Despite the disappointing playoff-missing season, Stewart retained some credit in the bank from the 2027 playoffs and so will return in 2029 with a new budget and new goals for the team.
Owner Goals
The on-field aspirations have dropped for 2029 with .500 ball providing what must be an achievable goal and is somewhat below Stewart’s aspirations.
The Cy Young Award winner goal is likely to be missed unless the team can back up another ERA low season from
Mason Barnett and win the award in-house.
There is an expectation that some drafted players will appear in the big leagues this year which is probably at least a year ahead of schedule after the players drafted in the years before Stewart’s arrival while all other goals have a longer-term goal but are aligned to a fun, home grown, winning team!
Finances
It was a positive year financially for the Royals as their total attendance moved up two spots (and 6% from 2027) to 20th in the league. Season ticket sales were up 36%, increasing income by almost $10m.
However, even that couldn’t have predicted the increase in player budget to $140m, from an initial $70m in 2027. This does take into account several expected arbitration increases for 2029, along with the final salary jump for
Bobby Witt Jr. ($35m) and a jump (more than earned) by
Wyatt Langford ($2.9m to $7.2m). On the other side,
Luis Garcia’s contract evens out ($17m to $7m) and
Peralta’s $5.8m option will be voided. This will leave some room for Free Agency if required.
With an increased budget, the Royals development budget got another boost, increased from $30m to $36m; this is probably the preferred level moving forward and the hope is that owner Sherman doesn’t meddle with this.
Personnel
Most of the Royal personnel have been locked down to long term contracts but there were three expiring contracts that weren’t renewed for 2029 with upgrades expected in each role.
- Pitching Coach – Columbia Fireflies (A)
- Hitting Coach – Kansas City Royals (R)
- Pitching Coach – Kansas City Royals Glass (DSL)
Minor Leagues
Awards
- Generoso Gonzalez AAA Manager of the Year
- Dan Jones AA Manager of the Year
- Enmanuel Santos 2023 IA DSL Most Valuable Player Award
- Sawyer Gipson-Long 2027 MiL FA AAA Outstanding Pitcher Award
- Nelson Luna 2027 Sc Dis DSL Outstanding Pitcher Award
- Cesar Espinal 2023 Trade A+ Reliever of the Year
Notable Retirements
2nd Round Pick from the 2025 draft
Jarvis Evans was the big surprise from the end of season Royals retirements list. Having been selected to the A+ All Star game, reliever Evans could have expected a promotion to AA from where the Big Leagues was only a great month away.
R 1B
Trevor Fox 2026 16th Round
R C
Grayson Taylor 2026 20th Round
R RP
Joe Ariola 2026 18th Round
R 3B
Giovanni Colasante 2025 14th Round
A+ 1B
Jhonny Perdomo 2019 International Amateur
A+ RP
Jarvis Evans 2025 2nd Round Selected to 2028 A+ All Star Game
AA RP
Steven Zobac 2022 4th Round
KC Top 500 Prospects Performance
Jeremy Rogerson (2027 2nd Rd) made great progress over the season, moving up to High A in July and earning a 1.205 OPS over 200 ABs. He will start in AA next season and will move to 3B as his 60 Range won’t play at SS. With the 3B hole the Royals have, Rogerson could get the call next season.
Jimmy Goodman didn’t really improve over the second half of the season and will likely repeat at AA. There is a route to the big leagues in 2029 for Goodman but it is less clear than last offseason.
Isaac Morton isn’t liked by the rankings but had a quietly solid season across AA/AAA. His best shot in the big leagues is likely as a reliever and Spring Training will likely see him on site trying to secure a bullpen spot; failing that, another season starting in AAA shouldn’t harm.
Bats (Previous Rank | Current Rank)
19 (12) 3B
Juan Zubia 19 DSL 291 PA .323/.488/.419 118 OPS+ 1.6 WAR
51 (NR) SS
Tim Storer 22 COL -
57 (25) CF
Jimmy Goodman 22 AA 601 PA .205/.319/.360 74 OPS+ -0.7 WAR
101 (NR) RF
Enny Mijhail V. Dyke 19 DL 48 PA .089/.146/.133 -2 OPS+ -0.4 WAR
123 (85) SS
Jeremy Rogerson 23 R/A+ 455 PA .331/.462/.669 182 OPS+ 5.6 WAR
210 (182) LF
Luis Cabrera 19 DSL 276 PA .270/.406/.405 94 OPS+ 0.5 WAR
219 (299) 1B
Luke Adams 24 AAA/MLB 518 PA .303/.417/.645 180 OPS+ 6.7 WAR
324 (NR) LF
Tim Spears 18 DL 37 PA .278/.297/.686 135 OPS+ 0.1 WAR
347 (198) 1B
Marv Hubbard 19 R/DL 187 PA .250/.358/.456 180 OPS+ 2.5 WAR
MLB (226) LF
Braylin Tavera 23 AAA/MLB 505 PA .183/.289/.292 57 OPS+ -0.6 WAR
329 (252) RF
Ken Adams 19 R 177 PA .224/.356/.401 101 OPS+ 1.0 WAR
421 (NR) RF
David Tovar 18 DSL 284 PA .303/.461/.408 109 OPS+ 0.8WAR
478 (384) CF
Juan Ramirez 18 DSL 274 PA .257/.383/.350 76 OPS+ 1.6 WAR
499 (487) LF
Angel Rodriguez 24 AA/AAA 354 PA .250/.345/.526 106 OPS+ 1.2 WAR
NR (417) C
Edgar Rivera 18 DSL 234 PA .254/.372/.391 83 OPS+ 0.8 WAR
Arms
111 (NR) RHP
Danny Petty 21 A 8 GS 1.36 WHIP 1.4H/4.5BB/12.5K 79 ERA+ 0.3 WAR
155 (95) RHP
Mike Hoffer 19 R 11 GS 1.44 WHIP 1.4H/5.2BB/12.4K 86 ERA+ 0.5 WAR
253 (189) RHP
Josh Olaniyan 19 R 11 GS 1.68 WHIP 1.8H/6.0BB/10.5K 100 ERA+ -0.2 WAR
335 (243) RHP
Marcos Paz 21 A+ 26 GS 1.42 WHIP 1.9H/4.2BB/12.0K 88 ERA+ 1.3 WAR
361 (NR) RHP
Lazaro Espinal 21 A 9 GS 1.09 WHIP 1.6H/2.9BB/12.7K 109 ERA+ 0.8 WAR
NR (297) RHP
William Schmidt 23 A+ 28 GS 1.53 WHIP 2.4H/3.7BB/12.9K 71 ERA+ 1.0 WAR
NR (331) RHP
Isaac Morton 24 AA/AAA 29 GS 1.45 WHIP 1.1H/4.7BB/9.5K 107 ERA+ 2.8 WAR
MLB (344) RHP
Chase Burns
Next up, the Offseason