Important dates for Royals fans to know in the 2025-26 offseason

The World Series is set and the baseball world will be fixated on who takes home the honor of being the 121st Fall Classic.

But for 28 other teams, the focus on the 2026 season has begun, but in order to get their, everyone needs to get through the offseason.

There's plenty of hustle and bustle ahead for everyone, and that means there are several key dates that Royals fans need to keep in the back of their minds as the coming months unfold.

Important dates for Royals fans to know in the 2025-26 offseason

Free agency officially opens (Five days after World Series concludes)

Free agency could very well be the most important thing this winter for J.J. Picollo and the rest of the Royals front office. They have numerous free agents that they'll need to take a good long look at and evaluate whether or not they should attempt to bring him back.

They also have multiple needs they need to address this summer. Their most pressing need is of course just general offense after their collective 93 wRC+ season. In particular though, the second base position after Jonathan India's poor season, the outfield (the corners in particular) after the unit's 73 wRC+ season they just posted and then there's obviously some needs in the bullpen that could stand to get some attention.

Non-tender deadline (Nov. 21)

Then, there's the non-tender deadline, which is an easy place to for KC to gain some much needed capital to pursue their offseason endeavors.

And there's no shortage of candidates that the Royals could stand to non-tender, from the trade deadline disappointment in Bailey Falter, to the underwhelming relief pitcher Sam Long, to long-time injured names like James McArthur and Kyle Wright.

MLB Winter Meetings (Dec. 8-11)

Then comes everyone's favorite time of the offseason, where every team's brain trusts will collectively congregate in Orlando, Florida for the annual Winter Meetings.

Countless big name deals have been completed at these meetings and it offers face to face dialogue that could very well have long-term ramifications on how the rest of the offseason will go.

Also occurring during these meetings are pivotal events such as the MLB Draft Lottery, which the Royals will be set to receive a bit of higher draft position than last season due to missing out on the postseason, and of course the Rule 5 draft.

MLB Rule 5 Draft (Dec. 10)

One of the final events of the Winter Meetings is the Rule 5 draft, where the Royals have had some success in the past with names like Joakim Soria and Brad Keller.

The Royals main focus of the Rule 5 draft will be protecting some names that could be vital to their future. However, Kansas City could also use the opportunity to cost effectively and uniquely fill some other depth style needs.

Pitchers and catchers report to spring training (February 2026)

Then, when the majority of the offseason leg work is completed, then the fun of baseball really starts to begin as the team's new rosters start the process of taking the field before spring training.

For Royals fans, there will be questions on both the pitching and the catching side of things.

The Royals have a plethora of starting pitchers at the moment and multiple names could be on their way out in order to balance the roster. Then there's the question of what will Salvador Perez's contract look like now that he's entering the club option period, as well as who the Royals' third string catcher will be now that Luke Maile is a free agent.