The Kansas City Royals have several possible avenues to improve their offense this offseason, but any upgrades will need to fit within a fairly limited budget.
It’s unclear what their payroll will look like, but with few players leaving in free agency and arbitration bumps coming for players such as Maikel Garcia and Vinnie Pasquantino, money could be tight. Even so, the lineup has some major deficiencies—most notably at second base, where Jonathan India didn’t secure the starting job for 2026.
Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors thinks that’s the case. In the site’s yearly free-agent predictions piece, Adams reveal that Kansas City will ultimately sign Polanco this offseason.
Meanwhile, Anthony Franco and Darragh McDonald predicted Polanco would stay with Seattle, and Tim Dierkes forecast a deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Notably, the group estimated the 32-year-old would command a three-year contract worth $42 million.
“Polanco should find at least two years, if not three, in free agency,” the four contributors wrote. “The Mariners, (San Francisco) Giants, (Detroit) Tigers, Royals, (New York) Yankees, (Texas) Rangers, (Toronto Blue) Jays, (Miami) Marlins, (New York) Mets and (Philadelphia) Phillies all make some degree of sense here.
“Polanco’s market will be bolstered by the Mariners’ decision not to issue a qualifying offer.”
Polanco clubbed 26 home runs this season while mostly serving as the designated hitter while recovering from a knee injury. His 134 OPS+ was the best of his career, and he should be healthy enough to play second base (or third, or first) for his entire age-33 season.
It feels like $14 million is at the low end for what Polanco could expect in terms of average annual value, though. Do the Royals even have that amount of wiggle room to play with? If so, he’d be a fantastic fit in the middle of the order.
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