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.

The Winter Meetings are over, and it was a fairly quiet event for the Royals after making the big news a week before, hiring former Guardians bullpen coach Brian Sweeney as the new pitching coach.

There are still some coaching positions to fill. The Royals plan on having a pitching team around Sweeney, with an assistant pitching coach and bullpen coach helping him and the team’s staff.

But with the main pitching coach in place, the Royals can turn more of their focus to the offseason additions they need to make to their roster. A few weeks ago, we looked at some starters the Royals could target in their quest to add a veteran or two to their rotation.

Now, let’s look at relievers. The deals we’ve seen so far -- Chris Martin’s two-year, $17.5 million contract with the Red Sox, and Miguel Castro’s one-year, $3.5 million signing with the D-backs -- have shown how thin and coveted the relief market is. If the Royals want to add a proven high-leverage reliever, it might cost them. Keep in mind the trade market could also bring in what the Royals are looking for.

1. Andrew Chafin, LHP

Chafin is one of the more consistent lefties in this year’s free-agent market and is seeking a long-term deal after opting out of his contract with the Tigers this offseason. The Royals are likely not in a position to hand out long-term deals to relievers at this point in their rebuild, but from just a pitching perspective, Chafin makes a lot of sense. The 32-year-old posted a 2.83 ERA and a 3.06 FIP in Detroit this past season, and over the past two years, Chafin has a 2.29 ERA, a 3.02 FIP and 9.4 strikeouts per nine innings over 126 innings. His experience and consistency would be valuable in the back end of Kansas City’s bullpen.

2. Seth Lugo, RHP

Lugo might be out of the Royals’ price range, given that he’s drawing plenty of interest this offseason -- even, reportedly, as a starter. But he’s worth a look. Lugo, 33, has spent all seven of his Major League seasons with the Mets, working at one point as a starter but pitching exclusively out of the bullpen for the past two seasons. He had a solid year last season, with a 3.60 ERA and a 25.4% strikeout rate vs. a 6.6% walk rate. Lugo is a reliable setup man, has late-inning experience and even the flexibility to start games.

3. Brad Boxberger, RHP

Might a return to Kansas City be in the cards for the 34-year-old right-hander? Boxberger signed a one-year deal with the Royals in 2019, but he struggled mightily and was let go in July after posting a 5.40 ERA in 29 games. Since then, he’s returned to consistency, with a 3.13 ERA over the last three seasons, including a 2.95 mark in 64 innings with the Brewers last season. Perhaps Boxberger can now do what the Royals wanted him to do in ‘19 -- beef up the relief corps and provide a veteran presence in the bullpen.

4. Josh James, RHP

James is a hard-throwing right-hander who has postseason experience with the Astros -- he earned a win in Game 3 of the 2019 World Series -- but he has battled injuries in his career. That includes a right lat strain that sidelined him for most of the 2022 season and right flexor tendon surgery in September, which likely puts his Opening Day availability in jeopardy. The Astros non-tendered James, who will turn 30 in March, because of his injury history and their bullpen depth, but he makes sense as a gamble for the Royals if his medicals check out. When healthy, he is electric, with a fastball that topped out at 101.1 mph in ‘18, his debut season. James struck out 14.7 batters per nine innings in ‘19.

5. Ryan Yarbrough, LHP

Yarbrough could have been on the starter’s list, because he filled a variety of roles for the Rays for the past four seasons before they designated him for assignment last month. The crafty lefty struggled more the past two seasons (4.90 ERA across 50 appearances, which included 30 starts) than his first three years in Tampa Bay (3.94 ERA in 77 appearances, with 29 starts), and he was due more than $4 million in arbitration, leading the Rays to let him go. Quatraro is familiar with Yarbrough, and the 30-year-old could fill a depth role for the Royals, whether they need starts or relief outings. While he doesn’t strike out many batters -- he doesn’t have exceptional velocity relative to league average -- he also consistently has one of the lowest walk rates among pitchers.