3 important things the KC Royals should do right now

The KC Royals were uncharacteristically busy last offseason. They signed Michael A. Taylor a year ago Tuesday, Mike Minor the next day, and Carlos Santana less than a week later. By the end of December, Greg Holland had re-signed and Ervin Santana became a Royal for the second time. Wade Davis returned in January, and the club signed Hanser Alberto and traded for Andrew Benintendi before spring camp opened.

Now, though, the Royals are back to being the Royals. All is quiet at Kauffman Stadium—while the transaction world explodes around them, the Royals shows no obvious signs of making any major moves to improve through free agency or trades. But slow baseball winters are the norm for this club—Kansas City is a perennially conservative franchise seemingly content to win only occasionally because it can’t, or won’t, spend the kind of money required to win regularly.

Things may not change much, at least not in the near future. New President of Baseball Operations Dayton Moore is still in charge of the baseball side of the business; yes, he’s won two pennants and a World Series, but the Royals have had winning seasons only three times since he became General Manager in mid-2006. And looming on the horizon are an almost certain work stoppage and transaction freeze which will delay indefinitely any moves the Royals might be contemplating. That curtain could drop at Midnight Wednesday absent a new labor agreement.

There are three things the Royals can do before then to improve the club and show fans they mean business in 2022.

The KC Royals should pronounce Bobby Witt Jr. a major leaguer without delay.

Bobby Witt Jr. is a big league legacy, the son and namesake of an accomplished starting pitcher who enjoyed a 16-season career before retiring 20 years ago. The son, a can’t miss five-tool player Kansas City took with the second overall selection in the 2019 draft, promises to be better than the father.

Now, the time has come for Witt Jr. to step on the major league stage. He’s done everything he can in 160 minor league games and has nothing left to prove on the farm. After spending 2019 in Rookie ball and 2020 at Kansas City’s Alternate Training Site, Witt overcame a slow 2021 start at Double-A Northwest Arkansas by hitting 16 homers, driving in 51 runs, and slashing .295/.369/.570 in 61 games to earn a well-deserved promotion to Triple-A Omaha.

Witt didn’t miss a beat with the Storm Chasers, clubbing 17 more home runs and slashing .285/.352/.581 with 46 RBIs in 62 games.

The Royals haven’t publicly committed to including Witt in their Opening Day lineup next season, but even though it’s a bit unorthodox, they should so now. Waiting to see how he performs in spring training is irrelevant because he’ll frequently face the plethora of young, untested prospects big league teams utilize heavily in the spring.

The presence of Nicky Lopez at shortstop and probably Whit Merrifield at second means Witt, a shortstop by trade, may start his big league career at third base. But wherever he plays, his time needs to be now, and the Royals need to declare it so. That message is important.

A solid free agent signing could be more than symbolic for the KC Royals.

With few exceptions, Kansas City eschews spending lavishly on the free agent market (or anywhere else for that matter). Instead, and sometimes to a fault, the Royals prefer to develop from within, but keeping its checkbook closed to most high-dollar free agents deprives the club of players who just might bring some more wins.

Whether the Royals can spend more than they do is a discussion for another day, but that they occasionally should is obvious. They don’t have to splurge unnecessarily or recklessly, or even sign a free agent every year, but an occasional well-considered free agent expenditure could go a long way.

Take a present need, for example. The Royals’ rotation is a concern the club might address via free agency. Former Royal Cy Young winner Zack Greinke is available; because he can still pitch and set an important example for the club’s up-and-coming young pitchers, Greinke might be an excellent addition for 2022.

So, too, might Minnesota free agent Michael Pineda, or Danny Duffy if he’s healthy and wants to return to Kansas City. And we wrote recently that Alex Wood could help the Royals. (We suggested Kevin Gausman at the same time, but he apparently went off the market during Sunday night’s free agent signing bonanza).

The Royals shouldn’t sign any of these, or any other, free agents just for the sake of procuring some free agent. Instead, any free agent signing should fill an immediate need. It would also send the welcome message the club means serious business next season.

The Royals could send important messages with three immediate moves.