Offseason work -- completed or not -- has Royals' confidence soaring

KANSAS CITY – It might have been freezing cold in Kansas City on Saturday, but the thought of summer and baseball was very much on everyone’s mind at Kauffman Stadium.

“Nothing like talking baseball when it’s literally 10 degrees right now,” Royals president of business operations Cullen Maxey said. “But maybe that should make us feel a little bit warmer that we’re about ready to send the guys off to Arizona and Spring Training.”

Indeed, Royals Rally has served as the unofficial kickoff to Spring Training and the baseball season in recent years, and this year was no different. Most of the Royals’ roster was in attendance as players met with fans throughout the stadium.

And it always raises the question: Is this the team the Royals will head to Surprise, Ariz., with before they whittle the roster down to 26 players for Opening Day?

Or are there more moves to come from general manager J.J. Picollo and his front office?

“I know J.J. [has] a couple of objectives,” CEO/chairman John Sherman said Saturday. “I can’t tell you, depending upon the day, whether those opportunities are narrower or wider. If he could add another bat, I think he’d do it. We have a surplus of pitching talent, particularly starting pitching talent, that’s valuable. … I think we have some opportunities.

“By the same token, if this is where we are, the good news is that the pitching talent will be deeper. And I think we feel like we’re going to compete for the division. That we’ll be right in this thing. We had some regression last year, but we also think there are some areas that we’re going to fix. I can’t predict whether he’s done or not. But if the opportunity was there, I think we would still add to our team.”

The Royals haven’t indicated they’re done adding. But the opportunity to add another bat this offseason has not arrived – whether that’s because trade pieces have been unavailable, or the price for them has been set too high by other teams.

If this is the team the Royals come to camp with in just more than a week, they’re confident in the current players. That includes their additions as well as improvements from returning players.

“Trying to evaluate our offense, it’s like the tale of two stories,” Picollo said. “You’ve got an outfield that didn’t produce at all, and then you’ve got an infield that was the best infield in baseball. …

“We had four guys who were Silver Slugger finalists. One of three teams that did that. When you have that group, what do we do to help that group produce more? You get guys who are average or above-average Major League players, and you raise the floor of the club. I think that’s what we ended up doing overall.”

Bobby Witt Jr., Salvador Perez, Vinnie Pasquantino and Maikel Garcia figure to carry the load of this offense again, and this offseason, the Royals aimed to add pieces around them that will help them produce.

New outfielders Isaac Collins and Lane Thomas bring on-base skills to the lineup, while the Royals are also banking on improvements from second baseman Jonathan India and outfielder Jac Caglianone. Rookie catcher Carter Jensen carrying over his strong September would help, too.

“Super confident,” Perez said about the team. “I feel like it’s going to be a good year for us. J.J., everybody in the front office, did a pretty good job this offseason to get all the pieces we need to go back to the playoffs. I can’t wait.”

On the pitching side, the Royals need a healthier rotation, but their current group could be one of the best in the Majors in ace Cole Ragans, veterans Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo, All-Star Kris Bubic and rising lefty Noah Cameron. Plus all their depth: Ryan Bergert, Stephen Kolek, Bailey Falter, Luinder Avila and more.

Adding Matt Strahm to the bullpen gives the Royals a solid back-end trio with Lucas Erceg and Carlos Estévez. They could probably use another lefty, and that could come in the form of a starter turned reliever or an addition.

More moves or not, it’s pretty clear from Saturday that the Royals are looking to get back to the postseason again in 2026 following their 82-80 record in ‘25 that saw them on the outside looking in.

“Last year was a failure,” Pasquantino said. “‘Disappointment’ takes it too easy on us. We’ve got to be better than that. We know that.

“We’ve got a lot of guys on multiyear deals, deals past their free agency, veterans – this team is built to win. We need to do that. That’s the expectation, that’s the standard, and it’s going to start here in a few days knowing that is this team. We are built for the playoffs. We got to go do it. There is no other option, really, because that’s what we got to do. This team was built to win.”