Are the Royals Keeping Up in the AL Central Race?

The Kansas City Royals started their offseason strongly in November, followed by a quiet six-week stretch. Now into January, the team hasn’t made any other major league additions and the roster looks to be still a work in progress. That’s fine in January. Into February, it would be concerning. Plenty of free agents, including big names like Alex Bregman and Jack Flaherty, remain on the market. The offseason hasn’t been quick-moving in the least. Perhaps that explains the quiet nature of Kansas City’s offseason thus far. Or, perhaps the team is simply banking on internal pieces to step up and make another playoff push next season.

How has the rest of the American League Central fared this offseason? That’s what matters most in the grand scheme of things. The goal entering any season is to win in the division. Win in your division, and you’ll be in a great place to make the postseason come October. In that context, are the Royals in better or worse shape than in 2024?

Roster additions: INF Josh Rojas, SP Bryse Wilson, RP Dan Altavilla, OF Mike Tauchman, OF Austin Slater, RP Cam Booser, C Matt Thaiss, SP Wikelman Gonzalez, C Kyle Teel, OF Braden Montgomery, INF Chase Meidroth, RP Penn Murfee, SP Shane Smith (R5)

Roster subtractions: SP Garrett Crochet, C Chuckie Robinson, C Max Stassi, 3B Yoan Moncada, SP Chris Flexen, RP Michael Soroka, RP Dominic Leone, SP Mike Clevinger, INF Nicky Lopez

Future-facing moves have characterized the White Sox offseason. That comes as no surprise for a franchise that lost an MLB-record 121 games in 2024. Still, the moves they’ve made have been good ones. The Garrett Crochet trade brought some serious prospect capital, including Kyle Teel, Braden Montgomery, and Chase Meidroth. In free agency, they’ve added some role-players like Slater and Rojas. Some current free agents are still on the market, including Yoan Moncada. Then, there’s the current roster which still includes outfielder Luis Robert Jr.

The Andrew Benintendi contract continues to weigh heavy, but the White Sox have done a solid job adding some post-hype sleeper-type prospects. Catcher Korey Lee and second baseman Miguel Vargas have yet to capture their one-time highly touted prospect status. Starters Jake Eder and Drew Thorpe add some of that same prospect pedigree to the starting rotation. Then, there are the in-house prospects who have yet to truly pan out like Andrew Vaughn and Oscar Colás. Vaughn showed some flashes in the last three seasons, but the White Sox will hope that he and a few of the other post-hype prospects can take steps forward in 2025.

Roster additions: 1B Mike Ford (MiLB), SP Huascar Ynoa (MiLB), SP Eiberson Castellano (R5), C Mickey Gasper

Roster subtractions: 1B Carlos Santana, SP Anthony DeSclafani, RP Caleb Thielbar, OF Max Kepler, INF Kyle Farmer, OF Manuel Margot, RP Jovani Moran, 1B Alex Kirilloff

The Twins stumbled to the finish line last season. After starting the season as the division favorite, they went on to miss the playoffs while three clubs ahead of them punched their ticket to October. Following that finish, the offseason has been anything but kind to the Twins faithful. The team’s only additions have been marginal moves, adding from the Rule 5 draft and minor league contracts. The subtractions have a few notable names, including Santana, Kepler, and Kirilloff. It’s difficult to look at the current Twins and see how they improve on their 82 wins from a season ago.

The MLB roster still houses the team’s core. Carlos Correa, Byron Buxton, Pablo López, and Joe Ryan all figure to be back next season. Younger prospects like Brooks Lee, Royce Lewis, and Austin Martin will hope to stick in the big leagues and help the team move forward despite no real outside additions to this point. Lewis especially was a solid contributor in 2024, but couldn’t maintain his outstanding 2023 showing over a larger sample. The Twins need to add some real firepower between now and Spring Training to keep pace in the division.

Roster additions: 2B Gleyber Torres, SP Jordan Balazovic, SP Alex Cobb

Roster subtractions:

The Tigers have had a strong offseason, despite no real departures from last year’s club. To this point, Ryan Vilade and Bryan Sammons have both become free agents. However, both players were outrighted to the minors and opted for free agency instead. The Tigers will return their entire core from last year’s playoff roster. The addition of Torres helps to anchor the infield alongside some promising young names like Jace Jung and Colt Keith. In the outfield, Parker Meadows and Riley Green return alongside Matt Vierling.

The roster needs a few more bullpen arms to become well-rounded, but Tarik Skubal figures to anchor the rotation again, fresh off a Cy Young Award. Casey Mize saw his option declined, but he’ll get another chance to figure things out. He remains in the organization under arbitration. Then, a full season of Jackson Jobe at the big league level could raise the ceiling of the starting rotation further for Detroit. The Tigers are a serious threat to win the division next season. They’ve also made some moves to further raise their potential in the new season ahead.

Roster additions: 2B Jonathan India, OF Joey Wiemer, RP Taylor Clarke (MiLB), RP Junior Fernandez (MiLB)

Roster subtractions: SP Brady Singer, 1B Yuli Gurriel, OF Tommy Pham, RP Will Smith, SP Michael Lorenzen, UTIL Garrett Hampson, INF Paul DeJong, UTIL Adam Frazier

The Royals have had a quiet six weeks since acquiring India and Wiemer from the Reds in mid-November. The addition of India helps to raise the lineup’s floor. However, it comes at a cost in lowering the starting rotation’s floor. The organization opted to trade from strength, with a handful of arms in-house to round out their starting rotation. Prospect Noah Cameron factors in there, as does the returning Kyle Wright. Those two will compete with Alec Marsh and Kris Bubic for the final two rotation slots. There has been a ton of smoke around a Lorenzen reunion, a move that would further bolster the rotation depth.

In all, the Royals aren’t much better or worse than a year ago. They’re simply different. The roster losses outside of Brady Singer are more-or-less washes. The value that Hampson and Frazier offered was more in filling out innings rather than adding offensive value. Depth utility players can still be added from the free-agent market between now and February. Still, the roster isn’t much better. At this point, the Royals are banking on young players continuing to take serious steps forward. MJ Melendez and Maikel Garcia are as important as ever entering 2025. If the two don’t add more offensive value, the team could see a step backward next season with a rotation unlikely to repeat its dominance from a season ago.

Roster additions: 1B Carlos Santana, SP Slade Cecconi, SP Luis Ortiz, SP Josh Hartle

Roster subtractions: 1B Josh Naylor, 2B Andrés Giménez, RP Nick Sandlin, RP James Karinchak, SP Alex Cobb, SP Matthew Boyd

The Guardians look posed to take a step backward in 2025. Granted, the same could’ve been said for 2024 when they went on to win the Division. The franchise looks to have taken a bit of a rebuilding approach this offseason, trading away Naylor and Giménez. In return, they’ve added young arms like Cecconi, Ortiz, and Hartle. There’s a good chance the young arms can pan out thanks to Cleveland’s strong pitching development. However, that won’t impact the Major League roster much in 2025. 2024’s pitching staff will more-or-less return, minus Cobb and Boyd.

As part of the rebuilding approach, Cleveland has positioned themselves to live and die with some young names in the lineup. Of course, there’s Superstar José Ramirez. Behind him, Brayan Rocchio, Kyle Manzardo, and Jhonkensy Noel are all young prospects that the Guardians are hoping will continue to develop into everyday big leaguers. Some veteran names like Santana, Lane Thomas, and Austin Hedges will round out the roster around the young guns as Cleveland hopes to recapture a division title in 2025.

In all, the Royals’ offseason plans don’t seem all that exciting. They’ve made just one real move in the Singer trade. Outside of that, they kept Michael Wacha and look to return all of their everyday options from a season ago. Despite that, in context with their division opponents Kansas City looks to be in good shape. The Twins and Guardians both look worse than a season ago. The White Sox have improved their future outlook, but even a 20-win improvement over 2024 would put them again in the Division’s basement.

Only the Tigers have “won” the offseason more than Kansas City to this point. The Tigers are a real threat as next season approaches. They returned most of the big league roster from 2024 and added some notable pieces to that group without losing pieces in return. Torres and Cobb help strengthen the roster and should move the Tigers above the 90-win mark in 2025. For the Royals, the additions have come at the cost of Brady Singer. The two clubs have one thing in common: banking on young names to take steps forward.

The Tigers will lean on Colt Keith and Jace Jung to help raise the ceiling of their roster. The Royals will do the same with struggling young big leaguers including MJ Melendez and Maikel Garcia. All of that in context makes one thing clear — the Royals need more to feel confident heading into next season. As things stand now, Kansas City is a clear competitor for the Central. They aren’t the favorite. The Tigers should be seen as the favorite heading into 2025 with Cleveland and Minnesota poised to regress notably.

Related