KC Royals News: Invites to spring training, salaries for 2025, No. 1 prospect debate

The Kansas City Royals' spring training camp opens in a month, with pitchers and catchers due to report on February 12, and all other players reporting for the first full workout on February 17. This winter, the team has made a number of roster moves to prepare for 2025, and as the season draws closer, Kansas City is slowly but surely locking everything into place.

From spring training invites to salary agreements, here is a Royals news roundup for January 13.

KC Royals News: Royals extend 23 non-roster invites to spring training

On January 10, the Royals announced their full list of non-roster invites to spring training, naming a total of 23 players — 10 pitchers, six catchers, five infielders, and two outfielders.

Pitchers: Austin Cox, Tyson Guerrero, Ben Kudrna, Anthony Simonelli, Steven Zobac, Chandler Champlain, Andrew Hoffmann, Beck Way, Taylor Clarke, Junior Fernández

Catchers: Kyle Hayes, Omar Hernández, Carter Jensen, Blake Mitchell, Luca Tresh, Brian O’Keefe

Infielders: Jac Caglianone, Tyler Tolbert, Javier Vaz, Cam Devanney, Cavan Biggio

Outfielders: Gavin Cross, John Rave

Among the list of players invited to the Royals' spring training camp in Arizona are nine of the organization's top 30 prospects on MLB Pipeline, including four of the top five — Caglianone (No. 1), Mitchell (No. 2), Kudrna (No. 3), Jensen (No. 5). The list also includes two of the Royals' most recent free agency additions — Cox and Biggio — who were signed to minor-league contracts on January 3 and January 5, respectively.

KC Royals News: Remaining arbitration-eligible players agree to contracts for 2025 season

Ahead of the January 9 deadline, the Royals announced they have agreed to contracts for 2025 with all remaining arbitration-eligible players on their roster — pitchers Kris Bubic, Hunter Harvey, Carlos Hernández, and John Schreiber, and outfielders Kyle Isbel and MJ Melendez. Pitcher Kyle Wright was also eligible for arbitration, but the Royals signed him to a one-year contract on December 17.

According to MLB.com's Anne Rogers, the agreed-upon salaries for the 2025 season are as follows:

Bubic: $3 million
Harvey: $3.7 million
Hernández: $1.16 million
Isbel: $1.75 million
Melendez: $2.65 million
Schreiber: $2.3 million
Wright: $1.8 million

Bubic, Harvey, Hernández, Isbel, Melendez, and Schreiber all received raises from their 2024 salaries, but Wright — who was sidelined for the entirety of last season after undergoing shoulder surgery in October 2023 — re-signed at the same amount he made last year.

KC Royals News: Blake Mitchell ranked as KC's No. 1 prospect — above Jac Caglianone — by CBS Sports

MLB Pipeline has listed 21-year-old Caglianone as the No. 1 prospect in the Royals' system since he was drafted, but on January 13, CBS Sports' R.J. Anderson suggested Mitchell — ranked No. 2 by MLB Pipeline — should be in the top spot.

"There hasn't been a prep catcher drafted in the first round who then had a successful big-league career behind the dish since Joe Mauer, more than two decades ago," Anderson wrote. "Mitchell, the eighth pick in 2023, is among the best of those trying to change that factoid."

Starting the 2024 season in Single-A, Mitchell posted a .238/.376/.439 line with 18 home runs and 50 RBI in 466 plate appearances. He was promoted to High-A at the start of September, and in just 20 plate appearances before the end of the season, he struggled to a .111 batting average with 2 hits. Mitchell isn't expected to debut in the majors until 2027, and will almost certainly start this season where he left off in High-A.