Royals' path to AL Central hits biggest roadblock yet after Tigers' shocking signing

The vibe around the Kansas City Royals this offseason has been about leaving 2025 in the rearview, putting the blinders on and focusing on 2026, almost as if last season were an anomaly and that this team is certainly capable of being the postseason entity it was just two seasons ago.

And after their second-half improvements last year, there's reason to believe that perhaps there's a reasonable amount of truth to this statement.

Pair that with an offseason that, although may be lacking an outright spark, has seen plenty of upgrades come through the door - such as Matt Strahm and Nick Mears for the bullpen and Isaac Collins and Lane Thomas for the outfield - and there's no denying that this team is in a better place than they were when they ended the 2025 campaign.

However, there's more than just internal improvements that go into a division-winning ballclub. Sometimes you need a little help from your "friends".

Unfortunately for Kansas City, one of their "friends" finally woke up from what seemed to be an extended offseason slumber and joined the party. This of course is the Detroit Tigers.

After falling short of big names like Alex Bregman once again and continuing to be part of the wrong headlines with the ongoing Tarik Skubal contract saga, the Tigers landed one of the biggest pitching names on the free agent market on Wednesday night, reportedly signing lefty Framber Valdez to a 3-year, $115 million contract.

Royals have new challenge for AL Central title after Tigers sign Framber Valdez

Before the Valdez deal, it's very reasonable to think that the Tigers imposed the biggest threat to the Royals when it came competing for the AL Central crown.

They have a young lineup that only stood to get better with more experience under their belt, led by the likes of Riley Greene, Kerry Carpenter and Spencer Torkelson. And who could forget a crafty rotation led by arguably the greatest pitcher in baseball in back-to-back AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal.

Now, that rotation has two a pair of aces at the top to cause the rest of the division, and league for that matter, headaches for at least 2026, but potentially beyond if Valdez doesn't opt-out after this season.

Valdez is coming off yet another great season in the Astros rotation, throwing to a 3.66 ERA, 3.37 FIP and .235 BAA. And since 2020, his 3.25 ERA places him amongst the Top 20 qualified starting pitchers in all of baseball.

And from a Royals presepctive in particular, a pitcher of his nature is particularly frustrating to deal with.

As a team in 2025, the Royals' splits against left-handed arms were not pretty, as they slashed just .236/.303/.356.

On top of that, for team with as many power problems as they had last season, although Valdez's ninth percentile hard-hit rate looks promising, his ability to keep the ball on the ground at a 97th percentile rate and avoid barrels at a 76th percentile clip sort of negates any hard-hit damage they can do. His 0.70 HR/9 mark since 2020, that ranks as the fourth lowest mark in all of baseball, really brings that argument home.

So, now the Royals not only have to deal with Skubal atop that rotation, they'll now have one the next best lefties in all of baseball taking the mound right after him, spelling even more of a challenge if they look to reign supreme in the division for the first time since 2015.