KC's offseason FAQ: What you need to know this winter

This story was excerpted from Anne Rogers’ Royals Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

KANSAS CITY – With the World Series ending this weekend, baseball’s offseason will be in full swing by next week. There are all sorts of roster deadlines, administrative to-dos, and oh, of course, free agency and the trades that will light the hot stove right up.

Here’s an FAQ to get you prepared for what’s to come over the next few months:

Key offseason dates
First day after the World Series: Eligible players become free agents and a five-day “quiet period” begins, in which teams have exclusive negotiating rights with their own free agents. Trade freeze is lifted, options must be exercised and qualifying offers extended.

Nov. 10-13: General Managers Meetings in Las Vegas

Nov. 18: The deadline to protect players ahead of the Rule 5 Draft

Nov. 21: The deadline to tender contracts to 40-man roster players

Dec. 8-11: Winter Meetings in Orlando, including the MLB Draft Lottery on Dec. 9 and the Rule 5 Draft on Dec. 10

Jan. 8, 2026: Players and clubs exchange arbitration figures

Jan. 15, 2026: Start of the new international signing period

Feb. 9, 2026: Pitchers and catchers participating in the World Baseball Classic report to Spring Training

Which Royals players are free agents?
RHP Hunter Harvey
C Luke Maile
INF/OF Adam Frazier
OF Mike Yastrzemski

What about contract options?
C Salvador Perez ($13.5 million club option, $2 million buyout)
RHP Michael Lorenzen ($12 million mutual option, $1.5 million buyout)
OF Randal Grichuk ($5 million mutual option, $3 million buyout)

It’s pretty unlikely that Lorenzen and Grichuk will be back with Kansas City. The interesting one here is Perez; he’ll be back either way next season, but the Royals could opt to renegotiate a new contract with their captain rather than simply pick up the option.

Is anyone likely to receive a qualifying offer?
The qualifying offer’s value varies by year, but it’s $22.025 million this year. No one on the Royals’ list would make sense.

Here are this year’s top QO candidates around the league.

Who is arbitration-eligible?
LHP Kris Bubic
RHP Taylor Clarke
RHP Lucas Erceg*^
LHP Bailey Falter
INF Maikel Garcia^
INF Jonathan India
OF Kyle Isbel
LHP Sam Long^
LHP Daniel Lynch IV^
2B Michael Massey^
RHP James McArthur^
OF MJ Melendez
1B Vinnie Pasquantino^
RHP John Schreiber
RHP Kyle Wright
LHP Angel Zerpa^

*Erceg could miss the cutoff date for Super Two eligibility, which hasn’t yet been confirmed
^First-time eligible

Any non-tender candidates?
Teams typically non-tender players who will be getting a bigger raise in arbitration than what the club projects his on-field value to be. Non-tendered players immediately become free agents.

Falter, Long, McArthur and Wright might fit that description, although none would be making the kind of money that would hugely impact payroll. Neither McArthur (right elbow) nor Wright (right shoulder) pitched in 2025, although McArthur was beginning to throw again at the end of the season. Falter, a Trade Deadline acquisition, allowed 15 runs in 12 innings across four games and ended the year on the injured list. Long improved after a bad April but still ended the season with a 5.36 ERA.

An interesting decision lies with India. The Royals acquired him last winter to be their leadoff hitter, but he vastly underperformed while making just over $7 million. India wouldn’t be due for a massive raise, but the Royals must decide if that fits into their payroll plans, especially if they don’t see him as an everyday player. The 28-year-old did play through injuries this year, and he talked openly about the difficulty of trying to learn new positions while learning a new team. The Royals could bank on India returning to form as he settles into his second year with Kansas City.

And a decision on Melendez must be made, too, after the 26-year-old spent the majority of the season in Triple-A while making $2.6 million. It might be time for the Royals to fully move on from the outfielder.

Clubs can also non-tender a player simply to clear a spot on the 40-man roster, whether they’re in the arb process or not.

Who needs to be added to the 40-man roster this winter to avoid the Rule 5 Draft?
A few days before the tender deadline, at 5 p.m. CT on Nov. 18, teams must add players they don’t want exposed to the Rule 5 Draft to the 40-man roster. Rule 5 eligible players include those who signed at 18 years old or younger five seasons ago and players who signed at 19 or older four seasons ago.

The Royals’ top picks from the 2021 Draft are eligible this year, including first-rounder Frank Mozzicato (No. 21 on the club’s Top 30 list) and second-rounder Ben Kudrna (No. 7), as well as top 2022 Draft picks: First-rounder Gavin Cross (No. 23) and fourth-rounder Steven Zobac (No. 11).

All four seem likely to be added, although Mozzicato struggled in Double-A at the end of the year with a 7.46 ERA across 17 games. The lefty still has a lot of work to do, but that curveball is Major League-ready right now.

Righty Felix Arronde (No. 13) is a promising young starter but hasn’t pitched above High-A. There’s a whole lot of potential there, so the Royals might want to protect him to avoid losing him.

Will the Royals be more active in the free agent or trade market?
The offseason will be all about the offense again for the Royals, who will target outfield help but also have enough defensive versatility that they don’t have to close the door on infielders.

The Royals haven’t been quiet the past two winters when it comes to adding players, and they’ll try to follow that trend again. The trade market seems more likely, though. They have a surplus of starters other teams will target, and their catching depth in the Minors – especially with the emergence of top prospect Carter Jensen – could be the center of trade conversations.