The Royals can’t afford to get casual about the qualifying-offer market, and this winter shapes up to be exactly the kind of test that matters for a small-market club. Kansas City has spent at a top-20 level this season, but it still has to pick its spots carefully. Losing a draft pick for the chance to chase the wrong free agent can sting a lot harder for the Royals than it does for a bigger spender.
That’s why the pool of targets without QO baggage matters so much. Kansas City has never signed a free agent attached to a qualifying offer, and this offseason at least two appealing arms are off that board entirely.
Michael King is one of them. The Padres right-hander will have to opt out of his deal to reach free agency, but most expect him to do exactly that.
After getting back to full health, he logged 185 innings and posted a 3.21 ERA. The strikeout totals weren’t quite what they had been before, but the stuff is still front-of-the-rotation caliber, and he’s positioned to land a major contract.
The key detail for the Royals: because he was already offered the QO last offseason, he cannot receive one again this winter.
Robbie Ray gives Kansas City another rotation name to consider if it wants a shorter-term play. The 35-year-old was sharp in the first half, throwing more than 120 innings with a 3.08 ERA for the San Francisco Giants before being traded to the San Diego Padres.
He won’t be in King’s price range, which could make him more appealing to a team looking for value without a massive commitment. Ray is also ineligible for a qualifying offer because he had been offered one before and was traded earlier this year.
There is also one Royals target who looks far more likely to come with draft-pick penalty attached: Seiya Suzuki. The Cubs outfielder is coming off the best bWAR of his career after putting up an .841 OPS and 26 home runs.
On paper, he’s the kind of bat that would fit cleanly into Kansas City’s lineup. But after a 5-plus WAR season, Chicago will almost certainly tag him with a qualifying offer.
The one wrinkle is that teams may hesitate to sign a DH with QO attached if it means surrendering a draft pick.
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For the Royals, the idea is notable because Witt is already one of the games top talents and is tied to a long-term contract, which makes any pursuit more complicated than a simple deadline rumor. A trade framework involving several Boston prospects has been floated, but there has been no confirmation of actual negotiations, leaving the matter as one of those speculative front-office questions that can sit in the background until someone finally decides whether the asking price is worth it. [Read more 🡒]