Further Royals offseason business still feels uncertain after owner's latest remarks

Over the weekend, the Royals faithful congregated for Royals Rally 2026 where they had an opportunity to hear from players and the team's brain trust ahead of the new season that's now right around the corner.

While certain players got the fanbase revved up and excited for the upcoming year, such as Salvador Perez saying that the front office "did a pretty good job this offseason to get all the pieces we need to go back to the playoffs", according to Anne Rogers of MLB.com, there were still some quotes that, while not concerning in nature, certainly will make fans think a little.

One of these statements came from owner John Sherman, who provided his take on the work that's happened this offseason, but also whether or not he feels there's still more work to do.

John Sherman's comments on Royals offseason didn't provide fans with much clarity on potential moves to come

While not dismissing the notion that front office could have more up their sleeves to improve this team ahead of Opening Day, Sherman left a lot of ambiguity in his calculated remarks.

"I know J.J. [has] a couple of objectives," Sherman said Saturday according to Rogers. "I can’t tell you, depending upon the day, whether those opportunities are narrower or wider."

"If he could add another bat, I think he’d do it," he said.

The key word in that statement is "could", as it seems to conicide with what some insiders are saying about potential moves, or lack their of.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic said last month that odds of the Royals pulling off a trade for top targets such as Boston's Jarren Duran "are increasingly unlikely". However, he seemed to keep the door open to potential moves with the ever-important term, "barring further moves".

Rogers stated something similar in her article discussing the various statements made at Royals Rally.

"The Royals haven’t indicated they’re done adding," she wrote. "But the opportunity to add another bat this offseason has not arrived – whether that’s because trade pieces have been unavailable, or the price for them has been set too high by other teams."

That being said, while the first part of Sherman's statement skews towards the fact that the plans are seemingly there but perhaps they won't come to fruition, the second-half of it could be perceived as bit more bullish and frankly optimistic, while still seeing the owner not committing to anything.

"We had some regression last year, but we also think there are some areas that we’re going to fix," Sherman said. "I can’t predict whether he’s done or not. But if the opportunity was there, I think we would still add to our team."

The "we're going to fix" section of that statement is surely what Royals fans clamoring for a consensus splash to be made will hang their hats on.

While names are flying off the board, such as free agents Austin Hays and Luis Arráez
over the weekend and Brendan Donovan nearing a move to Seattle at the time of writing on Monday, the market isn't completely barren a few weeks out from spring training.

Whether it be that blockbuster (although unlikely) trade for Duran, exploring more subtle moves on the free agent market or utilizing their starting pitching surplus to improve other areas - which Sherman also alluded to in his remarks - the fact remains that business is still there to be made.

Time will tell whether or not any further deals get done, however the uncommitting remarks from ownership didn't really provide much of answer to ease the minds of the Royals faithful.