The gang's all here

Monday was the first day with the entire team officially in camp. The weather is nice and the boys are healthy. The vibes are strong. Spring Training has finally arrived.

These days, teams like to set an early tone with a unified message meant to define the upcoming season. Sure, it can feel a tad corporate, but if the players buy in, it can be useful.

Anne Rogers reports on the team culture the Royals hope to build this year:

On the clubhouse TVs Monday morning was a series of core beliefs that players, staff and front office put together in an effort to define the identity of the 2026 Royals: Relentless. One pitch at a time. Your best all the time. Accountable to yourself and others. Love the process and the game. Selfless.

Take the first letter of every tenet, and it spells out ROYALS.

It’s what they want each person who walks into the clubhouse to understand about what it means to be a Royal.

“We’ve always kind of talked about it, but we’ve never really had our own kind of philosophy,” shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. said. “We just believe if everyone abides by that and comes together to do that, then I think we have the right team, players, staff, to go a long way.”

Instead of an explanation from the front office or staff, this year it was a group of players delivering the message – something they’ve wanted to do for a few years now, Witt said.

“The 2014-15 teams, they had an identity,” Witt said. “What’s our identity? What’s it going to be? We can do this because I think the team we have is special. Everyone believes it, and it’s going to go a long way.”

Sure, it may be cheesy, but if Bob is on board, sign us all up.

I think it also says something about the leadership style of manager Matt Quatraro that he’s happy to have his players help develop and define this culture, instead of only coaches or staff. And it's important that those players lead the early spring meetings. It hits different when Witt and other leaders on the team step forward to lay out expectations as to what it means to be a Royal.

General Manager and President of Baseball Operations, JJ Picollo, talked about those players who have stepped forward to lead:

“Salvy sets the tone for everything. He’s been here longer than anybody else. But there’s a level of expectation of what it means to be a Royal…There’s a level of professionalism. Those guys know it. Salvy embodies it.

So many of our guys have come through our minor league system and they know what’s expected of them as a professional. When you have Salvy and Bobby and Vinnie and Maikel…Maikel really took a step forward last year. Not just on the field, but the way he carries himelf off the field and what he means to our fanbase. That means we’re moving in the right direction…They take pride in being a Kansas City Royal."

I tend to focus on quotes like these, because I feel that players who want to wear the uniform is something that’s truly important to this fanbase. Maybe it’s unique to the smaller market teams, but it just hits different when a guy wants to be in Kansas City and with the Royals. While Dayton Moore had many faults as a general manager, one thing he did incredibly well was shift the culture of the organization to where it does mean something to be a Royal. And while I’ve always maintained that Picollo is his own man and his own GM, he has continued to drive that home and built on it even further. It's important. Of course it helps to have players like Salvy as the cornerstone, but there’s just something nice when players want to be in Kansas City.

I’m probably still scarred from the Johnny Damon years.

And of course, none of this matters if they lose 90 games and finish fourth in the division. But it's a good start, it sounds fantastic and it's all we have at the moment.

I give Royals Chairman and CEO John Sherman plenty of grief in this space, but I'll also give him some credit when warranted. He's a true fan of his team.

"We took a step back last year. We lost a couple of starting pitchers. But we had a winning season. We were in it until the end. We’re definitely heading in the right direction. If you look at the team on paper right now, I was talking to (pitching coach) Brian Sweeney this morning, I feel the rotation is strong. The bullpen is going to be better with Matt Strahm, one of the best lefty leverage relievers. I feel really good about that. There was a lot of talk about getting a big bat, but our outfield is going to be better.”

I don't think he's a subscriber, but maybe I'll send him a gift subscription.

I don't think he's wrong about the outfield being better this year, but you all know how I feel: That's an extremely low bar to clear. Now about that “big bat”... Sherman made it sound as though if Picollo could find the right deal, he would sign off.

“We always look at that as let’s look at the opportunity. I think we’re comfortable with where our payroll is, but if there’s a way to make our team better, we’ll evaluate the risk and reward.”

It’s fine that he’s comfortable with where the payroll is, but I do believe there’s opportunity to push. Especially in a division that is there for the taking. The Tigers are making some bold moves. The Royals need to keep pace. It's also kind of interesting to me that, as as teams assemble for the upcoming season, every single owner says virtually the same thing: If the fit is right, there's room to add payroll.

Weird how that happens.

Let's pivot away from Royals camp for a moment, but stay on topic of adding payroll. Over at The Athletic, Jayson Stark ran a story where he polled "insiders" about players who could get traded during spring training. As you would expect, there are a handful of pitchers on his list. (Hello, Kris Bubic!) It also looks like there will be a glut of corner infield types on the market in due course. While any team can always use more pitching, those are two areas where the Royals do look set for the upcoming season.

Stark did list Washington's CJ Abrams as the winner of the "most likely to be dealt" sweepstakes. A below average defender at short, Abrams has long intrigued me as a option to slide over to second base. Hell, he could even see time in center field. He's under team control for the next three seasons and is due just $4.2 million in 2026, so there's no affordability concerns there. Abrams has improved with the bat the last couple of seasons, but Washington sounds like they're asking for an extremely high price in any transaction. For the Royals, that would mean parting with catching prospect Blake Mitchell and maybe even someone like lefty David Shields. Washington really is looking to stock their farm system. While the Royals should be extremely open to dealing Mitchell, I wonder if they would peel away the top tier of their system for a player who would improve the club but wouldn't necessarily be a star type of player.

Stark also noted St. Louis Cardinal Lars Nootbaar as a player potentially on the move. The outfielder has two years of club control remaining and will earn $5.35 in 2026. Again, he should fit on the Royals payroll ledger. Nootbaar wouldn't carry as much prospect cost as someone like Abrams, but there is doubt that the left fielder will be ready to go on Opening Day as he is recovering from surgeries on both his heels last October.

As Picollo is fond of noting these days, just because camp has opened it does not mean the Royals roster is set. There will still be opportunity between now and the trade deadline to add to the team.

Finally, you cannot have Sherman in front of a microphone without asking him about the stadium. The update is...there is no update:

“We’re not settled yet anywhere, but I would tell you that I don’t think that we’re that far away. I’ve got a great sense of urgency on this. Time is not our friend. When the Chiefs made their announcement [to move to Kansas] in December, there was a whole new wave of enthusiasm on the Missouri side.
…
“These are always hard, complicated processes..But I think it’s time to get on with it. I know our fans have stadium fatigue, or deal fatigue, and we’ve got that too. But this is a generational decision. It’s very strategic, and we’ve got to get it right.

“This is a business, and we have to be open minded about where to locate this, but I still have a bias for baseball being in the heart of the city, in the cultural center of the city, and to have the ability to make it better. If that happens, that’s going to be best for the community and city at large. But we have to make sure we make the right long-term decision for the club as well.”

I got a chuckle out of Missouri having a “whole new wave of enthusiasm” after the Chiefs announced their move to Kansas. You don’t say.

All I know is that if the owner and CEO says he has a bias for a particular location like Sherman says he has for downtown, I’d be willing to place a wager that that will be where the team lands. But as he says, time is running short. And yes, we all do have stadium fatigue.

I promise I won't bring this up every day, but by all accounts the first edition of the newsletter to go out on the Ghost platform was a success. Thanks to everyone who opened the email yesterday, visited the main page and chipped in with some cash. I think the login system and the comments and likes are a little wonky...probably just because they're different from what I'm used to. Still, a good first day. Thank you. I'll see you in the comments.