Some Royals odds and ends

Michael Wacha meets the media. JJ Picollo is snubbed. Bobby Witt Jr. and Salvador Perez are on another awards shortlist. Plus, a clue to how the starting pitching market will take shape.

It could be a crazy couple of days ahead, so how about some Royals baseball to help us focus on the important stuff?

Let’s start with the Michael Wacha press conference from yesterday. Anne Rogers has you covered on that front, but I wanted to highlight a couple of quotes from the veteran right-hander.

“Just the way the season went throughout the summer, we fell in love with the city, fell in love with the team, the staff here, everyone involved in the stadium. And it was something where we didn’t want to go somewhere else. We had been bouncing around a little bit through different teams the past few years, and to find a place that really felt like home, that we could buy a house and get settled here for the next few years, it was honestly a no-brainer. It was important to get it done before the free agency stuff opened up.”

I felt that Wacha was fairly vocal toward the end of the season of his desire to stay in Kansas City. Well, as vocal as a guy with a player option to make could be. His quote above underscores not only what I wrote yesterday about how his returning to the Royals is an endorsement of the organization and his teammates, but it reveals a bit of the human side of a ballplayer. Wacha has a young family. Since he left St. Louis after the 2019 season he’s played in New York, Tampa, Boston and San Diego. Last summer, Kansas City was his fifth different team in five years. That’s a lot of moving for a family. Wacha wanted a place where he could, as he said, buy a house and get settled. He wanted a home. That’s Kansas City.

“I’m always part of that winning culture – it’s what I’m accustomed to, and it was one of the reasons I signed here last year. I believed in these guys here. I believe in the organization, the front office, the coaching staff, the guys on the team. I believe in them. That belief only grew throughout the course of the season. I saw firsthand what a full season with this team will do, that another year of experience will do to some of these guys. I’m excited to be here for the next three years, of Kansas City baseball trending up.”

Isn’t it nice to see a quote like that and not have it be lip service from a player whose only option was Kansas City? Yes, Kansas City baseball is trending up. And players want to be a part of that action.

Did you think baseball’s award season ended with Sunday’s Gold Glove announcement? Silly you. Yesterday was about the Executive of the Year, an honor voted on by executives from all 30 clubs prior to the start of the postseason.

I regret to inform you that Royals General Manager JJ Picollo did not win this award.

The honor went to Milwaukee’s Matt Arnold who traded away Corbin Burnes before the start of the season and signed Rhys Hoskins to a two-year, $34 million free agent deal. Sure.

I don’t think it’s possible to underestimate the work Picollo did in turning this organization around the last couple of seasons. His free agent signings of Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha solidified the starting rotation. He inked Bobby Witt Jr. to a mega-extension. He kept plugging holes all season long, making trades at the deadline while surfing the waiver wire for last-minute help. Have you heard the Royals improved their win total by 30 games in 2024 and made the postseason for the first time in nine years?

In the grand scheme of baseball’s award season, the Executive of the Year doesn’t rate highly, if at all. Could you even name last year’s winner? (It was Mike Elias in Baltimore.) Still, it’s kind of disappointing Picollo wasn’t honored. It’s ok. Let Arnold have the glory. We know what Picollo did in rebuilding this club.

Carrying on with awards, the finalists were named for the Silver Slugger Awards. Witt made the shortlist at shortstop while Salvador Perez is in the mix with the catchers. The award is given to the best offensive performer at each position and is voted on by managers and three coaches from every team in the league.

Here are your AL finalists.

Sorry for the graphic that features Aaron Judge. Probably should’ve warned you that was coming.

Witt is probably going to finish second in the AL MVP award and should be a lock for his first Silver Slugger. Salvy is up against some strong competition in Cal Raleigh and Yanier Diaz.

I think you can make a case for any of the top three. Perez drove in the most runs. Raleigh hit the most home runs and scored the most runs. Diaz leads this group in batting average. Perez is the leader in OBP (which still blows my mind) and slugging. Raleigh and Diaz are tied with wRC+, with Perez right behind.

(I included fWAR for some context, but that includes all facets of the game.)

When it’s close like this statistically, it’s probably helpful to remember who’s voting. WIth managers and coaches casting ballots, it’s going to be a little less statistically based and more of a “feel” type of vote. Reputation helps here. While Raleigh has emerged as probably the top backstop in the league, Perez has been doing this for a long time and doesn’t seem to be slowing down. Salvy has a strong chance to pick up his fifth Silver Slugger.

The awards will be announced on November 12.

In yesterday’s newsletter, there was some discussion about whether or not Witt was the first shortstop to win a Gold Glove and a batting title in the same season. I figured that info had to be readily available. I went to Google. My mistake.

Add artificial intelligence to the list of things that I have no use for.

I probably should’ve posted this yesterday when discussing those Gold Glove awards.

It’s kind of a who’s who of franchise excellence along with a couple of “remember some guys” kind of dudes. I think Andrew Benintendi and Michael A. Taylor are already in the latter category.

Qualifying offers for free agents were due yesterday and 13 players received one.

Juan Soto (Yankees)
Corbin Burnes (Orioles)
Alex Bregman (Astros)
Max Fried (Braves)
Willy Adames (Brewers)
Pete Alonso (Mets)
Anthony Santander (Orioles)
Teoscar Hernández (Dodgers)
Nick Pivetta (Red Sox)
Christian Walker (Diamondbacks)
Sean Manaea (Mets)
Luis Severino (Mets)
Nick Martinez (Reds)

The top seven or eight were no-brainers. The bottom portion of this list…less so. Especially starting pitchers Pivetta, Severino and Martinez. That points to the expectation from teams that the starting pitching market might just be extra bananas this winter. If that’s the case, the Royals getting out in front and bringing back Michael Wacha could be an extremely smart piece of business.

This year, the QO is worth $21.05 million. Players have until November 19 to make a decision whether to accept the offer.