SAN ANTONIO, Texas — In addition to leading the majors in batting average and hits, Bobby Witt Jr. finished first in a statistic that should prompt the Kansas City Royals to make a change to the star shortstop’s surrounding cast.
Among non-leadoff hitters, Witt, who batted second in the Royals’ lineup, had the most plate appearances (433) with the bases empty.
Witt nonetheless racked up 109 RBIs to go along with his 211 hits, 32 home runs and .332 batting average. How many more runs would he have produced with more runners on base?
To upgrade their run production, the Royals are looking to prioritize quality contact and on-base percentage, and conversations are underway at the general managers’ meetings this week. Kansas City batters struck out just 19.4 percent of the time (third-lowest in MLB) but had just a .306 on-base percentage (19th). Too often the Royals made contact on pitches out of the zone; they finished with the fifth-highest rate.
Improvement at the leadoff spot may help the issue. The Royals ideally want a better version of Garrett Hampson, a right-handed batter who plays center field, second base and shortstop. Among the players who might fit are Jonathan India and Spencer Steer (trade) and Jurickson Profar (free agent). They have some flexibility with the position. Michael Massey and Maikel Garcia can play the outfield.
If the Royals explore the trade market for offensive help, league sources suggested that they would listen to offers for pitchers such as left-hander Kris Bubic and right-hander Alec Marsh.
Free agent Willy Adames wants to stay at shortstop but would be willing to play a different position if he gets a strong offer from a team in position to win, league sources said.
Tampa Bay Rays president of baseball operations Erik Neander identified catcher as an area of need, with a particular desire for better offense.
“The catching position, the production we got last year was nowhere near where it needed to be to be a playoff-contributing position,” Neander said. “We need to find a way to score more runs. I think there’s a few different ways we can go about doing that. But upgrading the catcher situation, without question.”
Rays’ catchers produced just a 67 wRC+ in 2024, better than only the Miami Marlins (44) and Chicago White Sox (41). Ben Rortvedt, a left-handed batter, received the most action at catcher and though he offers good defense, he batted just .228/.317/.303 with three home runs. At a minimum, a right-handed batting catcher with better offensive skills would make sense.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Milton, the Rays’ baseball operations staff moved its offices this week a few blocks east to a vacant building formerly occupied by an insurance company. Since last month, the Rays staff worked remotely. Neander had no update, however, regarding where the Rays may play their home games after the damage to Tropicana Field.
Neander downplayed the impact the uncertainty may have on free-agency plans. The Rays are never big spenders. But the calculus for even smaller free-agent additions includes ballpark factors. Neander acknowledged as much but pointed to other prevailing reasons players tend to choose the Rays.
“We’ve always been a destination that players see as a place where they can get better at and we can have a positive impact on their careers,” he said, “and that’s ideally for as long as possible with us, but sometimes they graduate to greater opportunities from there.
“And those are constants. The reasons that exist weren’t necessarily our stadium. It helps to know a reliable environment. But those (reasons) are people, our staff, how we invest in our players to help them be the best they can be. Those things are all still there.”
Baltimore Orioles general manager Mike Elias is casting a wide net for starting pitching help but said he expects to make an effort similar to last year in trying to get someone who can “lead” the rotation.
With new ownership, Elias believes he has the funds and flexibility to shop at the top of the market.
“We just went through a team sale and got a fresh new ownership group that is very well equipped, robust and eager to get going,” Elias said. “They understand that there’s some measurement to how you do business and they are empowering us to look for opportunities that are going to bear out well.
“We have everything that we need from them if we find those opportunities. And if finances are what’s required for us to execute on those, I’m very confident and bullish that those are going to be there for us.
“The best way to put it is that this ownership group is going to enable us to run this franchise optimally. It doesn’t mean that we’re going to do things that are short-sighted or destructive long term.”
— The Athletic’s Katie Woo contributed to this report.
(Top photo of Jonathan India: Patrick McDermott / Getty Images)
