What Royals payroll looks like for 2025

Will John Sherman continue spending?

The Royals made waves last winter by being one of the biggest spenders of the winter, pushing their Opening Day payroll to $115 million, the highest it had been since 2018. While J.J. Picollo says the budget has not been set for next year, he expects owner John Sherman to offer the same kind of payroll flexibility the Royals had last year that allowed management to upgrade the team to improve by 30 wins this year.

The Royals will have nearly $18 million coming off the books now that the contractual obligations for Hunter Dozier and Jordan Lyles are done. They have seven players that will become free agents after the World Series - Paul DeJong, Yuli Gurriel, Garrett Hampson, Tommy Pham, Robbie Grossman, Michael Lorenzen, and Will Smith.

Picollo was creative with recent free agent signings, giving several players options that will have to be decided on. Adam Frazier has an $8.5 million mutual option that the Royals will almost certainly decline and pay the $2.5 million buyout. Chris Stratton has a $4.5 million player option he is likely to accept after a tough year. Hunter Renfroe has a $7.5 million player option that he is also likely to accept, although if he decides not to, he still gets a $1 million buyout.

The Royals are most interested in seeing what Michael Wacha does. He has a $16 million player option and would likely get a multi-year offer if he hits free agency. The Royals would like to bring him back and Wacha says he and his family have enjoyed their time in Kansas City. He is also 33 years old and this could be his last chance at a multi-year deal, something the Royals could offer if he declines his option.

Assuming Wacha opts out, Frazier’s option is declined, and Renfroe and Stratton exercise their options, the Royals will have five players under contract for next year.

• Salvador Perez, $20 million
• Seth Lugo, $15 million
• Bobby Witt Jr., $8.1 million
• Hunter Renfroe, $7.5 million
• Chris Stratton, $4.5 million

All salary figures from Cot’s Contracts.

They will also have the $2.5 million owed to Frazier, bringing the total to $57.6 million. The Royals have ten arbitration-eligible players for next year: Kris Bubic, Hunter Harvey, Carlos Hernández, Kyle Isbel, Daniel Lynch IV, MJ Melendez, John Schreiber, Brady Singer, Josh Taylor, and Kyle Wright. Assuming Taylor is the only one non-tendered, the rest are projected to make a combined $25.8 million.

Source: MLB Trade Rumors

That brings the total payroll to $83.4 million. Assuming you fill out the remaining 12 spots on the roster with players making near the league minimum of $760,000, that would add just over $9 million, bringing the total to $92.4 million.

So if the Royals match last year’s Opening Day payroll, they would have about $25 million to spend this off-season. Picollo said this week that finding a leadoff hitter was his top priority, followed by another middle-of-the-order bat. They would also like to bring back Wacha, and failing that, look for a replacement on the market.

You can find a list of impending free agents here. Will the Royals be able to upgrade areas of weakness? Will they spend enough to improve the team enough to get to the next level? It should make for an interesting off-season with a lot more on the line.