Week 01 – November 1-7: “Evaluating the Core Pillars”
November 3, 2024 — Refining the Player Blueprint
(OOTP25 Royals Journey — Manager’s Log)
With the major coaching shifts handled and the contract offers out in the wind, today shifted toward the less glamorous, more mental side of roster building: arbitration decisions and development priorities. The roster meeting this morning felt different — quieter, more businesslike. Maybe that’s because the offseason, for all its possibilities, always starts with subtraction before addition.
The first domino fell quickly: Amed Rosario declined to discuss any kind of extension and immediately entered free agency. No surprise. He was a rental player from the Zac Eflin trade, a stopgap more than a building block. Losing him simplifies things. One fewer decision. One less roster slot jammed with uncertainty. The manager in me feels relief; the GM in me checks a name off the list and moves on.
But not everyone is being shown the door. Caleb Ferguson, for example — he earned another look. His final weeks of the season were electric, enough so that I made him an extension offer for $13 million over three years. More than I initially planned, honestly. He asked for $14.4M, and I probably could’ve negotiated harder, but there’s a difference between money spent and money invested. Ferguson stabilized a bullpen that needed stability. Maybe it’s sentiment, maybe it’s pragmatism — the line is blurry these days — but rewarding performance feels like the right instinct.
Still, I can’t assign contracts with my heart. Not entirely. That’s where the GM in me has to retake the wheel. I pulled up the arbitration sheet — nine names staring back at me, all with decisions attached.
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Figure 1. Arbitration-Eligible Players — 2025 Salary Review
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Six of them, I knew instantly, belonged in Kansas City next year:
- Brady Singer
- Justin Topa
- John Schreiber
- MJ Melendez
- Sam Haggerty
- Kyle Isbel
The estimated combined cost for those six sits around $15.7M, but my target is closer to $12M. Arbitration is its own kind of courtroom theater — both sides pretending the truth lives somewhere between emotion and math. I’ll make reasonable offers; if the numbers get ugly, the system will decide for us.
The remaining three players? Their futures are hazier. Some might draw trade interest. Others might simply age out of our long-term blueprint. The toughest call will be Kyle Wright. If his spring shows even a glimmer of return, he could slot into the back of the rotation. If not, sentimentality won’t keep him here. Baseball rarely waits for late bloomers past 30 unless the stuff comes back sharp.
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Figure 2. Kyle Wright — Scouting Overview and Role Projection
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After arbitration reviews, the staff meeting turned toward one of my highest priorities: selecting our first wave for the development lab. With only five slots available for the 40-man roster, every choice mattered.
We settled on:
Brady Singer — pitch movement focus. He needs sharper life on his pitches, and if he wants to stay atop the rotation, he has to miss more bats.
Angel Zerpa — secondary pitch refinement. Right on the doorstep of a rotation spot, but just missing that one extra weapon.
Bobby Witt Jr. — plate discipline. His tools are elite. His ceiling is elite. But giving him more intentionality in the batter’s box could push him into MVP territory.
Cam Devanney — plate discipline. A steady hitter who becomes a dangerous hitter if he stops chasing.
Nick Pratto — plate discipline. He has power, but patience will unlock the rest.
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Beyond the 40-man group, we added three prospects who represent our future more than our present:
SP Felix Arronde — #91 prospect. Polished movement could fast-track him from AA into the long-term rotation conversation.
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Figure 3. Felix Arronde — AA Prospect Development Snapshot
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2B Ethan Bates — 2024 First-Round Pick. Bat speed and power are his developmental focus — investing early could accelerate his timeline.
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Figure 4. Ethan Bates — First-Round Pick Development Summary
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C Dillon Dingler — defensive upside with offensive fine-tuning. Strong framer and athlete. More discipline could make him a starting-caliber major-league catcher.
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Figure 5. Dillon Dingler — AAA Catching Prospect Evaluation
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When we wrapped the meeting, it struck me how much the lab has evolved in a year. Last season, we used it to patch holes. This season, we’re using it to build pillars. That’s the difference between a rebuild and a foundation — understanding who you’re building with before you choose who you build around.
Tomorrow, we start looking at the players who truly shape the future core.
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Built for the Crown — OOTP25 Royals Journey
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