The Royals’ 2026 season has turned into a long, frustrating slog, but the bigger question hanging over Kansas City is who should be held most accountable when the front office looks ahead to 2027. Matt Quatraro has had to manage a roster that was never built to cruise through the year, while J.J. Picollo’s track record has made the general manager the one who ought to be under the harshest spotlight.
That’s especially true now that Kansas City has finally put together some life late in the season. As of August 29, the Royals have won 12 of their last 14 games, including a nine-game winning streak, while trying to avoid finishing with the worst record in baseball.
Even with the games carrying little meaning in the standings, Quatraro has the club playing better than it has for much of the year. With a thin roster, he’s still managed to coax out stretches that look a lot like the team that stunned people in 2024.
That 2024 run left the impression that the Royals had something real. They were not the most stacked roster in the league, but they played with enough edge to reach the postseason, then beat the Baltimore Orioles in the AL Wild Card Series.
They followed that by pushing the New York Yankees before dropping the Divisional round 3-1. It felt like a team that had announced itself.
What came next was the problem. Instead of reinforcing the roster around a strong core, Kansas City didn’t do nearly enough to support the offense.
With Vinnie Pasquantino, Bobby Witt Jr., and Maikel Garcia in place, the lineup already had a solid foundation. Jonathan India was the major offensive addition in the offseason, but that was not nearly enough to suggest the front office had made hitting a priority.
The results in 2025 made that plain.
The Royals scored 4.02 runs per game last season, which ranked fifth lowest in baseball. Even with excellent pitching, the offense simply didn’t give the team enough room to win consistently. Kansas City finished 82-80 and missed the postseason, then entered another offseason without significant offensive help beyond Lane Thomas and Starling Marte.
This year has exposed another weak spot. Jac Caglianone has delivered a breakout season, but too many other Royals have not produced consistently at the plate.
On top of that, injuries have battered the pitching staff in 2026, shining a light on the organization’s lack of depth on the mound at the major league level. That, too, points back to Picollo and the roster he built.
There is a payroll argument to be made for some of this. The Royals are estimated at $148 million, which will not put them in the same neighborhood as the New York Yankees or Los Angeles Dodgers. But that figure still sits above the payrolls of the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays, two clubs that are near the top of their leagues.
That’s why the conversation around 2027 lands where it does. Quatraro has earned more time because he has kept this team moving despite the flaws around him.
Picollo, though, is the one who should be feeling the pressure. If Kansas City opens next season slowly again, the Royals should not wait long to make a change.
In Other News...
Royals Prospects Are Turning Heads For All The Right Reasons
The Royals farm system keeps drawing notice for the right reasons, and a fresh reminder came with Baseball Americas annual tools poll. A cluster of High-A Quad Cities River Bandits stood out in the voting, with catcher Blake Mitchell and pitcher Kendry Chourio earning multiple mentions for the skills that have made them fixtures on prospect lists, while the overall showing underscored how much talent Kansas City has pushed through one affiliate this season.
Mitchells bat and defensive profile continue to give the Royals plenty to track behind the plate, and Chourios arm has clearly left an impression on evaluators. David Shields was recognized for his control, L.P. Langevin for his work in relief, and the broader theme is hard to miss: Kansas Citys prospect pipeline is starting to produce more than just upside talk, even if the next step for some of these names is still the part everyone around the organization is watching most closely. [Read more 🡒]
Royals Stadium Plan Is Headed For A Decision Kansas City Can't Ignore
Kansas Citys long-running stadium debate is moving into a decisive stretch, with city leaders now bracing for the possibility that voters will get the final say on the Royals proposed ballpark deal. The plan calls for a $600 million city commitment toward a $1.9 billion stadium, and the clock is ticking for the City Council to act by Aug. 31.
With no council meetings scheduled before that deadline, the path of least resistance may be a citywide vote, potentially in April 2025. The projects timeline still points to demolition and groundbreaking in 2027, with the goal of opening the new ballpark by March 2030, but first Kansas City has to decide how, and whether, to push the plan across the finish line. [Read more 🡒]
Royals Stadium Plan Reaches A Funding Test Kansas City Fans Care About
The Royals stadium discussion is heading into a familiar Kansas City proving ground, this time with the economics rather than the architecture taking center stage. Andrea Bough, now serving as interim president and CEO of the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City, said the next major checkpoint is the Tax Increment Finance commission public hearing set for Sept. 9, where the public financing piece of the project will get another close look.
For fans, the real issue is how much city money could be tied up in bond payments and whether the plan can be structured without leaning heavily on the general fund for debt service. Bough addressed those concerns directly, underscoring the effort to keep the stadium proposal on a track that works for the city as well as the team, even as the funding questions remain front and center. [Read more 🡒]