KC Royals fans should be ready for club to stand pat

Just four years ago, the Kansas City Royals were stuck in the same spot they are now, searching for a big bat to juice up an offense needing more pop. With only a few days left before spring training began, the 2021 Royals landed that bat by signing Boston Red Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi to a deal they hoped would help move the club into a new competitive era.

Today, general manager J.J. Picollo's winter-long quest to solve his team's mid-lineup power puzzle continues. How close he is, if at all, to finding that solution no one outside the organization seems to know, but KC fans should be prepared for the search to end unsuccessfully. The Royals may well be willing to stand pat and open spring training without major alterations to their roster.

The signs are certainly there.

Unlike last season, when Picollo departed from Kansas City tradition and shook baseball with a series of stunningly effective free agent signings and trades that propelled the club to a surprising playoff berth, he has yet to engineer a new blockbuster. Instead, he's tailored transactions clearly designed to maintain the club's ability to contend, shore up a hole or two, and secure depth.

There are no strong rumblings of big deals about to happen, or even envisioned. Superstars capable of transforming the team at certain positions — like St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado — have been linked to the Royals, but not strongly or convincingly. Anthony Santander may have been nice to think about, but he's reportedly headed for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Lesser, but still formidable, players like Jurickson Profar are still available. Profar's name occasionally pops up as a possible corner outfield solution. The Royals supposedly talked to the New York Mets about Starling Marte in December, but nothing came of it.

No, these Royals don't seem ready or likely to make any significant moves before spring training starts in February. Let's see why that may be so.

The KC Royals accomplished a main goal early

Kansas City addressed dissatisfaction with its leadoff situation before the first full month of the offseason ended by picking up second baseman Jonathan India in a late-November trade that sent Brady Singer to the Cincinnati Reds.

India is manager Matt Quatraro's presumptive leadoff man and starting second baseman. The Royals appear ready to keep Michael Massey, which may lead to Massey, and possibly India, working a bit in the outfield corners.

KC's lack of outfield moves may be telling

Other than snaring Joey Wiemer in the India-Singer swap, the Royals haven't made moves to improve in left or center fields. Wiemer won't make an immediate impact or soon displace MJ Melendez in left or Hunter Renfroe in right, which suggests the club is willing to open spring training, and probably the season, hoping their present starters' bats somehow get better.

2 re-signings should close any rotation searches

Some big-name starting pitchers, perhaps most notably Max Scherzer, remain on the market, but Picollo shouldn't be pursuing more rotation pieces. Bringing back Michael Wacha on a new multi-year deal and the re-signing of Michael Lorenzen gives and creates just about everything KC needs to begin a new season.

Locks for starter spots are Wacha, Seth Lugo, Cole Ragans and, by all accounts and at least to start the season, Kris Bubic. That leaves proven starters Lorenzen and Kyle Wright to contest Alec Marsh, and perhaps Daniel Lynch IV, for the fifth slot, which could end up filled by committee.

And that Lorenzen, Bubic, and Lynch, and maybe even Wright, can start or relieve, gives Quatraro pitching puzzle pieces he can fit into more than one place.

The KC Royals' bullpen could be ready to go

And the relievers? Kansas City's 40-man roster teems with them, and last year's trade deadline acquisition of Lucas Erceg seems to have given the club a solid, dependable closer.

Although who may set Erceg up remains a bit uncertain, Hunter Harvey could step into that role if he bounces back from injury, Ángel Zerpa and Sam Long should be candidates, and Bubic appears well-suited for the role if his transition back to the rotation doesn't pan out. Yes, KC might try to add a back-end reliever, but the need to make such a move isn't urgent.

Whether how Picollo has approached the offseason is by design, limitations, or both, is an inquiry worth making. But whatever the underlying reasons, reading the current roster landscape suggests the Royals seem poised and willing to open their spring training gates to what they have now and little, if anything, more.