Owner Goals
John Sherman was delighted with how the 2027 season went for the Royals, so much so he
extended Stewart’s contract for two years at $470,000 (a $100k raise).
With that extension, came a new set of
expectations:
2028
NEW Reach the Playoffs
2029
NEW Acquire a Cy Young winner
2029 Bring more of your drafted players to your team
2030 Build a top-6 minor league system
2030
NEW Reach the World Series
2031
NEW Improve your fan interest
2032 Improve your international amateur finds
There should be little argument with any of those goals – starting pitching was the major gap (other than power) in the club in 2027 and signing a Cy Young winner would help with that. It is just easier said than done for a team with a payroll ranked in the twenties.
Backing up the 2027 performance and reaching the playoffs again is a reasonable goal and the World Series is the aspiration, even if some luck is involved in playoff baseball and 2030 seems very soon!
Finally, the more fan interest, the more ticket sales, the more budget for development and extensions so that is a sensible plan. The Royals fans became a little more loyal this year, moving up to
below average.
Finances
Along with the new goals from John Sherman was a new budget. A
$172m budget was $2m less than projected at the start of the last offseason, with a player budget of $75m, which would place us above only the White Sox in total spend.
Bobby Witt Jr.’s contract will be over 35% of the total available payroll.
2029 and 2030 both have projected jumps in budget, and associated player costs, so the hope will be that this is a one-off year to navigate rather than the new norm for the Kansas City Royals.
Still, it was a source of frustration for Royals fans as it came off the back of an operating profit of $43m in 2027, when season ticket sales grew by 7% and matchday revenue by 3%.
Personnel
There were several minor league changes for the Royals but only one change at the big league club as former GM
J. J. Picollo did not have his contract renewed. There was little surprise around MLB as having the former GM under new manager and GM Stewart was an uneasy relationship. 42-year-old
Eric Treat was the left field choice as the new Assistant GM, in a move most viewed as Stewart enhancing his power within the club.
In addition, to Treat, there were new highs at AA (hitting coach), Arizona Rookie League (hitting and pitching coaches), and in Dominican Rookie League (hitting coach for Stewart and pitching coach for Glass).
Minor Leagues
Awards
Murf Gray (50/50/50/50) won the Midwest (A+) League Most Valuable Player Award.
Ben Kudrna (45/50/40) won the Midwest (A+) League Outstanding Pitcher Award trophy.
Retirements
2027 MiL FA SP
Spenser Watkins (AAA Omaha) retired from professional baseball.
2027 MiL FA RP
JT Chargois (AAA Omaha) retired from professional baseball.
2027 MiL FA RP
Tyler Burch (AAA Omaha) retired from professional baseball.
2027 MiL FA RP
Ryne Nelson (AA Northwest Arkansas) retired from professional baseball.
2027 MiL FA 2B
Kaden Polcovich (AA Northwest Arkansas) retired from professional baseball.
2027 MiL FA SP
Taijuan Walker (AA Northwest Arkansas) retired from professional baseball.
2027 MiL FA RP
Hoby Milner (AA Northwest Arkansas) retired from professional baseball.
2027 MiL FA RP
Adrian Sampson (AA Northwest Arkansas) retired from professional baseball.
2026 MiL FA
Seth Brown (AAA Omaha) retired from professional baseball.
2026 MiL FA RP
Julian Merryweather (AAA Omaha) retired from professional baseball.
2026 MiL FA RP
Alex Vesia (AA Northwest Arkansas) retired from professional baseball.
2026 MiL FA RP
Garrett Irvin (AA Northwest Arkansas) retired from professional baseball.
2026 MiL FA RP
JP Massey (AA Northwest Arkansas) retired from professional baseball.
2026 MiL FA RP
Luke Summers (AA Northwest Arkansas) retired from professional baseball.
2026 MiL FA C
Chris Burke (A+ Quad Cities) retired from professional baseball.
2026 MiL FA C
Cesar Rodriguez (A+ Quad Cities) retired from professional baseball.
2026 MiL FA RP
Jonathan Edwards (A+ Quad Cities) retired from professional baseball.
2026 MiL FA RP
Leam Mendez (A+ Quad Cities) retired from professional baseball.
2025 MiL FA RP
Wander Guante (AAA Omaha) retired from professional baseball.
2024 MiL FA 2B
Leonel Valera (AAA Omaha) retired from professional baseball.
2024 TA LF
Nick Vogt (AAA Omaha) retired from professional baseball.
2024 TA 2B
Jarryd Dale (AA Northwest Arkansas) retired from professional baseball.
2024 TA 1B
Jose Acosta (AA Northwest Arkansas) retired from professional baseball.
2021 7th Rd RP
Noah Cameron (AA Northwest Arkansas) retired from professional baseball.
2020 AFA C
Kale Emshoff (AA Northwest Arkansas) retired from professional baseball.
KC Top 500 Prospects Performance
The next post will cover the 2027-2028 offseason