Royals take two-year gamble, add injured All-Star starter to pitching stockpile

The Kansas City Royals increased their already-bulging inventory of pitchers late Friday afternoon. And they did it in risky, but certainly not unfamiliar, fashion.

Just days into spring training, another veteran "project" is coming to Kansas City. This time, it's former Baltimore starter John Means, a left-hander who the Royals said Friday they've signed to a two-season minor league contract. Means, 32, now appears on Triple-A Omaha's roster as a member of their 2026 pitching staff.

And therein lies a rub — Means may not see significant action for the Storm Chasers, or the Royals, this season after suffering a ruptured Achilles tendon in December. Achilles ruptures require long recovery and rehabilitation, which explains why the Royals locked him in for two years. He may not take the Kauffman Stadium mound until 2027.

A gamble? Certainly. But the Royals are no strangers to rolling the dice on recently injured, so-called pitching "reclamation project" hurlers, with their most recent notable risk being former 21-game winner Kyle Wright, who they gave what ultimately proved to be a two-year shot that ended with his departure, without making it back to the majors, for free agency after the 2025 campaign. He recently hooked on with the Cubs.

Now, the club hopes the risk it's taking on Means pays off.

What could a healthy John Means bring to the Royals?

A successful Means comeback would give Kansas City a potentially decent starter and some certainty as the club looks ahead to the 2027 season.

Consider his promise first. Although Means has pitched only 78 games over parts of seven major league seasons (more on that in a moment), Means' 3.68 ERA is nothing to sneer at, his career 1.77 BB/9 and 4.9 BB% are excellent, and he won 12 games, made the American League All-Star team, and finished second in AL Rookie of the Year balloting in 2019, his first full year in the big leagues after making a one-game debut the season before.

Then there's that certainty he provides, if back in form, for two seasons hence. Yes, the Royals' present inventory of starters is numerically deep — "overstocked" fairly characterizes it — but 2027 could be a different matter. Because he seems to be KC's pitcher most likely to be dealt if the club can swing a last-minute deal for an impact bat, and is eligible for free agency after this season, Kris Bubic may be gone before 2027 arrives.

And if the Royals find themselves out of contention at this summer's trade deadline, the contract status of key rotation pieces Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha — their deals run through 2027 with club options for 2028 — could render them stretch-run targets for teams still in the hunt for playoff berths.

But nothing is set in stone for Means, who from 2022 to 2024 pitched only 10 times in the big leagues, and worked in only six minor league games in 2024 and just seven last season. Recovery and rehab from two Tommy John surgeries explain the inaction. And how long it will take him to recover from his December Achilles rupture remains to be seen.

So, Means represents another risk. But the Royals' decision to wrap him up for two years, albeit on a presumably low-cost minor league deal, suggests they have confidence that the gamble will pay nice dividends.