RSS Royals Team Notes

Royals To Promote Carter Jensen

With rosters expanding to 28 players tomorrow, the Royals have already announced the moves they “anticipate” making, as per the club’s wording. First baseman/outfielder Jac Caglianone will be activated from the 10-day injured list, righty Luinder Avila will be called up from Triple-A, and catching prospect Carter Jensen’s contract will be selected from Triple-A. Kansas City will need to subtract someone from the current 26-man roster to make space for the entire trio, but the Royals already have 40-man roster space available to accommodate Jensen.

Freddy Fermin was traded to the Padres at the deadline, and the Royals have since been using veteran Luke Maile as the backup catcher behind Salvador Perez. Because Perez will get his share of DH days to keep his bat in the lineup, Jensen should get a decent amount of playing time behind the plate in his first taste of MLB action. The expanded September roster allows the Royals some flexibility in keeping three catchers around, and Maile’s playing time is probably going to diminish since Jensen is a bigger future priority.

Jensen hit well enough (.292/.360/.420 in 308 PA) in Double-A ball to earn his first promotion to Triple-A earlier this summer, and he has taken it up a notch since arriving in Omaha. Jensen has hit .288/.404/.647 in 184 Triple-A plate appearances, with already 14 home runs to show for his brief time at the top rung of the minor league ladder. This kind of performance is hard to overlook, and it has earned the Kansas City native a late-season look with his hometown team.

A third-round pick for the Royals in the 2021 draft, Jensen is ranked 69th on MLB Pipeline’s list of baseball’s best prospects, and he sits 88th on Baseball America’s top-100 ranking. Evaluators like Jansen’s ability to get on base, and his 2025 numbers suggest he has started to tap into his raw power. Jensen has a good eye at the plate, but it is worth noting that his strikeout rate has shot upwards during his brief time at Triple-A. As a catcher, Jensen has a plus throwing arm and his framing ability has been improving, and both Pipeline and BA feel he can be a solid defender.

The Royals will surely exercise their $13.5MM club option on Perez for 2026, but that will also be Perez’s age-36 season, so the longtime face of the franchise will have to slow down at some point. Beyond Jensen, Blake Mitchell is another top-100 prospect who just advanced to high-A ball this season, and Ramon Ramirez is another young backstop in the system playing at the A-ball level.

Unsurprisingly, rival teams checked in on these young catchers prior to the trade deadline, but K.C. instead pivoted by moving Fermin. Jensen is the first of this trio to make it to the Show, so he’ll get the first crack at trying to establish himself as a big leaguer. He’ll retain rookie eligibility heading into 2026, and thus due to Prospect Promotion Incentive eligibility, the Royals could earn an extra draft pick if Jensen stays on the active roster for the entire 2026 campaign.

A former top prospect in his own right, Caglianone will return after a left hamstring strain cost him about five weeks on the injured list. Caglianone hit only .147/.205/.280 in his first 161 PA in the majors, so this IL stint can perhaps act as a refresh for the outfielder’s rookie year. It remains to be seen how many at-bats Caglianone will receive for a Royals team that is fighting for a playoff berth, since deadline acquisition Mike Yastrzemski has stepped into Caglianone’s right field spot and been on a tear since arriving in Kansas City.
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/08/royals-to-promote-carter-jensen.html
 
Royals Place Jonathan India On Injured List

The Royals announced that second baseman Jonathan India has been placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to August 30, with a sprained left wrist. Kansas City activated Jac Caglianone from his own IL stint in a corresponding move. They also finalized the previously announced promotions of catching prospect Carter Jensen and reliever Luinder Avila with the roster expansion.

It’s not clear how long the Royals expect India to be sidelined. Kansas City acquired him from the Reds for Brady Singer over the offseason. They wanted India to play a multi-positional role while serving as a high-OBP bat at the top of the lineup. He hasn’t met either expectation. India struggled in an early-season utility capacity and has been exclusively at second base or designated hitter since the middle of May. He also hasn’t hit much, leading manager Matt Quatraro to drop him from the leadoff spot to sixth or seventh in the batting order this month.

India carries a .232/.324/.342 slash with eight home runs across 532 plate appearances. His plate discipline has been fine, but a career-low .274 average on balls in play hasn’t done him any favors. It’s trending to be the worst season of his five years in the big leagues. India isn’t a great defender, so the below-average offense has left him around replacement level overall. He’s trending towards a non-tender for what’d be his final year of arbitration.

Kansas City will have Adam Frazier and Michael Massey cover second base while India is sidelined. The righty-swinging Nick Loftin could also see some time there against left-handed pitching. Frazier has proven a nice deadline pickup, batting .307 in 33 games since the Royals acquired him from Pittsburgh. Massey and Loftin have had poor seasons. Massey has at least collected hits in five of six games since returning from an ankle sprain that cost him two months, so perhaps he’ll come closer to last year’s league average form in September.

The Royals are off today. They’ll open a three-game series against the Angels tomorrow. Kansas City is three games back of Seattle for the final American League Wild Card spot. They’ve also dropped half a game behind the Rangers, who have won five straight to pull within 2.5 games of the Mariners.
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/09/royals-place-jonathan-india-on-injured-list.html
 
Royals Place Seth Lugo On Injured List

The Royals announced that they have placed right-hander Seth Lugo on the 15-day injured list due to a lower back strain. Righty Stephen Kolek has been recalled as the corresponding move. Prior to the official announcement, manager Matt Quatraro relayed the moves to reporters, including Anne Rogers of MLB.com.

Lugo was initially slated to start today’s game but the Royals announced yesterday that he would no longer be starting that game due to some low back tightness. Noah Cameron is taking the ball instead. Lugo could have been an option for Saturday’s game but he didn’t feel any improvement while playing catch today, so he’s going on the IL.

It’s an unfortunate and ill-timed loss for the Royals. They are 2.5 games back of a playoff spot with just a few weeks remaining in the season. They are still alive but need a lot to go right in order to catch both the Rangers and Mariners to get into postseason position.

Losing Lugo won’t help as he’s been a key part of the club’s rotation since the start of last year. He and the Royals recently agreed to a new contract extension to keep him from opting out of his deal at season’s end. Though he’s been good this year on the whole, it’s possible the back issue has been bothering him lately. Through his start on August 3rd, he had an earned run average of 3.06 on the year. Over his past five starts, he has allowed 25 earned runs in 22 innings.

Whether the back had anything to do with that recent rough stretch or not, he’ll take some time to try to get right. His IL placement is retroactive to September 1st, so he could be back in just 12 days if he feels better. That could give him a chance to make a few more starts down the stretch, though that will naturally depend upon his progress in the coming weeks.

For now, Kolek will seemingly take his spot, at least for one turn. Acquired as part of the Freddy Fermin trade at the deadline, Kolek has mostly been in the minors since that deal. He made his Royals debut on Saturday, tossing six innings with just one run crossing the plate. He was sent back down after that, as it was just supposed to be a spot start. However, his decent results and Lugo’s injury will get him at least one more. He is eligible to return less than 15 days after being optioned because Lugo is going on the IL.

Kolek had primarily been a reliever in the 2022 to 2024 seasons but has been stretched back out here in 2025. Between the Padres and Royals, he has made 15 starts with a 3.99 ERA. His 16.5% strikeout rate is subpar but his 7.3% walk rate and 51.9% ground ball rate are both strong figures. His Triple-A production is similar under the hood. He has made 11 starts down there with an 18.6% strikeout rate, 6.8% walk rate and 54.1% ground ball rate. However, a .400 batting average on balls in play has helped spike his ERA to 6.26 at that level.

Photo courtesy of David Banks, Imagn Images
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/09/royals-to-place-seth-lugo-on-injured-list.html
 
Poll: Who Will Round Out The AL Playoff Field?

While most of the league’s postseason races are more or less wrapped up at this point, one highly competitive race remains: that for the final AL Wild Card spot. The Yankees and Red Sox have commanding leads for the first two spots that have pushed their playoff odds (per FanGraphs) to 99.7% and 97.4% respectively, but the rest of the field remains fairly open. Three clubs are within two games of the final spot. Who will make it to October among that group? A look at each of those teams:

Seattle Mariners (73-67)

The Mariners are currently in control of the final AL Wild Card spot. Cal Raleigh is in the midst of an MVP-caliber season behind the plate, and he’s been supported by Julio Rodriguez and Randy Arozarena in the middle of the lineup. Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suarez were added at the trade deadline to help further bolster the offense. Suarez slumped for his first two-plus weeks back in Seattle but is back to form, hitting .265/.345/.592 over his past 14 games.

The rotation that was widely expected to be the club’s strength, however, has looked fairly pedestrian. Only Bryan Woo has stood out from the crowd as George Kirby, Luis Castillo, and Logan Gilbert have all been closer to average starters than ace-caliber arms. Bryce Miller was injured for much of the year and has struggled when healthy. Still, the bullpen remains elite, and the club is in solid position in the standings even after this week’s sweep at the hands of the Rays. They have an outside shot at winning the AL West, sitting 3.5 games out with a three-game set against the Astros later this month. They’ll need to fend off the Royals in Kansas City for three games as well.

Texas Rangers (72-69)

Sitting just 1.5 games back of the Mariners, Texas is in position to pounce if Seattle falters. A schedule that gives them six games against Houston as they sit five games back in the AL West leaves a small chance at capturing the division or perhaps pushing the Astros far enough down the standings that the Mariners claim the West while the Rangers take the Wild Card for themselves.

Even with the advantage of controlling their own destiny, actually making good on that will be difficult for Texas. Key players like Nathan Eovaldi, Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Tyler Mahle and Evan Carter are all on the injured list. Wyatt Langford will be leaned on heavily to help carry the offense. A resurgent Jacob deGrom and deadline acquisition Merrill Kelly are still on hand to lead the rotation, and former No. 2 pick Jack Leiter has been excellent over his past 12 starts (2.89 ERA, 28.2 K%). Will the remaining pieces of the team be enough to push them into the playoffs?

Kansas City Royals (71-69)

Like the Rangers, the Royals have managed to hang around the Wild Card race despite significant injuries. Kris Bubic and Cole Ragans have missed much of the year, and Seth Lugo has now joined them on the shelf. That leaves Michael Wacha and rookie Noah Cameron as the team’s most likely starters for the Wild Card series if they can make it into the postseason.

The good news is that the addition of Mike Yastrzemski has been a game-changer for the lineup. He’s belted seven homers in 107 plate appearances and batted .242/.327/.560 overall in Kansas City, joining Vinnie Pasquantino, Maikel Garcia, and Bobby Witt Jr. to form an impressive top four. Carlos Estevez and Lucas Erceg are a quality duo at the back-end of the bullpen, and three home games against the Mariners give them plenty of control over their fate.

Tampa Bay Rays (71-69)

Baseball’s hottest team has won seven games in a row, including a sweep of the Mariners in Seattle and a Thursday victory over the Guardians that pushed Cleveland 3.5 games out in the Wild Card chase. Junior Caminero is the envy of the league at third base, Yandy Diaz and Brandon Lowe are as impressive as ever in the middle of the lineup, and Drew Rasmussen (2.66 ERA over his past 10 starts) looks capable of going head-to-head with just about any pitcher as a Game One starter. Thirteen games against the Red Sox, Blue Jays, and Cubs over the course of the rest of the season leave the Rays with plenty of adversity, but perhaps their young talent can stay hot and push them to October.

Which of these teams will come out on top and join the Blue Jays, Tigers, Yankees, Red Sox, and Astros in the postseason? Will the Mariners be able to hold on? Will the Royals or Rangers overcome their injury woes to force their way in? Or can the Rays stay hot through the end of the year? Have your say in the poll below:

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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/09/poll-who-will-round-out-the-al-playoff-field.html
 
AL Central Notes: Ragans, Sewald, Olson, Brennan

Cole Ragans is set to begin a rehab assignment on Sunday, with a scheduled two-inning start planned with Triple-A Omaha. It has now been over three months since Ragans was sidelined by a rotator cuff strain, and if the southpaw is able to make it back to the Royals rotation before the season is over, it won’t be in a full-fledged starting role. “We know we don’t have the time to get him built up to five or six innings,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro told reporters (including Jaylon Thompson of the Kansas City Star), indicating that Ragans would still be a starter, but perhaps in a piggyback capacity or as the lead pitcher of a bullpen game.

Seth Lugo was just placed on the 15-day IL earlier this week due to a back strain, and Kris Bubic’s season was ended by a rotator cuff strain in late July. Despite these and other injuries, the Royals’ pitching staff has still been the biggest factor in keeping the team afloat in the wild card race, as Kansas City’s offense has remained inconsistent. If the Royals can stick around in the playoff hunt until late September, getting Ragans back in even a limited capacity might be a huge boost in helping K.C. return to the postseason.

More from around the AL Central…

  • Paul Sewald began a rehab assignment with the Tigers’ high-A affiliate on Thursday. Sewald hasn’t pitched since July 11 when he was still a member of the Guardians, and his placement on Detroit’ 60-day IL means that he can’t be activated until September 10 at the absolute earliest. Though Sewald remains on the mend with a right shoulder strain, the Tigers felt comfortable enough in his ability to return this season that the righty was acquired from the Guards at the deadline. Shoulder problems have limited Sewald to only 15 1/3 innings this season, and he has a 4.42 ERA over his last 55 MLB frames with Cleveland and Arizona during the 2024-25 campaigns.
  • Turning to another pitcher on the Tigers’ 60-day injured list, Reese Olson has started a throwing progression as he works his way back from his own right shoulder strain. Ramping up throwing work now might give Olson a chance at making a playoff roster — he was placed directly on the 60-day IL on July 28, so he is only eligible to return for the last couple of games of Detroit’s regular-season schedule. Even the slightest setback would almost surely shut Olson down for 2025 entirely, and even if healthy, it remains to be seen if the Tigers would entrust a playoff roster spot to a pitcher coming off such a long layoff. Olson has pitched well as a starter over his three seasons in Motown, but would likely be used as a reliever in the playoffs since he doesn’t have enough time to fully rebuild his arm strength.
  • Guardians outfielder Will Brennan underwent a sports hernia surgery to correct a lingering groin injury, according to MLB.com’s Tim Stebbins. Brennan’s 2025 season was already over due to a Tommy John surgery back in June, but even after the TJ procedure and his latest surgery, Brennan is expected to be ready for the start of Cleveland’s spring camp in February. The outfielder played in 252 games with the Guardians in a part-time capacity in 2023-24, but after starting 2025 in the minors and then getting injured, Brennan appeared in just six MLB contests this year.
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/09/al-central-notes-ragans-sewald-olson-brennan.html
 
Royals Place Michael Wacha On Concussion List

The Royals placed starter Michael Wacha on the seven-day concussion injured list before tonight’s game against the Guardians. The move is retroactive to September 8. Jonathan India is back after a minimal 10-day IL stay for a sprained wrist as the corresponding move.

Wacha was injured in an off-field accident, manager Matt Quatraro told reporters (including MLB.com’s Anne Rogers). The Royals believe it’s a minor issue but it will cost him at least one start. Wacha had been lined up for tomorrow. That starter is now to be determined in what’ll probably be a bullpen game.

Kansas City doesn’t have any healthy starters on optional assignment. They could select Spencer Turnbull onto the 40-man roster for a spot appearance, but he’s only made one Triple-A start since signing a minor league deal in late August. Turnbull had allowed more than a run per inning over six Triple-A appearances in the Cubs’ system before that. Wacha is their sixth starting pitcher on the injured list (seventh if one includes Kyle Wright, who is on the 40-man roster but on the minor league IL).

They’re currently down to a four-man group of Michael Lorenzen, Noah Cameron, Stephen Kolek and Ryan Bergert as they try to hang in the Wild Card mix. Bergert has been pretty good since coming over from San Diego in a deadline trade but got blown up last night (eight earned runs in 3 1/3 innings). Cameron is on the bump tonight, while Kolek has already been tabbed for Thursday’s series finale. Lorenzen would be on schedule for Friday’s opener in Philadelphia.

The Royals enter tonight’s game three back of the Mariners for the American League’s final playoff spot. They’d also need to jump the Rangers and Guardians along the way. It feels pivotal that they take at least two of the final three games of their ongoing series in Cleveland — a task that gets quite a bit more difficult without Wacha on the mound tomorrow. The veteran righty carries a 3.45 earned run average across 28 starts and a team-leading 159 innings.

Cole Ragans is at Triple-A Omaha on a rehab stint as he works back from a three-month shoulder injury. Seth Lugo went down with a lower back strain last week. They were already without Kris Bubic for the season. Wacha’s injury seems minor enough that any or all of him, Ragans and Lugo could make it back in the next week or two. It remains to be seen if K.C. can find a way to hang in the playoff picture long enough for that to matter.
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/09/royals-place-michael-wacha-on-concussion-list.html
 
Royals To Activate Cole Ragans On Wednesday

The Royals will reinstate left-hander Cole Ragans from the 60-day injured list tomorrow, per Anne Rogers of MLB.com. Kansas City already has an open 40-man roster spot, so unless there are other 40-man moves coming in conjunction with Ragans’ return, they’ll only need to clear a spot on the active roster.

Ragans, 28 this offseason, has been out more than three months due to a strained rotator cuff in his left shoulder. His absence has been a major reason for Kansas City’s slide in the standings and the team’s all but certain elimination from playoff contention, although Ragans certainly hasn’t been the only rotation member to run into health woes this year.

Kris Bubic’s own rotator cuff strain ended his season in late July. Seth Lugo has had IL stints due to both finger and lower back injuries. Michael Lorenzen missed more than a month with an oblique strain. Michael Wacha has been on the concussion list for the past week but is expected to return for tonight’s game. Alec Marsh hasn’t pitched all season due to a shoulder impingement. It’s a far cry from the 2024 season, when the Royals improbably had four pitchers make at least 29 starts (and five make at least 25 starts).

Still, the loss of Ragans has arguably been the most damaging. The southpaw was sitting on an ugly 5.18 ERA in ten starts when healthy, although much of the damage against him came in his final three starts before landing on the IL with this shoulder issue. Ragans carried a 3.79 ERA into mid-May and reached double-digit strikeout figures in four of his first seven starts of the season. And, of course, the lefty’s 2024 breakout was one of the driving forces behind the Royals’ return to the postseason. Ragans pitched 186 1/3 innings with a 3.14 ERA, 29.3% strikeout rate and 8.8% walk rate across 32 starts last year, garnering an All-Star nod and fourth-place finish in Cy Young voting for his efforts.

At 75-75, the Royals haven’t been mathematically eliminated from the postseason just yet, but they’re 6.5 games out in the AL Wild Card chase with 12 games left to play. It’d take a borderline miracle for them to sneak into the field. Even with little to play for in terms of 2025 results, however, Ragans’ return gives him the chance to head into the offseason feeling that his shoulder troubles are behind him. If he looks sharp in two starts between now and season’s end, Kansas City would surely feel a bit better about its staff heading into next year. Ragans posted a 4.35 ERA and punched out 20 of the 43 hitters he faced (46.5%) across three minor league starts while rehabbing in recent weeks.
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/09/royals-to-activate-cole-ragans-on-wednesday.html
 
Royals To Place Ryan Bergert On Injured List With Forearm Tightness

Royals starter Ryan Bergert is headed to the 15-day injured list, manager Matt Quatraro told reporters (via Anne Rogers of MLB.com). The rookie right-hander reported forearm tightness during his standard bullpen session between starts. It’ll bring an early end to the 25-year-old’s debut season.

Michael Lorenzen, who tossed an inning in relief of Cole Ragans during tonight’s win over Seattle, will start on Friday against the Blue Jays. A series of rotation injuries sealed the Royals’ fate on the outside of the playoff picture. Ragans made his first start in more than three months. Seth Lugo has been out for three weeks with a back issue. An off-field concussion cost Michael Wacha a start. The Royals have dropped to 76-76 and figure to be officially eliminated from postseason contention by the end of the weekend.

As a result, they’ll play things cautiously with Bergert. Kansas City acquired him and Stephen Kolek from the Padres for backup catcher Freddy Fermin in an under-the-radar deadline deal. Bergert allowed one or two runs in each of his first six starts in a K.C. uniform. His final two outings were less impressive. The Guardians tagged him for eight runs in 3 1/3 frames on September 8, and he surrendered three runs in four innings in Philadelphia on Saturday.

It’s not the manner in which Bergert hoped to close the year. He had a promising season overall, turning in a 3.66 ERA while striking out 22.6% of batters faced over 76 1/3 innings. The West Virginia product has yet to reach a year of service time. Assuming he’s healthy, he’ll head into Spring Training with a shot at his first Opening Day roster. K.C. currently has a projected rotation of Ragans, Lugo, Wacha, Kris Bubic and Noah Cameron going into next season. Bergert, Kolek, Alec Marsh and Bailey Falter could compete alongside an offseason acquisition or two to be the top depth arm in the event of a Spring Training injury.
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025...t-on-injured-list-with-forearm-tightness.html
 
Nationals Have Interviewed Red Sox’ AGM Eddie Romero

The Nationals are continuing to their attempts to get a front office in place before the offseason. Per a report from Ken Rosenthal and Brittany Ghiroli of The Athletic, the Nats recently interviewed Eddie Romero, assistant general manager of the Red Sox. In a tweet, Ghiroli also mentions Royals assistant general manager Scott Sharp, though it’s unclear if Sharp has interviewed for the job.

Romero was been with the Red Sox a long time, having been hired in a scouting role back in 2006. He has since risen through the ranks, getting the assistant GM and executive vice-president titles in 2018. His work in Boston is clearly respected within the Red Sox franchise. In the fall of 2023, after the Sox had fired chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom, Romero interviewed to be his replacement. That job ultimately went to Craig Breslow.

Romero is the second Boston assistant GM to be connected to the opening in Washington. It was reported last week that Paul Toboni is also a candidate. Today’s reporting confirms that Toboni did indeed interview for the job. However, Breslow is planning to a hire a GM to work as his second-in-command and Tim Healey of The Boston Globe writes that Toboni is a strong candidate for that position. If Toboni ultimately gets tapped for the GM role in Boston, that takes him off the table in Washington and could also lead to increased speculation about someone like Romero leaving.

Like Romero, Sharp has been with his club for many years, having been hired by the Royals in 2006. The Kansas City front office is currently headed by general manager J.J. Picollo. Sharp has been connected to a number of vacancies over the years, including the Mets’ GM search back in 2018, the Angels’ GM search in 2020 and the Giants’ GM search last year.

Sharp withdrew himself from the Giants’ GM search about a year ago, per Rosenthal. That was reportedly due to family considerations, though Rosenthal noted at that time that Sharp had an interest in running a front office at some point in the future.

The Nationals have been rebuilding for years now but the lack of progress led to president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo, and manager Dave Martinez, getting fired in July. Assistant GM Mike DeBartolo was given the GM title on an interim basis. He is a candidate to run the front office beyond the 2025 season, though the Nats have also considered a number of external candidates.

In addition to Romero, Toboni and Sharp, Guardians assistant GM Matt Forman, Dodgers senior vice president Josh Byrnes and D-Backs AGM Amiel Sawdaye have been tied to the Nats. Cubs general manager Carter Hawkins was also in the mix but is reportedly no longer in the running.

Per Rosenthal and Ghiroli, the Nats are considering hiring both a president of baseball operations and a general manager. It’s therefore possible they hire two of these aforementioned executives, though there are perhaps others in the mix who haven’t been publicly connected to the club.

The Nats want to have those decisions made by the end of the regular season so that they can then pivot to the managerial search. Miguel Cairo has been in the interim skipper since Martinez was fired. Whether or not Cairo is a candidate to stick around is presumably dependent on who is eventually picked to run the front office and how that person wants to go about the managerial search.

Photo courtesy of Brad Mills, Imagn Images
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/09/nationals-have-interviewed-red-sox-agm-eddie-romero.html
 
Royals Place Lucas Erceg On IL With Shoulder Impingement

The Royals announced today that right-hander Steven Cruz has been reinstated from the 15-day injured list. He will take the roster spot of fellow righty Lucas Erceg, who has been placed on the 15-day IL due to right shoulder impingement syndrome.

There aren’t a lot of details around Erceg’s injury just yet. He recorded the win in Wednesday’s game, pitching the eighth inning against the Mariners. He entered a 3-3 game and allowed a run, but then the Royals scored four in the eighth. Closer Carlos Estévez allowed another run in the ninth but the Royals hung on to win 7-5. Presumably, Erceg felt some shoulder pain after the game or at some point yesterday and got checked out.

The impingement will end his regular season, which hurts the Royals’ already-slim chances at making the postseason. They hung around the playoff race for most of the summer and acted as deadline buyers, extending Seth Lugo while acquiring rentals Mike Yastrzemski, Adam Frazier and Randal Grichuk. They also added controllable pieces Ryan Bergert and Stephen Kolek in the Freddy Fermin trade.

But they have fallen back in the standings since then, with pitching injuries playing a notable role. Berget, Lugo, Cole Ragans, Michael Wacha, Kris Bubic, Bailey Falter and Alec Marsh have all been on the IL in the second half, with many of them still there. Those injury absences have naturally hampered the club’s performance in recent weeks.

The Royals are now seven games back of the Red Sox, with the Guardians and Rangers in between, with most teams having just nine games left to play. Their odds of a miracle run are now pretty close to zero and losing Erceg doesn’t help any.

His strikeout rate has backed up this year but his grounder rate is up and he’s still been effective on the whole. Last year, he tossed 61 2/3 innings with a 3.36 earned run average, 28.5% strikeout rate, 6.3% walk rate and 46.5% ground ball rate. This year, the punchouts dropped to just a 19.3% clip but he got grounders on 52.8% of balls in play as he produced a 2.64 ERA.

He is still under club control for another four seasons after this one. He has a decent chance at qualifying for arbitration as a Super Two player. Assuming he can get healthy and have a normal offseason, he should playing a key role in the Kansas City bullpen again next year.

Photo courtesy of Peter Aiken, Imagn Images
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/09/royals-place-lucas-erceg-on-il-with-shoulder-impingement.html
 
AL Central Notes: Tigers, Morton, Lugo, Bergert, Wallner

A year after reaching the playoffs due to a late-season surge, the Tigers are now facing an opposite scenario in 2025. The scorching-hot Guardians are on an eight-game winning streak and have won 13 of their last 14 games, while Detroit has lost seven of its last eight games — including a three-game sweep at home against the Guards. The Tigers’ AL Central lead shrunk to just 2.5 games after a 10-1 loss to the Braves on Friday, as starter Charlie Morton was torched for six runs in just 1 1/3 innings.

Acquired from the Orioles at the trade deadline, Morton has an 11.65 ERA over his last five starts, and a 7.09 overall ERA across his 39 1/3 innings in a Detroit uniform. Speaking with the Detroit Free Press’ Evan Petzold and other reporters yesterday, Morton was at a loss to explain his sudden inability to throw strikes, and said “I’m personally really disappointed in myself.” Given these struggles, Morton is “not expecting anything” in terms of another turn in the rotation, and manager A.J. Hinch was also non-committal on the subject.

The problem with removing Morton from the rotation is that the Tigers don’t have a ready-made replacement. Chris Paddack was already moved to the bullpen due to his own struggles, Jose Uriquidy is pitching in relief after his long injury layoff, Troy Melton or Tyler Holton are more long men than true starters, and Sawyer Gipson-Long is on the 15-day injured list. The Tigers could use some combination of all the healthy pitchers in this season’s version of their “Pitching Chaos” tactic, yet there are no easy answers in what has suddenly become a very tense pennant race.

More from the AL Central…

  • Seth Lugo’s return before the end of the season seems like a “long shot,” as Royals manager Matt Quatraro told MLB.com’s Anne Rogers and other reporters. Lugo hasn’t pitched since August 29 due to a lower back strain, and he had a setback following a bullpen session on Monday. Quatraro said Lugo is now feeling better in the aftermath of that bullpen but hasn’t resumed throwing, so the veteran righty is simply running short on time to get fully ramped up.
  • In other Royals pitching news, Quatraro said that Ryan Bergert is dealing with a mild flexor strain, and is expected to be fully healthy by Spring Training. Bergert was placed on the 15-day IL earlier this week with an ominous diagnosis of forearm tightness and he already has a Tommy John surgery in his history, so it counts as good news that his MRI revealed a relatively less-serious issue. The right-hander has a respectable 3.66 ERA over 76 1/3 innings in his rookie season, with Bergert coming to Kansas City from the Padres at the trade deadline.
  • The Twins placed Matt Wallner on the 10-day IL yesterday due to a right oblique strain, so the outfielder’s season is all but officially over. This is the second IL stint of the year for Wallner, who missed over six weeks dealing with a hamstring strain early in the season. Wallner will finish with a .202/.311/.464 slash line and 22 homers over 392 plate appearances, which translates to a 114 wRC+. While respectable numbers, more was expected after Wallner posted a 148 wRC+ over 515 PA during the 2023-24 seasons.
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/09/al-central-notes-tigers-morton-lugo-bergert-wallner.html
 
Michael A. Taylor Announces Retirement

White Sox outfielder Michael A. Taylor announced his retirement to members of the media today, ahead of the Sox facing the Nationals in Washington, a place he played for many years. “To be able to play my last games of my career here in this ballpark in front of these fans, it’s just the icing on the cake,” Taylor said, per Andrew Golden of The Washington Post. He is in the lineup for the Sox today, playing center field and batting ninth, in what will be his final game.

Michael A. Taylor | Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Taylor, now 34, was a sixth-round pick of the Nationals back in 2009. He was a shortstop at that time, considered to be raw, but in possession of some elite tools. He was moved to the outfield and quickly showed the potential to be a strong defender. He also showed more pop with the bat as he climbed the ladder, hitting 23 homers in the minors in 2014.

Going into 2015, he was considered to be one of the top 100 prospects in the game. Baseball America gave him the #32 spot, MLB Pipeline had him at #42, Baseball Prospectus at #57 and ESPN at #71. FanGraphs was a bit more bearish, putting him at #133 on their top 200 list.

Taylor had already made a brief major league debut in 2014 but got more properly established in 2015. He got into 138 games for the Nats, popping 14 homers and stealing 16 bags, but his overall value was held back by subpar walk and strikeout rates of 6.8% and 30.9%. Over his career, he would have his ups and downs, but his contributions mostly took that shape. He could put the ball over the fence, track it down with his glove and swipe some bags, but the plate discipline was never good.

Despite his flaws, he was a useful player for the Nats during their best stretch in Washington. The club finished above .500 in each season from 2012 to 2019, making the playoffs in five of those eight seasons. Those clubs featured stars like Bryce Harper, Stephen Strasburg, Trea Turner, Juan Soto, Max Scherzer, Anthony Rendon and others, but Taylor often played a solid supporting role.

In 2019, Taylor spent a decent chunk of the year in the minors, only getting into 53 big league games with one home run. But he took on a more prominent role at just the right time. As the Nats made a miracle charge through the postseason, Taylor got into eight of the club’s playoff contests. He clinched the NLDS over the Dodgers with a diving catch, as seen in this video from MLB.com. He also slashed .333/.391/.619 in his 23 plate appearances as the Nats eventually went on to win the World Series.

In the shortened 2020 season, Taylor had a rough showing, slashing .196/.253/.424. At the end of that campaign, the Nats put him on waivers and he elected free agency after clearing. That led to a one-year, $1.75MM deal with the Royals for 2021. He bounced back somewhat that year with a .244/.297/.356 line and 14 stolen bases. As the season was winding down, the Royals didn’t want him to get away, so they gave him a two-year, $9MM extension for the 2022 and 2023 seasons.

He had a somewhat similar campaign in the first year of that extension but the Royals flipped him to the Twins for 2023. He hit a career-high 21 home runs for Minnesota that year but also struck out at a 33.5% rate, leading to a .220/.278/.442 batting line.

That was a relatively strong campaign for him but he remained unsigned into mid-March of 2024, when he settled for a one-year, $4MM deal with the Pirates. His year in Pittsburgh turned out to be fairly forgettable, as he hit just five home runs and put up a .193/.253/.290 line. He then secured a one-year, $1.95MM deal to join the rebuilding White Sox this year. With one game remaining, he is currently sporting a .199/.256/.366 line.

Taylor currently has 1,215 games played with 3,797 plate appearances, with one more contest to go. He has 806 hits, including 109 home runs. He has drawn walks at a 6.9% clip and struck out 30.7% of the time, producing a .232/.287/.379 batting line. He stole 128 bases. He was credited with 90 Defensive Runs Saved and 61 Outs Above Average in his career as an outfielder. For the 2014-2025 period, that DRS total was sixth among outfielders and his OAA tally was eighth. FanGraphs credited him with 10.2 wins above replacement. Baseball Reference gave him 12.6 WAR and pegs his career earnings above $27MM.

We at MLB Trade Rumors congratulate Taylor on a solid career and wish him the best in whatever comes next. He tells Golden that he plans to spend more time with his kids but would consider a coaching role in the future.

Photos courtesy of Geoff Burke, Steve Mitchell, Imagn Images
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/09/michael-a-taylor-announces-retirement.html
 
Picollo: “Safe To Say” Salvador Perez Will Return To Royals In 2026

The Royals expect to retain longtime catcher and team captain Salvador Perez for the 2026 season. “I think it’s safe to say that one way or another, Salvy will be in a Royals uniform in ‘26,” general manager J.J. Picollo told reporters (including Jaylon Thompson of The Kansas City Star). “What we do beyond that is still to be determined. But there are some things that we still need to work through and talk about.”

The simplest path would be for the team to exercise their $13.5MM option for next season. Picollo didn’t commit to that course of action, leaving open the possibility of reworking the deal as part of an extension. Speculatively, they could try to hammer out a new contract that lowers next season’s salary while locking in some guaranteed money for Perez during his age-37 campaign in 2027. Picollo said the sides have “already started those discussions” about potentially reworking the deal (link via The Associated Press).

Perez, 35, has played all 15 of his big-league seasons with Kansas City and is a franchise icon. He currently ranks 7th in franchise history in games played with 1,707, 6th in hits with 1,712, 2nd in home runs with 303, and 2nd in RBI with 1,016. Altogether, he has been worth 35.5 bWAR in his career, good for 4th in Royals history among position players behind George Brett, Amos Otis, and Willie Wilson. He has been named an All-Star nine times while winning five Gold Gloves and finishing 7th in AL MVP voting in 2021 on the back of a 48-homer campaign.

His 2025 offensive numbers were largely in line with his career output. In 155 games, Perez batted .236/.284/.446 with 30 home runs and 100 RBI. His walk rate of 4.4% was slightly lower than last year’s 6.7% mark, while his strikeout rate of 19.5% was roughly the same. His 95 wRC+ was close to average overall but above average for his position, placing 7th among qualified catchers between William Contreras and J.T. Realmuto. All told, his offensive contributions were valued at 1.6 bWAR.

His defensive numbers were a different story. Continuing a trend from recent seasons, Perez split time behind the plate and at first base in 2025. In 92 games behind the plate, he was valued at -15 DRS, which ranked last among catchers with at least 500 innings at the position (Perez played 761 2/3 innings there). Statcast still thinks highly of Perez’s pop time, which ranks in the 68th percentile, but his arm strength and framing rank in the 2nd and 15th percentiles, respectively. He graded at -3 DRS and committed one error in 30 games at first base.

Defensive woes aside, Perez is widely valued in the Royals clubhouse for his veteran presence and leadership. He is the last remaining active player from the 2015 club that won the World Series (in which he was the Series MVP), and he was named team captain in 2023. He also works well as a mentor to the team’s young pitchers and catchers, including Carter Jensen, who rates as the Royals’ No. 2 prospect and the No. 66 prospect in all of baseball according to MLB.com.

Jensen made his big-league debut in 2025 and will compete for a roster spot next year, which may allow Perez to spend more time at first base and DH. Kansas City traded away longtime backup Freddy Fermin at the deadline. Luke Maile is an impending free agent, which will leave Perez (assuming some kind of contract is worked out) and Jensen as the only two catchers on the 40-man roster going into the offseason.

Whether they simply pick up his club option or sign him to a new deal, the Royals are making sure their franchise player stays on as an elder statesman for an upstart roster looking to compete in 2026. The club finished with an 82-80 record in 2025, good for 3rd place in the AL Central. Their team ERA of 3.76 ranked 6th in the majors thanks to strong seasons from Michael Wacha, Kris Bubic, and Noah Cameron. Ace Cole Ragans missed time due to injury but will return in 2026 with a full offseason to rest and get back into form. On the offensive side, Kansas City ranked 22nd in the league with a team wRC+ of 93, although they have two highly valuable players in Bobby Witt Jr. and Maikel Garcia to build around. If they can find some complementary pieces around those two and Perez while maintaining their pitching strength, the club may be a dark horse candidate to win the AL Central next year.
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025...ador-perez-will-return-to-royals-in-2026.html
 
Brett Phillips Retires

Outfielder Brett Phillips has announced his retirement after seven Major League seasons. In an Instagram reel released today, Phillips credited his career to his family, his faith, and to many people in and out of baseball that helped him achieve his success. Beyond those named in his speech, the 31-year-old Phillips also had a whiteboard full of names of many former teammates and executives who played key roles in his career.

Phillips hit .187/.272/.347 with 31 homers over 971 plate appearances and 393 games during his MLB career, while playing for five different clubs at the big league level. Phillips’ speed was his chief offensive weapon, as he stole 39 bases on 45 career attempts. That speed also helped him deliver outstanding defense at all three outfield positions — over his 2321 1/3 innings as a big league outfielder, Phillips amassed +41 Defensive Runs Saved, +31 Outs Above Average, and a +13.0 UZR/150.

The Astros made Phillips a sixth-round pick in the 2012 draft, though before he could make his debut in the Show, Houston dealt Phillips as part of the huge trade at the 2015 deadline that brought Carlos Gomez and Mike Fiers from Milwaukee. Phillips was one of four pieces of the very prominent trade package acquired by the Brew Crew, as Josh Hader, Adrian Houser, and Domingo Santana were the other members of the haul. Not to overshadowed at the time of the trade, Phillips was drawing top-100 prospect attention heading into the 2016 season and for a couple of years afterwards.

Phillips got his first taste of the majors in 2017, and he appeared in 52 games for the Brewers over the next two seasons before the outfielder was moved to the Royals in another notable deadline deal that saw Mike Moustakas shipped from K.C. to Milwaukee. This tenure in Kansas City stretched over parts of three seasons before Phillips was dealt again to the Rays partway through the abbreviated 2020 season, which set the stage for the most memorable moments of Phillips’ career.

Tampa Bay won the AL pennant that year, with Phillips chipping in as a defensive specialist during the rest of the regular season and then as a defensive sub and pinch-runner throughout the playoffs. He had just three plate appearances during the postseason, and his one hit during that stretch couldn’t have been bigger. With the Dodgers holding a 7-6 lead over the Rays with two outs in the bottom of the ninth of Game 4, Phillips lined a single that tied the game, and ended up as the walkoff hit when Randy Arozarena also on the play due to a Will Smith catching error. Beyond the hit itself, Rays fans will always remember the image of Phillips’ celebratory airplane-style sprint around the outfield.

The following season saw Phillips deliver his best year at the plate, as he hit .206/.300/.427 with 13 homers and 14 steals (out of 17 attempts) in 292 PA while playing in a part-time outfield role in Tampa Bay. His numbers dropped off sharply in 2022, however, and the Rays designated him for assignment and then dealt Phillips to the Orioles.

Phillips moved on to play 39 games with the 2023 Angels in what proved to be his last MLB campaign, as subsequent minor league deals with the White Sox and Yankees didn’t result in any more calls to the Show. His stint with the Yankees saw the start of a new career path for Phillips, as he attempted to convert to pitching. Phillips’ final stop of his career came with Kane County of the independent American Association this year.

Beyond his energy and contributions on the field, Phillips became a fan favorite and social media darling due to his outgoing personality. “Baseball Is Fun” became Phillips’ unofficial catchphrase, and he finished his retirement announcement by repeating his mantra one more time. We at MLB Trade Rumors congratulate Phillips on a fine career and we wish him plenty of more fun in his post-playing endeavors.
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/10/brett-phillips-retires.html
 
Coaching Notes: Royals, Pirates, Diamondbacks

Royals GM J.J. Picollo told reporters (including Anne Rogers of MLB.com) after the regular season came to a close that he expected that “most of the [coaching] staff” (including hitting coach Alec Zumwait) will return to Kansas City in 2026. At the time, he acknowledged that there might be some “tweaks” to the staff in hopes of getting the most out of the club’s players. Today, Picollo provided more details on those tweaks when he told Rogers that the Royals won’t renew the contracts of assistant hitting coaches Keoni DeRenne and Joe Dillon for the 2026 campaign.

DeRenne has been in the Royals organization since 2020 and has spent the past four seasons as the club’s assistant hitting coach. He previously coached in the Cubs and Pirates organizations at the minor league level. Dillon, meanwhile, has been an assistant hitting coach for the Royals in each of the past two seasons and has previously served as an assistant hitting coach for the Nationals and spent two years as the hitting coach for the Phillies in addition to time in the Nationals and Marlins organizations coaching at the minor league level. Picollo praised the pair’s work in Kansas City, telling Rogers that both are “really good, tireless workers” who will “end up in a good spot somewhere in the game.” The duo figure to have plenty of opportunities to catch on somewhere with so many teams changing managers this winter. Many of those new managers will look to make tweaks to their team’s coaching staff, which could benefit coaches like DeRenne and Dillon.

As for the Royals themselves, the departures of their assistant hitting coaches will create an opportunity to bring in fresh voices to complement Zumwait. Kansas City finished the season with a team-wide wRC of just 93, even in spite of strong performances from core pieces like Vinnie Pasquantino, Maikel Garcia, and Bobby Witt Jr. at the place. That’s because much of the club’s supporting cast disappointed in a big way, while some players counted on to be threats high in the batting order like Jonathan India and Jac Caglianone failed to produce. While the Royals might hope that a veteran like India can return to form on his own, a young player like Caglianone could surely benefit from the guidance that new members of the coaching staff could offer.

More from around the league’s coaching staffs…

  • Pirates hitting coach Matt Hague is expected to continue in his current role with the club, according to a report from Alex Stumpf of MLB.com earlier today. Hague, 40, spent part of three seasons as a big league player before starting his coaching career in 2020 as a minor league coach with the Blue Jays. He spent the 2024 season with Toronto in the big leagues as an assistant hitting coach, before getting hired away by Pittsburgh last offseason to serve as their primary hitting coach in the majors. Hague’s Pirates were the second-worst team in baseball by wRC+ this year as even well-regarded hitters like Bryan Reynolds and Oneil Cruz took significant steps back at the plate. Even so, he’ll get another opportunity to guide the team’s offense in 2026, and with improving the lineup being a top priority for the Pirates this season he’ll hopefully have more talent to work with on the field next year.
  • The Diamondbacks are expecting to retain their 2025 coaching staff for next season, manager Torey Lovullo told Dave Burns and John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports last week. Lovullo left the door open for some roles on the coaching staff to change even as the entire group is retained for the 2026 campaign, though he suggested that coaches will generally remain in their same role they had this season. While the Diamondbacks disappointed with an 80-82 record this year, it’s hard not to see how injuries to key players like Corbin Burnes, A.J. Puk, and Justin Martinez wound up significantly impacting the team for the worse, and it’s not impossible to imagine that the club could have squeaked its way into the postseason had core pieces like Josh Naylor, Eugenio Suarez, and Merrill Kelly not been traded at this year’s deadline. Evidently, that’s enough for Lovullo and GM Mike Hazen to feel comfortable sticking with their current staff for at least one more year.
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/10/coaching-notes-royals-pirates-diamondbacks.html
 
Offseason Outlook: Kansas City Royals

An 82-80 record is nothing to sneeze at in Kansas City, as it represented just the sixth time in the last 31 years that the Royals topped the .500 mark. Still, the Royals took a step back after reaching the playoffs in 2024, and will again be looking to bolster their lackluster offense.

Guaranteed Contracts

  • Bobby Witt Jr., SS: $272MM through 2034 (Witt can opt out after each of the final four years of the contract; Royals can trigger $89MM club option for 2035-37 seasons if Witt triggers all player options)
  • Seth Lugo, SP: $43MM through 2027 (includes $3MM buyout of $17MM club/vesting option for 2028)
  • Michael Wacha, SP: $33MM through 2027 (includes $1MM buyout of $14MM club option for 2028)
  • Carlos Estevez, RP: $12MM through 2026 (includes $2M buyout of $13MM club option for 2027)
  • Cole Ragans, SP: $12MM through 2027 (Royals hold arbitration control over Ragans for 2028 season)

Option Decisions


2026 financial commitments (assuming only Perez's option is exercised): $79MM
Total future commitments (assuming only Perez's option is exercised): $385.5MM

Arbitration-Eligible Players (service time in parentheses; projections from MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz)


Free Agents


The Royals got an early jump on their offseason work when they agreed to a contract extension with Seth Lugo just before the trade deadline. Lugo's previous deal allowed him to opt out of the contract's final year and enter free agency this winter, and the Royals seemed to at least test the trade market just in case an extension couldn't be finalized. As it turned out, the veteran righty will now be staying in K.C. through at least the 2027 campaign, further solidifying the Royals' starting corps.

The rotation was more good than elite this season, as injuries played a role. Lugo himself missed about a month and a half due to back and finger issues, Kris Bubic's All-Star season was ended by a rotator cuff strain in late July, and 2024 All-Star Cole Ragans was limited to 13 starts and 61 2/3 innings due to a rotator cuff strain of his own. The silver lining to these health issues was that Noah Cameron got the opportunity to break into the rotation, as the rookie delivered a 2.99 ERA over his first 138 1/3 frames in the majors.

Better health is obviously no guarantee for 2026, yet assuming the Royals deal with just an average amount of injury misfortune, their rotation looks like one of the more solid on-paper units in baseball. The Royals have fewer questions about their starting pitching than most clubs, due to both a high talent floor and plenty of depth. Mutual options are almost always declined anyway, but Michael Lorenzen probably would've been moving on regardless considering all of the other pitching options on hand.

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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/10/offseason-outlook-kansas-city-royals-15.html
 
Owner John Sherman Discusses Royals’ Payroll

Royals owner John Sherman spoke to Anne Rogers of MLB.com and addressed various topics related to the club. He voiced his support for general manager J.J. Picollo and manager Matt Quatraro. He expressed optimism about the way things have been trending for the club, while simultaneously noting that they need to do more. He also said he would love for Salvador Perez to continue on with the club, something that already seems inevitable.

Perhaps most notably for fans, he said the payroll is “in a good spot.” Rogers notes that Picollo said last week that he and Sherman hadn’t discussed a firm payroll number but he added that what the club has now is “plenty” and it is the responsibility of the front office “to make that work.”

Those comments seem to suggest that the 2026 payroll will likely stay in a similar range to 2025. According to RosterResource, the Royals spent $138MM on their players this year and have $127MM committed to next year’s club, which doesn’t appear to include Perez’s $13.5MM club option. There’s a $2MM buyout on that option, so picking it up would add $11.5MM to the club’s ledger.

That would put the Royals fairly close to this year’s payroll before even doing anything, but not all of their arbitration-eligible players will be tendered contracts. In MLBTR’s recent Offseason Outlook for the Royals, Jonathan India, Kyle Wright, Bailey Falter, Sam Long, Michael Massey, MJ Melendez and James McArthur are listed as non-tender candidates. That would be a projected $18.9MM saved if all were let go, though the Royals may not part with every name on that list. A trade or two could also open up some more breathing room.

Time will tell exactly how things shake out but it doesn’t appear there will be a massive amount of powder dry for the front office. Going into 2026, adding offense is the goal, an annual concern in Kansas City. The pitching staff had a collective 3.73 earned run average this year, good for sixth among MLB teams. But the bats had a collective .247/.309/.397 batting line. The resultant wRC+ of 93 was better than just eight big league clubs.

Second base could be a target area if the club does decide to move on from India and/or Massey, but as is customary for the Royals, the outfield will be a focus. The club bolstered their group on the grass with midseason trades for Mike Yastrzemski, Randal Grichuk and Adam Frazier but all three are impending free agents. That will leave them with a lackluster group consisting of Jac Caglianone, Kyle Isbel, John Rave, Drew Waters and a few others.

The free agent market is headlined by Kyle Tucker, but no one will be expecting the Royals to be in the running there. Guys like Cody Bellinger and Trent Grisham are likely a bit outside their price range as well. Going after someone like Harrison Bader, Cedric Mullins or bringing back Yastrzemski should be more.

The trade market could also have some possibilities. The Cardinals appear to be entering a rebuild period and could make players such as Lars Nootbaar or Alec Burleson available. The Twins also might be taking a step back, so Trevor Larnach or Matt Wallner might be out there. Further possibilities will surely emerge in the coming weeks and months.

The details will become more clear as the offseason rolls along but the Royals will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing 82-80 season. “We’re looking forward to the future, and I feel pretty good about it,” Sherman said. “It’s hard to look at this season by itself. When you think about what we’ve accomplished the last couple of years, I feel really good about the fact that the franchise has been turned around. We’re going in the right direction. We should be proud of that. But we’re also very unsatisfied.”

Photo courtesy of Denny Medley, Imagn Images
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/10/owner-john-sherman-discusses-royals-payroll.html
 
Chris Owings Announces Retirement

Infielder Chris Owings announced his retirement on his Instagram page last week. He last played in affiliated ball in the Dodgers organization in 2024. Now, it appears the 11-year big-league veteran will hang up his spikes at the age of 34. “This game has given me more than I could’ve ever imagined,” said Owings, who went on to thank his family, coaches, and the various organizations of which he had been a part during his career.

chris_owings_diamondbacks_2018-200x300.jpg


Owings was drafted in the first round by the Diamondbacks in 2009, making his major-league debut four years later. He would spend six seasons with Arizona, playing a total of 575 games out in the desert and batting .250/.291/.378 with a 73 wRC+. During that time, he maxed out at 552 plate appearances in 147 games in 2015. The following year, he led the majors in triples (11) while batting .277/.315/.416 in 119 games and splitting time between shortstop and center field. After leaving the Diamondbacks following the 2018 season, he went on to spend brief major-league stints with the Royals, Red Sox, Rockies, Orioles, and Pirates, often acting as a utility player. His last big-league appearances came in 2023 with Pittsburgh. He signed a minor league pact with the Dodgers in February 2024 and played in 80 games at the Triple-A level before being released in July of that year.

In all, Owings played in 723 games and earned just over $11MM in his career. He batted .239/.286/.364 with 550 hits, 37 home runs, 220 RBI, and 79 stolen bases. He was also a serviceable defender, grading out as below-average in 2,105 1/3 innings at shortstop (-11 career DRS) but above average in 1,647 2/3 innings at the keystone (9 DRS). We at MLBTR congratulate Owings on a solid career and wish him the best in retirement.

Photo courtesy of Isaiah J. Downing, Imagn Images
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/10/chris-owings-announces-retirement.html
 
Rockies Have Interviewed James Click, Scott Sharp, Matt Forman In Front Office Search

The Rockies are looking outside the organization for a new front office leader. Brittany Ghiroli of The Athletic reports that they have interviewed James Click of the Blue Jays, Scott Sharp of the Royals and Matt Forman of the Guardians. It’s possible that the club has spoken with others but that’s at least three external candidates to have interviewed.

Colorado just wrapped up a third straight season of at least 101 losses. They haven’t had a winning record since 2018. Understandably, changes are necessary, even for a famously loyal and insular club like the Rockies. Manager Bud Black was fired in May. A few weeks ago, it was revealed that general manager Bill Schmidt and the club would also be parting ways. When the Rockies announced the Schmidt news, they noted that they would be looking for an external candidate to be the new head of their baseball operations. That’s a notable shift for the Rockies, who have received criticism for always promoting from within. It seems they are following through on the plan to look elsewhere, based on these potential candidates.

Of the three, Click is the one with experience running a front office. After many years working for the Rays, the Astros hired Click to be their general manager going into the 2020 season. The Astros were already a good club at that time but previous general manager Jeff Luhnow had been fired in the wake of the sign-stealing scandal.

While Click had a head-start by inheriting a very strong team, he at least kept the good times rolling. They made it to the ALCS in the shortened 2020 season. In 2021, they won the West and made it to the World Series, though they lost to Atlanta. They managed to win it all in 2022, toppling the Phillies in the World Series that year.

Despite that continued success, Click and owner Jim Crane reportedly didn’t get along behind the scenes, leading to a rare instance of a club parting ways with a front office leader on the heels of a World Series title. A few months after leaving Houston, Click joined the Blue Jays as vice president of baseball strategy. He was reportedly a candidate for the Red Sox job a couple of years ago before pulling himself out of the running due to family considerations. The Sox eventually hired Craig Breslow to run their front office.

Sharp has been with the Royals since 2006, initially hired in a player development role. He got the assistant general manager title in 2015 and later added senior vice-president to his nameplate. Years ago, he received reported interest from clubs like the Mets and Angels. Last winter, he was connected the Giants general manager job working under president of baseball operations Buster Posey. Sharp withdrew his name from the running due to family considerations and Zack Minasian ultimately got that job. Last month, Sharp was connected to the Nationals’ front office search, before they hired Paul Toboni as president of baseball operations.

Forman joined Cleveland back in 2013 in a scouting role, getting promoted to assistant general manager after the 2016 season. He later added the title of executive vice-president to his office door. Like Sharp, he was connected to the Washington job last month before Toboni was hired.

Time will tell if any of these three are frontrunners or if they are just some of many names under consideration. What is also unknown is how much interest these three, or front office candidates in general, will be interested in joining the Rockies. Building a winner in Colorado will be a unique challenge. The altitude conditions are famously awful for pitchers. Even the hitters face a unique challenge, as breaking balls move differently in the mountains than at sea level. That means the bats are constantly adjusting when going on the road and back, leading many Rockies to have very wide platoon splits. It’s also been supposed that the thin Denver air present difficulties for injury management.

Those particular conditions may scare off some executives. On the other hand, the unique conditions might also attract a certain individual who is drawn to solving the puzzle and getting the recognition that would go along with that feat. There’s also the standard observation that there are only 30 jobs running a front office, so an individual who wants such a job may not want to close any doors. Teams generally don’t stand in the way of their employees interviewing for promotions elsewhere, so it’s unlikely the Jays, Royals or Guardians would stand in the way of these guys pursuing the job.

Photo courtesy of Troy Taormina, Imagn Images
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025...sharp-matt-forman-in-front-office-search.html
 
Poll: Where Will Nick Castellanos Play Next Year?

It appears the Nick Castellanos era in Philadelphia is coming to a close. Reporting yesterday indicated that the Phillies plan to either trade or release Castellanos this winter, ahead of the final season of his five-year contract with the club, following a year where he clashed with club manager Rob Thomson and struggled to produce at the plate or in the field. It remains to be seen whether Castellanos will be traded or released to sign somewhere else on the league minimum, but either way, it seems likely at this point that his next MLB game will come in a different uniform. Which team fits him best? A look at some of the most intriguing landing spots:

Cleveland Guardians

The Guardians are perhaps the most straightforward fit for Castellanos available. They’ve already made clear they hope to upgrade their outfield mix. As a club without much money to spend most years, the fact that Castellanos could be had for a fraction of his salary (or perhaps even the league minimum) has to be enticing. Lackluster as Castellanos’s production was this year, he could be a good fit for a club that produced a wRC+ of just 70 from right field this year between players like Nolan Jones and Jhonkensy Noel. Castellanos perhaps fits best as a DH given his poor defensive abilities, but that opportunity could be available to him as well with Kyle Manzardo likely to take over first base duties after being blocked by Josh Naylor and Carlos Santana in previous years.

Kansas City Royals

Sticking in the AL Central, Castellanos would be an interesting fit for the Royals as well. Kansas City has struggled to find any sort of production in the outfield for years now. This past year, they got a 69 wRC+ (30th in MLB) from right field with a 75 wRC+ (29th in MLB) from left field. Castellanos would surely provide a major upgrade to either of those spots and is capable of playing every day if needed, which would be a step in the right direction for a team that has too often needed to platoon all around the roster recently. One major flaw with Castellanos’s fit in Kansas City, however, is the presence of Salvador Perez. Perez is expected to remain with the Royals next year, whether via club option or a fresh deal, and started 66 games at either DH or first base this year. Any first base starts would push Vinnie Pasquantino to DH, meaning that Castellanos would have to play the field frequently to be a fit for Kansas City’s roster.

San Diego Padres

The Padres might seem like an odd fit for Castellanos’s services at first glance, but San Diego has frequently had to get creative with some of its additions in recent years to balance its budget while filling holes in the roster. That figures to be true once again this winter, with both Dylan Cease and Michael King leaving major holes in the rotation as they head into free agency. Starting pitching figures to be the focus for the Padres this winter, which leaves the club to replace Luis Arraez and Ryan O’Hearn in the lineup at DH on what might be a shoestring budget.

Enter Castellanos, who won’t cost much but could capably handle regular duties at DH while also potentially spelling Fernando Tatis Jr. and Ramon Laureano in the outfield corners. San Diego hasn’t been afraid to take risks on players in need of a rebound in the past. While not all of those shots have landed, they have found success with some, such as Gavin Sheets. If there’s a flaw with Castellanos’s fit in San Diego, it’s perhaps that Sheets played just 13 games at first base this year and the club might view him as their DH headed into the offseason.

Other Options

These teams aren’t the only ones for whom Castellanos would make sense, though they are perhaps the best fits. The Cubs are about to lose Kyle Tucker to free agency but they could slide Seiya Suzuki into the outfield more often, opening the DH spot for Moises Ballesteros. Guys like Owen Caissie and Kevin Alcantara are also around to bolster the outfield mix and are probably better than Castellanos at this point anyway. The Diamondbacks could use Castellanos as a right-handed complement to their heavily left-handed outfield and DH mix, but he might be able to do better than a pure bench role and Blaze Alexander might be better suited for that job anyway. Perhaps the Rangers could sign Castellanos to share time with Joc Pederson at DH and back up lefty outfielders like Evan Carter and Alejandro Osuna if they end up non-tendering Adolis Garcia, though even if that happens they might still prefer to try to reunite with him at a lower price point, given his superior defense. The Pirates got very little production from their offense last year but would be a better fit if Andrew McCutchen departs the club. The Giants got minimal production from right field this year but Rafael Devers is likely to be their everyday DH next year.

Where do MLBTR readers think Castellanos would fit best in 2026? Have your say in the poll below:

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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/10/poll-where-will-nick-castellanos-play-next-year.html
 
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