4 KC Royals players that may have lost their roster spot this offseason

During Winter Meetings, the Kansas City Royals announced their intention to spend $30 million on bolstering their pitching, and now they're really, actually doing it. The Royals agreed to contracts with Seth Lugo and Chris Stratton on Tuesday on a three year, $45 million deal and a one year, $3.5 million deal respectively. It's refreshing to see a team be transparent about a strategy and also execute it during an offseason that has been largely shrouded in mystery.

The Lugo deal has officially been announced by the team and the Stratton deal hasn't been finalized, but the Royals will need to clear two spots off of their full 40-man roster in order to accommodate them when everything settles. The whole point of setting aside $30 million, of which the Royals theoretically still have $11.5 million to spend on another lower-mid tier starter or higher-mid tier reliever, so at least one more spot will need to open up. The Royals' pitching staff had the third highest ERA in the league in 2023, so it feels safe to say that they'll spend on pitching until they absolutely can't anymore.

Here are the KC Royals players whose roster spots are in jeopardy going into 2024

There are still more than a few free agents on the table who could fit into the Royals' profile, including Zack Greinke, who has announced that he's getting ready to pitch in 2024, and Jakob Junis, who the Royals let go of in 2022 but performed much better for the Giants in 2022 and 2023. No matter who they sign, some names will have to come off of the 40-man roster. Here are four Royals whose spots are in jeopardy going into next season.