It’s February! This means that for the first time since November, Royals (and Major League) baseball will be played this month.
Granted, I have enjoyed the NHL, WHL (part of the Canadian Hockey League), and NBA seasons (college basketball…not so much). Still, I am ready for baseball to begin, even if it will primarily be in Arizona (where the Royals play) and Florida (Grapefruit League). February is also a time when fantasy baseball drafting heats up, and I’m starting to prep for drafts in my respective leagues. Thankfully, I just received my Baseball Forecaster, and I look forward to my Baseball Prospectus annual, which will also arrive soon.
In this edition of the Jottings, I recap my experience at the Royals Rally, which took place this past Saturday at Kauffman Stadium. I also examined the report of the “deal” the Royals tried to offer free agent outfielder Anthony Santander and whether one more deal could be looming for the Royals before Cactus League games begin. Lastly, I talk about the Negro League Baseball Museum once again offering free admission during Black History Month and a look at my series that explored significant African-American ballplayers in Royals history.
Rally Needs a New Format for 2026
I am not the one to complain much on this blog.
I like to think of myself as an optimistic Royals fan, and people who have followed this Royals blog since it started back in 2019 know that I keep a glass-half-full mindset with this ballclub in most cases. Furthermore, I also understand how many ballclubs are doing away with preseason “rallies” or “conventions” to save a buck. I appreciate the Royals keeping this tradition alive, even if it differs significantly from the pre-pandemic FanFest. There were also some positive moments from the Saturday event, as I shared on Sunday via Bluesky.
At the same time, the event’s format feels a bit stale and rushed.
I don’t necessarily hate it at the K. It’s nice to be back to Kauffman after so many months, and even going through the gates, one can feel that excitement for Opening Day in late March. Conversely, it’s one of those things where fans can’t do everything in two hours, and you end up missing out on something, much to the fans’ chagrin.
Want to get autographs? You will miss out on the player, coaches, and management speaker panels (which are the best part). Do you want to stay for all the panels? You won’t have enough time to shop in the Royals store. For $25 bucks, it seems like you should be able to get more, though I don’t fault any of the workers there who did a great job producing a friendly experience.
If the Royals want to continue to do it at Kauffman, they need to do something where it becomes easier to do multiple things without sacrificing too much. Maybe hold it in the outfield experience area, allowing people to move onto the team store afterward (they closed the team store to non-Rally ticket goers).
If that area requires too much staffing (or if the weather doesn’t allow it, which I get as it has been cold at every Rally I’ve been to), move it to a convention center, whether in downtown KC or elsewhere. Some Royals fans mentioned that they used to hold FanFest in the Overland Park Convention Center. I wouldn’t hate that idea, especially since it would be a much easier parking experience, and I think placating fans on both sides of the state is an important endeavor.
Regardless of the solution, something has to happen in 2026 to make the Rally exciting again. The format worked initially post-pandemic and with teams that lost many games the previous season.
Now, with the Royals trending upward, the organization needs to capitalize on this momentum and make the Rally a more grand event, much like it was during the FanFest days.
Royals Made Run For Santander; Is There Another Move Looming?
Late on Friday night, Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reported that the Royals pursued free agent outfielder Santander and offered a three-year deal before the Blue Jays swooped in with the five-year offer that he eventually accepted.
Here’s what Rosenthals specifically said in his piece via the Athletic:
The Kansas City Royals made Santander a three-year offer and increased it to $66 million, according to sources briefed on the talks. But by the time they presented Santander with their enhanced proposal, which included an opt-out after the second year and deferrals that were still being negotiated, he had committed to the Blue Jays.
I think this report shows two things to Royals fans. One is any Royals fan saying that JJ Picollo was sitting on his hands after the India deal was debunked. As much as we, as Royals fans, want to see moves, it’s a two-way street in any transaction. A team can make the right offer to a player, but they have to want to accept it and play for that club. With a trade, a deal could be proposed, but it won’t happen if the other club doesn’t take it.
Unlike last season, when it seemed like Picollo could make deals early and often to success, it’s been a much harder road this time. Thus, it’s not necessarily “inaction” that has plagued the Royals’ offseason, but rather rough luck when it comes to those deals coming to fruition.
This leads to the second point: kudos to Picollo and the Royals front office for not panicking in deals this offseason.
Would it have been nice to have Santander in right field on Opening Day? Absolutely. Should we have paid him a five-year guaranteed deal? That’s harder to justify, especially since he’s a bat-only player at this point in his career. Eating a contract like Santander’s is more manageable for more lucrative franchises like the Blue Jays. For a less-valuable one like the Royals, that deal could be back-breaking for the franchise if it doesn’t pan out, especially in the later years of the agreement.
The Royals need to get better in the outfield. That said, they shouldn’t hamper their franchise long-term in the process, especially for a player like Santander, who is good but not great.
That mindset also explains why the Royals haven’t pulled the trigger on any trades this offseason. Picollo is doing what good small-market GMs frequently do: making moves that improve the short and long-term of their organization. The last thing we want as a Royals fanbase is another competitive three-to-four-year stretch followed by a near decade of incompetence (as was the case under Dayton Moore).
I also don’t think the Royals are done by any means. The Royals were willing to pay for Estevez and Santander, as it sounds like the deals may have been offered around the same time, but Estevez didn’t accept it until this week. Thus, they may try to acquire another free agent before the team reports for workouts on February 17th.
Randal Grichuk, Harrison Bader, and Mark Canha are outfielders still available who could make sense for the Royals in 2025. Yoan Moncada is a bounce-back candidate at third base who could help Maikel Garcia be more of a utility player, which may suit him better in the long term.
One name I have heard from sources closer to the Royals org than me is Jack Flaherty, who is still unsigned after pitching for the Tigers and Dodgers last year.
It sounds like the Royals are interested in targeting Flaherty to lean in on pitching in 2025 and then perhaps utilize that depth to trade from a source of strength at the Trade Deadline if their “homegrown hitters” (i.e., MJ Melendez and Garcia) don’t pan out. I don’t see it because I think the Royals only offer Flaherty a one-year deal, and ultimately, Flaherty will probably hold out for a multi-year contract, even if he may get a late start to Spring Training. Then again, we saw how a late start affected Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery in 2024. Thus, Flaherty may sign if the Royals are the only team with a deal to his liking.
Whether it’s a bat or another arm, Royals fans shouldn’t be surprised to see another new name announced before they arrive in Surprise on February 17th.
NLBM Free Admission During Black History Month
Once again, I am going to plug the Negro League Baseball Museum here in Kansas City, Missouri, in the historic 18th and Vine district. During February, they will offer all visitors free admission to celebrate Black History Month.
This has been a tradition since the pandemic, and honestly, whether admission is free or not, visiting this museum (and the American Jazz Museum next door) is essential to any visit to Kansas City. For Kansas City denizens, the museum continues to evolve every year. I often visit at least once a year (sometimes more) and encourage anyone living in the KC Metro to get a membership.
Speaking of Black History Month, I created a series called the African-American Royals Project during the pandemic back in 2020. I encourage readers to check out one or two pieces from that series. With no baseball going on, it was an opportunity for me to write about baseball. At the same time, I also learned more about players who made a tremendous cultural impact on the Royals baseball club and Kansas City in general.
I wrote five profiles at the time, and I’m thinking about restarting this series this month with at least a couple of additions to the project. With how things are going socially right now, especially since January 20th, I think writing about players who impacted the Royals and the KC community (and beyond) should be highlighted and celebrated.
Stay tuned as I hope to post my first addition to the African-American Royals Project in the next week or two.