Royals News: Carlos Hernández Guardians, KC vs. Cuba, new hitting coach in town

The MLB offseason really got going this week, with contract options being settled, qualifying offers being issued and free agency officially opening on Thursday.

The Royals have had their fair share of involvement in the offseason already, extending their captain Salvador Perez to two-year deal as well as parting ways two veterans in Randal Grichuk and Michael Lorenzen via declining mutual options.

But as the offseason gets going there are some other stories beyond the traditional Royals offseason headlines that fans should be aware of.

Royals News: Former Royals reliever Carlos Hernández returns to Cleveland

According to Aram Leighton of Just Baseball, Hernández has agreed to a minor league deal with the Cleveland Guardians.

Hernández's 2025 campaign was riddled with uncertainty, as the former Royals reliever bounced between three different organizations after Kansas City waived him ahead of Opening Day.

After suffering a similar fate with both the Philadelphia Phillies and Detroit Tigers, Hernández landed with the Guardians, where despite being DFA'd there as well, he stuck with the organization and pitched in their Triple-A ranks.

He wasn't the greatest of major league arms in 2025, sporting a 6.23 ERA and 1.66 WHIP across 43.1 innings of work. However in Triple-A, he started to find the sort of footing that made him a fairly regular fixture in Kansas City's bullpen from 2020 to 2024. He threw to a 4.70 ERA, 3.63 FIP, 1.04 WHIP and .207 BAA with 10.57 K/9 and 2.35 BB/9 in seven appearances with Columbus.

Royals News: Kansas City to face Team Cuba in spring training ahead of 2026 World Baseball Classic

In matter of months, after the height of the offseason ends and before the 2026 regular season gets underway, the global baseball community will be fixated on the 2026 World Baseball Classic.

But before the festivities get underway, participating nations will get a big league tune-up. They'll each play a pair games against MLB teams during spring training, before the tournament kicks off on March 5.

For the Royals, it was announced that they'll host Team Cuba on March 3 at their spring training facility in Surprise, Arizona.

The Royals will have their fair share of representatives in next March's WBC, with four names already committed in Bobby Witt Jr. for the U.S., Seth Lugo for Puerto Rico and Vinnie Pasquantino and Jac Caglianone for Italy.

Royals News: Former Brewers hitting coach Connor Dawson set to join KC's coaching staff

After the Royals announced that a pair of assistant hitting coaches wouldn't be back with the team for the 2026 campaign, it appears they've found at least one replacement for Alec Zumwalt's staff.

According to a Wednesday report from FanSided MLB insider Robert Murray, the Royals are set to higher Connor Dawson to be a major league hitting coach.

The announcement isn't official quite yet, but Milwaukee Brewers' President of Baseball Operations Matt Arnold shared his sentiments about losing a member of his hitting staff.

“It’s a tough loss for us, but it’s home for him,” Arnold said.

Dawson had been with the Brewers organization since 2022, but is now set for a homecoming in a similar role.

The Kansas City-native will have plenty to work with in his new gig thanks to a lineup led by a core of younger talent in Bobby Witt Jr., Maikel Garcia and Vinnie Pasquantino, but will also have some challenges ahead of him in helping improve the rest of the lineup who's struggles led to Kansas City finishing with a lackluster 93 team wRC+ in 2025.