's no way to describe this season but disappointing.
That does not mean the Royals can't look ahead to 2027 with optimism. Bobby Witt Jr. remains one of the five most valuable players in baseball. Jac Caglianone is on a rocketship's ascent. Add in Maikel García and Carter Jensen, and Kansas City has four core pieces 26 years or younger. With these five moves in the offseason, we could see the Royals right back in contention a year from now.
Royals should dump RHP Seth Lugo
The last couple seasons have followed a similar arc for Seth Lugo. He comes out of the gate strong, outperforming his metrics, leading to "Old Man Still Got It" comments. Then he gradually implodes. The 36-year-old now has a 4.71 ERA and 1.38 WHIP on the year, with 111 strikeouts in 145.1 innings.
There is still value in Lugo's veteran savvy and durability. This will be his fourth season with at least 145 innings pitched and he's up to 1.8 fWAR (wins above replacement). Still, he's not someone the Royals can rely on. The contract extension he signed last summer, which will pay him $21.5 million in 2027, will make trading him tricky. But there should be a team willing to absorb at least some of Lugo's salary. He takes the mound every fifth day and has such a deep-rooted reputation; Kansas City needs to capitalize while it still can.
Trading Lugo helps Kansas City clear up money (and roster space) to go shopping for younger, cheaper pitchers. The Royals probably aren't going to drop a bag on Tarik Skubal or even Sandy Alcántara, but there are avenues to upgrading the pitching staff around Cole Ragans, Michael Wacha and Noah Cameron, all of whom should be back (there is a 'trade Wacha too' argument, as he has more value, but we'll leave it be for now).
Royals can trade for Mariners RHP Emerson Hancock
Seattle just promoted top left-handed pitching prospect Kade Anderson, which expands their rotation to six — again. The Mariners are overflowing with quality arms. Ryan Sloan, another top pitching prospect, is slated for a 2027 debut. Seattle needs to parlay their excess pitching into better bats. Emerson Hancock, still under club control through 2030, is the most obvious casualty if the Mariners decide to shop around.
The 27-year-old has a 3.30 ERA and 1.11 WHIP with 119 strikeouts in 128.0 innings this season. It's rare for pitchers of Hancock's age and caliber, with such a favorable contract situation, to be made available. The Royals aren't exactly loaded with readily valuable bats, but if the Mariners opt to turn Hancock into multiple hitting prospects — or to entertain names like Vinnie Pasquantino or Michael Massey — Kansas City should sprint across the finish line on a deal.
Remove Lugo, reintroduce the likes of Alec Marsh or Luinder Avila, and this Royals rotation should at least be sturdier, if nowhere close to elite.
Royals can sign OF Taylor Ward
The Royals are due for natural (positive) regression next season. García (94 wRC+), Pasquantino (92 wRC+), Jensen (93 wRC+) — these guys will all perk up eventually. There is simply too much talent there to keep producing such middling results. That same can be said for Taylor Ward, whom Seattle acquired as a rental at the trade deadline.
Ward hit 37 home runs for the Angels a year ago. He has seven home runs so far this season, with none since the deadline. Still, he has a respectable .705 OPS and 109 wRC+, with a lot of doubles and solid line-drive contact. The results have mostly still been there, just not in the way folks expected after he lit up Angel Stadium in 2025.
The Royals need both right-handed bats and outfielders. Ward addresses both. He won't come super cheap, but at 32 years old and coming off of such a wonky season, he's not going to break the bank either. The Royals currently own MLB's 18th-highest payroll, but their extensions for Lugo, Wacha and others at least signal a willingness to spend. And they will need to spend in order to meaningfully upgrade, as their farm system is light on pro-ready contributors.
Royals can sign Adrián Morejón
Kansas City's bullpen has been a real wet blanket all season. The Matt Strham trade aged terribly, as did prying Carlos Estévez from Philadelphia the year prior. The Royals can improve the rotation all they want, but if the bullpen can't get outs, it won't matter much. We tend to underrate the value of a great bullpen when weighing the league's contenders. Why do you think, for example, the Padres are still in the postseason race when their lineup was dormant for half the season?
The Royals should look to the Padres supercharged bullpen for reinforcements. A Mason Miller trade sure would be nice, but realistically Kansas City does not have the assets to make it happen. More realistic would be signing soon-to-be free agent Adrián Morejón, who has dominated as Miller's top setup man. He has a 2.78 ERA and 1.08 WHIP with 83 strikeouts in 68.0 innings this season. He has been consistently excellent over the past three years, making the All-Star team in 2025.
Morejón has the juice to end Kansas City's run of poor luck in the bullpen. With a Savant page that lights up red, there's no reason to believe he can't thrive as the Royals closer. Bump Daniel Lynch IV back to the bullpen next year, and Kansas City has two lights-out lefties in place. He won't come cheap, as Morejón will command a robust market as the top free agent reliever. But the Royals need to pony up if the goal is to make the playoffs.
Royals can sign LHP A.J. Puk
Not to overindex on power lefties, but A.J. Puk — who has not pitched since 2025 due to internal brace surgery and a subsequent shoulder sprain, which he suffered during rehab — could be a savvy buy-low option. At least in the sense that he won't cost as much as Morejón. Ideally, the Royals can add multiple high-leverage relievers, but consider Puk a viable "cheap" alternative to Morejón if Kansas City balks at making a bullpen arm their fourth or fifth-highest paid player.
Puk kept his ERA below 4.00 for four straight seasons before the injury, with a 3.15 ERA and 1.11 WHIP in 2024, when he was last at full strength. He logged 88 strikeouts in 71.1 innings that season between Miami and Arizona, with a sterling 2.87 FIP. Puk can dial up the velocity without sacrificing command. He only really needs two pitches, a power fastball and a tumbling sweeper, to decimate opponents.
The Royals can bank on the 31-year-old southpaw rediscovering something close to pre-injury form out of the bullpen. Puk probably ends up on a one-year, prove-it contract, and the Royals should be more than willing to let him show what he's made of. It could end up as one of the offseason's better value signings if he can stay on the field and put the arm problems behind him.
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