Royals' free agent inactivity looks even worse after Padres' insanely busy weekend

One of the worst kept secrets in baseball in recent years is how bullish San Diego Padres President of Baseball Operations and General Manager, A.J. Preller can be on the open market.

He's gone big for trades for superstars like Juan Soto, Yu Darvish and Mason Miller and has not shied away from big swings on the free agent market as well, inking long term deals for names like Manny Machado and Xander Bogaerts since taking the helm back in 2014.

But overall, it hasn't just been star power he's gone after, he's simply made the Padres one of the most active teams in MLB for acquiring talent this past decade. And this past weekend was the perfect example of that.

In the three day span from Saturday to Monday, the Friars inked outfielder Nick Castellanos as well as starters Germán Márquez and Griffin Canning to one-year contracts and also brought in starting pitcher Walker Buehler and first baseman Ty France on minor league deals with spring training invites.

Now, were any of these names good fits for the Royals? Probably, not. However, what the Padres' busy weekend showed is that teams with needs even this late in the offseason don't need to be complacent and can still address said needs on the open market.

And the Royals still have no shortage of needs with spring training just days away and Opening Day less than six weeks off now.

Taking a page out of Padres' free agent book could be wise for the Royals in late stages of offseason

Now, just because the Royals didn't necessarily need any of those names, the fact remains that there are still several names on the free agent market they could go out and get before Opening Day, even if they aren't the spark they've been missing this winter.

It's no secret the Royals still have a need for offense. And while missing out on a reunion with utility man Adam Frazier or landing now Mets-bound outfielder Mike Tauchman would've been nice, there's still some names to add to their pool of bench depth and provide looks beyond the usual, and somewhat underwhelming, trio of Michael Massey, Nick Loftin and Tyler Tolbert.

While options have dwindled, there's still utility names like Ramón Urías and perhaps outfield bats like Starling Marte or a familiar face in Tommy Pham might be decent options to add at this stage of the winter to an outfield mix that could stand to improve further.

Then there's the bullpen, which has had some solid improvements made already, headlined by the likes of Matt Strahm and Nick Mears, but they could stand to add some more left-handers to their relief corps.

Names like Danny Coulombe or Justin Wilson could scratch their itch for southpaws that could occupy middle relief roles, while others like Joey Lucchesi could provide some more left-handed length to the 'pen.

At the end of the day, while active on the trade market, Kansas City's only major league signings this offseason have been Lane Thomas and Alex Lange. For a team with contending ambitions that's looking to improve enough to get back to the postseason, this doesn't seem like a formula for immense success.

Whether or not the Royals' front office does anything on the free agent to resolve their needs remains to be seen, but the Padres have just shown the rest of the league that it's possible to upgrade further, even in the twilight days of an offseason.