NPB free agent signing patterns in 2026 could be a good sign for Royals in future

As productive as the Royals have been this winter, addressing numerous areas of need already by the early stages of January, there's one area where they not only missed out on, but didn't seem to even be in the running to be a part of.

There were three major NPB free agents posted this winter and unsurprisingly the Royals didn't seem to be in on any of them.

Again, given their a smaller market Midwest organization, they traditionally haven't been a prime landing spot for top Asian talent in the past, so missing out on Tatsuya Imai, Munetaka Murakami and Kazuma Okamoto was not a shock.

That being said, even if the three did choose to move to fellow American League rivals, including in one case a direct one from KC's division, where they signed could be a promising sign for teams like Kansas City in the future.

Could Kansas City eventually become a viable landing spot for NPB and KBO talent in the future?

Traditionally signing patterns for posted overseas talent has seen the coastal cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, New York or Boston. However, as the likes of Yu Dravish and Shota Imanaga have shown in semi-recent past, sometimes more central markets can still hang around in negotiations.

But this offseason, not one of the aforementioned traditional markets were able to entice the biggest stars.

Imai inked a three-year deal with the Houston Astros. Not only that, but when discussing the potential of joining a popular landing spot for NPB and KBO talent in the Los Angeles Dodgers, Imai stated he'd rather "take them down" than join them.

Then there's Murakami who signed with the Chicago White Sox on a two-year deal and Okamoto who signed with the Toronto Blue Jays on four-year contract.

Now, in each of these cases, each of the cities are bigger name sports towns than Kansas City is and in Toronto and Houston's cases, both have been stronger postseason competitors in recent years.

That being said, these three teams have often not the first names you'd commonly associate Japanese talent so perhaps a changing of the guard could be in the works.

And in Kansas City's case they could find themselves in a promising position to look like a viable landing spot to all types of free agents, including ones from overseas. They're coming off back-to-back winnings seasons and seem to be on the cusp of entering a truly competitive era again.

This is due to a strong core led by Bobby Witt Jr., who as arguably the league's best shortstop and flat-out one of the brightest all around stars of this generation. Alongside him are strong secondary names like Cole Ragans, Maikel Garcia, Vinnie Pasquantino and Salvador Perez, as well as bright names for the future like Carter Jensen, Jac Caglianone and Noah Cameron.

If Kansas City can get back to the heights that the Astros and the Blue Jays have reached in recent years and if the typical east and west coast destinations aren't as big of a draw anymore, who's to say Kansas City can't be just as enticing of a competitive destination for NPB and KBO talent moving forward.