As baseball’s general managers gather in Las Vegas for the annual GM Meetings, the usual trade chatter will swirl around the room. Some of those deals may not get done this week, but the conversations can still set the table for what comes next.
For Royals GM J.J. Picollo, that means revisiting a problem that never really went away.
Kansas City finished 82-80 last season and missed the postseason, and Picollo already knew the outfield needed help. Speaking to MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell ahead of the 2025 GM Meetings, he pointed directly at that area of the roster.
“Our outfield hasn’t been as productive as we needed it to be over the last two or three years,” Picollo said ahead of the 2025 GM Meetings. “We’re back at it again, trying to figure things out.”
A year later, the Royals are still searching for answers in the same spot. Their outfield again ranked among the weakest parts of the roster in 2026, and outside of Jac Caglianone, there wasn’t much offensive production to lean on. Picollo did try to address it last offseason, but the moves he made didn’t solve the issue.
The biggest swing, bringing in Isaac Collins last December, never gave Kansas City the boost it needed. Collins posted a .641 OPS in 442 at-bats this past season, and the bat simply didn’t come around enough to offset the rest of his game. Defensively, he was fine, but not enough to change the overall picture.
There is still a path for Collins to matter in 2027 and beyond if his role and playing time change. But he doesn’t look like the answer as a long-term starting outfielder in Kansas City.
That leaves Picollo back in familiar territory, only with less room to play it safe. The AL Central is still there to be chased next season, but the Royals can’t afford another half-step fix in the outfield. A move at Collins’s level won’t be enough this time.
With a potential lockout hanging out there, this year’s GM Meetings may carry a different kind of tension than last year’s. Even so, the Royals still have the same job in front of them: fix the outfield.
Picollo can either take a shot on a young player like Carson Roccaforte or go after a proven MLB outfielder in a bigger trade. Either way, this may be his last real chance before next offseason.
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