Personnel
MLB
Pitching Coach Billy Diaz
A
Manager Robert Donovan
Rookie
Pitching Coach Brendan Smith
DSL
Glass Manager Alan Williams
Glass Hitting Coach Diogenes Diaz
Stewart Manager Alexis Fonseca
Stewart Pitching Coach Yovany Frias
Awards
Two platinum sticks and a great glove are the major player awards for KC, although it could have been so much greater with Shawn Bass the runner up for Reliever of the Year, Min-ho Kim the running up for Rookie of the Year (and receiving more 1st place votes than Leos the winner), and Edgar Mir runner up in his attempt to go back-to-back as AL MVP, despite missing a third of the season.
Colin Stewart was AL Manager of the Year but, as he noted, he would rather have won a championship!
AL Great Gloves RF Jimmy Goodman KC
NL Great Gloves
AL Platinum Sticks 2B Edgar Mir KC | SS Marquis Foggie KC
NL Platinum Sticks
AL Manager of the Year Colin Stewart KC
NL Manager of the Year Rafael Ramirez NYM
AL Reliever of the Year Jelani Bethea SA
NL Reliever of the Year Amari Blakes PHI
AL Rookie of the Year Daniel Leos CWS
NL Rookie of the Year Dylan Cavanaugh MIA
AL Cy Young Tyler Bremner SEA
NL Cy Young Mike Spence LAD
AL MVP Mike Miller SEA
NL MVP Josh O'Neill NYM
Pre-Arbitration Extensions & Trades
Saturday, November 7th , 2037
Executed the contract year option of 1B Bobby Witt Jr.
Traded 28-year old RHP Mike Hoffer and 21-year old minor league RHP Ben Anderson to the New York Mets, getting 21-year old minor league RHP Joe Davis and $40,000,000 in cash in return.
Traded 27-year old 3B Eric Rose and 24-year old minor league LF Joe Wallace to the Cleveland Guardians, getting 25-year old 1B David Alvizures (retaining 95%), 18-year old minor league 2B Humberto Bustillos, and $40,000,000 in cash in return.
Wednesday, November 11th , 2037
Signed CF Kevin Roberts Jr. to a 1-year contract extension worth a total of $2,700,000.
Signed RP Jimmy Lininger to a 1-year contract extension worth a total of $2,500,000.
Signed LF Enny Mijhail Van Dyke to a 1-year contract extension worth a total of $8,000,000.
Signed RP Jon Holtz to a 1-year contract extension worth a total of $2,300,000.
Signed RP Chris Wagner to a 1-year contract extension worth a total of $3,200,000.
Wednesday, November 25th , 2037
Signed RP Shawn Bass to a 1-year contract extension worth a total of $9,500,000.
Signed CL Jeremy Sidener to a 3-year contract extension worth a total of $34,500,000.
The big move in the month was the end of 2027 3rd round pick Mike Hoffer’s time with the Royals. Entering his final year of arbitration, at an estimated $20m, he was simply too expensive as the Royals opened up a space for Ethan Chafin in the rotation. The return was a top 20 pitching prospect in Joe Davis plus $40m to give some budget flexibility. Hoffer departs a two-time All Star after 136 starts for the Royals with a career 3.53 ERA and 21.2 WAR from 156 games.
The second move was with the heart as the Royals sacrificed Eric Rose to retain one more year of Bobby Witt Jr. The return was 1B David Alvizures, a former top 30 prospect who has a lot of power still to unleash as a natural replacement for Witt Jr. in 2039. In addition, the Royals received another $40m which will allow the usual flexibility around the trade deadline and for draft signings.
Arbitration & Qualifying Offers
Saturday, November 28th , 2037
RP Kevin Azeem rejected the qualifying offer
RP Billy Nicklas becomes a free-agent.
As predicted, Azeem rejects the Qualifying Offer, giving the Royals an extra draft pick for 2038.
Free Agents
Monday, November 30th , 2037
RP Josh Carpenter becomes a free-agent.
2B Matt Shaw becomes a free-agent.
Post Arbitration Transactions
Traded 25-year old minor league 1B Rogelio Camacho to the Colorado Rockies, getting 23-year old minor league C Kevon Lawal in return.
Placed CF Bob Crimi on the secondary (40-man) roster.
Placed 2B Jimmy Monroe on the secondary (40-man) roster.
Placed C Mike Murphy on the secondary (40-man) roster.
Placed RP Jon Hall on the secondary (40-man) roster.
Placed 1B Markas Huffman on the secondary (40-man) roster.
Placed RP Jeremy Miller on the secondary (40-man) roster.
Traded 24-year old LHP Eli Cavanagh and 22-year old minor league RHP Zach Rozelle to the Chicago White Sox, getting 26-year old LHP Madhavrao Sajeev and $10,000,000 in cash in return.
International Amateurs
We just completed our monthly private practice with many young international amateur free agents who we hope can aid our club in the coming years. It was great to meet the players in-person and get to know them better, and I was able to improve my scouting assessment on all invitees.
In fact some of the players impressed me, since they showcased a higher potential than I had previously expected from them:
Luis Aguilar, 16 year-old 3B out of Dominican Republic
Lean and athletic, Luis Aguilar hails from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He has tremendous power potential. He may not compete for batting titles, but still projects to hit for a .290 batting average. He shows good pitch recognition at the plate. Aguilar is a reliable hitter in the organization's grand scheme.
Juan Pompa, 16 year-old LF out of Panama
Juan Pompa is a long, lean athletic left fielder who was born in Arraijan, Panama. Even with a still-developing body he consistently displays plus raw power and quickening bat speed. He projects to be an above average contact hitter. He should be good at knowing when to swing and when not to swing. Pompa is a left fielder with plenty of tools and a lot of upside. He has potential to be a first division starter.
It was a great practice and none of the invitees disappointed in showcasing their talent.
And other players that I was able to further assess were:
Jesus Becerra, 16 year-old 1B out of Dominican Republic
Jesus Bueno, 16 year-old SS out of Dominican Republic
Luis Carbajal, 17 year-old SS out of Dominican Republic
Jorge Velasco, 16 year-old SS out of Venezuela
Juan Galindo, 16 year-old CF out of Venezuela
Edgar Castillo, 16 year-old RHP out of Venezuela
David Espinoza, 16 year-old 3B out of Dominican Republic
Kanne Hofsink, 16 year-old RHP out of The Netherlands
Around the League
Retirements
San Diego Padres: RF Fernando Tatis Jr. retired from professional baseball.
New York Mets: SP Taj Bradley retired from professional baseball.
Miami Marlins: RP Sammy Peralta retired from professional baseball.
Washington Nationals: CF Julio Rodriguez retired from professional baseball.
Detroit Tigers: SP Grant Taylor retired from professional baseball.
Pittsburgh Pirates: RP Tobias Myers retired from professional baseball.
Boston Red Sox: SP Connor Phillips retired from professional baseball.
Arizona Diamondbacks: SP Mason Englert retired from professional baseball.
Detroit Tigers: SP DL Hall retired from professional baseball.
Cincinnati Reds: SP Yoshinobu Yamamoto retired from professional baseball.
Houston Astros: SP Bobby Miller retired from professional baseball.
Milwaukee Brewers: C Jeferson Quero retired from professional baseball.
Washington Nationals: SP Jack Mahoney retired from professional baseball.
Los Angeles Angels: 1B Mike Boeve retired from professional baseball.
San Francisco Giants: SP Blake Walston retired from professional baseball.
Boston Red Sox: SP Brayan Bello retired from professional baseball.
San Antonio Avalanche: C Drew Romo retired from professional baseball.
Boston Red Sox: RP Will Sanders retired from professional baseball.
Los Angeles Angels: RF Abimelec Ortiz retired from professional baseball.