Royals Eye AL Central Crown, But Tigers Just Raised the Stakes with Framber Valdez Signing
The Kansas City Royals have spent the offseason trying to turn the page on a frustrating 2025 campaign. The message out of the clubhouse has been clear: last season wasn’t who they are. This team believes it’s much closer to the one that made noise two years ago, and they’re gearing up to prove it in 2026.
And to be fair, there’s some solid footing beneath that optimism. The Royals looked sharper in the second half of last season, showing signs of a group that was starting to figure things out. Add in a winter that brought in useful reinforcements-lefties Matt Strahm and Nick Mears to bolster the bullpen, plus outfield help in Isaac Collins and Lane Thomas-and you’ve got a roster that looks more balanced and more competitive than the one that wrapped 2025.
But in the AL Central, internal improvement only gets you so far. Sometimes, your path to the top depends just as much on what’s happening in the other dugouts. And unfortunately for Kansas City, one of their division rivals just made a major move.
The Detroit Tigers, quiet for much of the offseason and still navigating the ongoing Tarik Skubal contract drama, finally made some noise-and it was loud. On Wednesday night, they reportedly signed left-hander Framber Valdez to a three-year, $115 million deal. That’s one of the biggest pitching splashes of the winter, and it reshapes the landscape in the Central.
Let’s be clear: even before this move, the Tigers were already shaping up to be the Royals’ biggest threat in the division. They’ve got a young, talented lineup that’s only getting better with time.
Riley Greene, Kerry Carpenter, and Spencer Torkelson headline a core that’s starting to come into its own. And on the mound, they’ve got a bona fide ace in back-to-back AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal, who’s been downright dominant.
Now? They’ve added another top-tier arm to that rotation.
Valdez gives Detroit a second ace-one who brings postseason experience, elite ground-ball rates, and the kind of left-handed stuff that can give hitters fits. It’s a one-two punch that could give the rest of the division nightmares, especially in a short series or a crucial late-season stretch.
From a Royals standpoint, Valdez is exactly the kind of pitcher you’d rather not see lining up against you multiple times a year. Kansas City struggled mightily against left-handed pitching in 2025, posting a .236/.303/.356 slash line-numbers that just won’t cut it against a guy like Valdez.
And Valdez isn’t just any lefty. He’s coming off another strong season with Houston, finishing with a 3.66 ERA, 3.37 FIP, and a .235 opponent batting average.
Since 2020, his 3.25 ERA ranks among the top 20 qualified starters in the league. He doesn’t just keep hitters off balance-he keeps the ball in the yard, with a 0.70 HR/9 rate that’s the fourth-lowest in all of baseball over that span.
For a Royals team that lacked power last season, that’s a problem. Valdez lives in the 97th percentile in ground-ball rate and the 76th percentile in barrel rate.
Translation: even when hitters make contact, it’s rarely loud, and almost never leaves the yard. If Kansas City wants to overcome that, they’ll need to find ways to manufacture runs and capitalize on the few mistakes he does make.
With Skubal and Valdez now anchoring the Tigers’ rotation, the path to the AL Central crown just got steeper. For the Royals to reclaim their place atop the division for the first time since 2015, they’ll need more than just internal growth-they’ll need to find answers for one of the nastiest left-handed duos in the American League.
The good news? There’s still time before Opening Day.
The Royals have made progress, and the pieces are starting to come together. But with Detroit making a power move, the margin for error just got a whole lot thinner.