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November 15-21, 2024 — The Quiet Before the Bid
(OOTP25 Royals Journey – Manager’s Log)
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The third week of the offseason brought a quieter tone, but not a lesser one. This was the week of small discoveries, missed chances, and the first real survey of the coming free-agent landscape. The big moves of Week 1 are behind us; the chessboard is finally settling into shape.
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November 17 — A New Arm in the Distance

Jason McLeod returned from the Dominican Republic with the kind of find you don’t plan for — the kind that always seems to show up only when a scout’s eyes are open and his expectations are low.

16-year-old SP Felipe Romero

• 6’7”, long-limbed, intimidating silhouette
• Excellent splitter potential
• Secondary changeup with some future shape
• Tendency to nibble rather than attack
• Walks may limit his ceiling
• Projected better as a late-inning reliever than a starter

Figure 1. Felipe Romero — Scouting Discovery Report



Jason didn’t oversell him. Good scouts never do. But there was enough raw ability — enough of the “what if” — to bring him into our international complex for monitoring.

He’s not a future ace. He’s a wild card. And sometimes wild cards turn into something real.

Romero will grow with the others. We’ll see what he becomes.
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November 20 — The One That Got Away

The news broke out of nowhere:

Cleveland trades LHP Logan Allen to the St. Louis Cardinals for C Iván Herrera.

It hit a nerve I didn’t expect.

Logan Allen was on my shortlist months ago — a quiet target I’d kept in my back pocket. A mid-rotation stabilizer. Young enough to grow, experienced enough to trust. But the offseason noise swallowed that list whole these past two weeks. Trade offers, contract counter-offers, arbitration prep — all of it buried that mental note under the avalanche. And by the time I thought to revisit it…

He was gone.

And not just gone — gone to the reigning champions. Out of reach for a long while.

Figure 2. Logan Allen — Player Profile (Post-Trade)



That’s on me. Lesson learned:

Check the shortlist. Always.

Still, the reminder worked in my favor. It pushed me to examine the upcoming free-agent class with more intention — not browsing, but hunting.
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November 21 — Scanning the Market

With free agency set to open any day, I sat down to structure targets into tiers:

Tier 1: Elite / Above Average (55+ Overall)

Only 18 players. Mostly out of our price range.

But one name caught my eye:

Figure 3. 2024–25 Free Agents (55+ OVR Tier)



SP Jordan Montgomery

• Declined his option with Texas
• Asking $17.5M, down from $25M
• Legitimate mid-rotation anchor
• Short-term contract possible

He’s the only ace-level target whose demand aligns with reality. We can afford him.

The question is whether we should.
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Tier 2: League Average Starters (50 Overall)

These are the real value plays — arms that don’t break budgets but move the needle in Runs Against.

Figure 4. 2024–25 Free Agents (50 OVR Tier)



Two names stand out:

Jalen Beeks — Texas Rangers

• Affordable
• Strong swingman profile
• Likely <$3M

Spencer Turnbull — Milwaukee Brewers

• Groundball machine
• One- or two-year flyer
• Same low cost range

Neither is flashy. Both raise our floor. Either one makes us harder to score against.
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Checking Our Own Books

Before any offer goes out, the numbers matter.

• $91M current payroll entering arbitration
• Could drop below $90M depending on hearings
• 24th highest payroll in MLB
• $178M budget ceiling
• That leaves ~$30M available for free agency and extensions

We have room. We also have decisions to make.

Figure 5. Royals Team Salary Structure — 2024 to 2033



Brady Singer and Zac Eflin top the internal conversation list. If we lock one of them in long-term, I’d prefer it be Singer.

Eflin is workable, but not transformational. Singer could be.

Then there’s Salvy — 22 million this season, team option after. A franchise pillar.

When his playing days end, the coaching question answers itself.

He stays in Kansas City.

Bobby Witt Jr. is the real financial mountain—his contract balloons to $30M in 2028 and $35M in 2029.

But that's tomorrow's storm. Today's job is keeping him healthy enough to earn that future.
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Where the Week Lands Us

This wasn’t a week of action. It was a week of orientation:

• We found a long-term project arm.
• We missed on a pitcher we shouldn’t have forgotten.
• We mapped the free-agent market.
• We double-checked the books.
• We prepared the organization for the arbitration hearings that will shape the next phase.

No fires. Just preparation. Sometimes, that’s precisely what an offseason week needs to be.

These are the quiet weeks that determine how loud the winter becomes.

And soon, the bidding begins.
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Built for the Crown — OOTP25 Royals Journey (November 15–21)
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