Seth Stays in KC, Royals Add Randal Grichuk

Breaking down a pair of transactions pointing toward Picollo's deadline approach

Photo courtesy of AP/Rebecca Blackwell

Whether you were on Team Trade or Team Qualifying Offer, it’s all a moot point now: The Royals jumped the market for their own veteran right-hander on Sunday night, inking Seth Lugo to a two-year deal worth $46 million guaranteed, including a $3 million signing bonus and $3 million buyout on a 2028 vesting option.

It’s a whale of a deal for Kansas City, and if nothing else, shows the commitment on both ends for the Royals to keep their sturdy right-hander in the rotation and for Lugo to remain in a city where he’s put forth the best season-and-a-half of his career. Even heading into his age-36 season in 2026, Lugo could’ve surely commanded more — both years and dollars — on the open market, but chose to stick with a club that made him the face of its 2023-24 offseason plans.

Now, rather than remaking the rotation this winter, KC can again count on its leading quartet of Cole Ragans, Kris Bubic, Michael Wacha and Lugo as it looks to bounce back from a disappointing 2025 — at least to this point.

But they didn’t simply start their offseason a few months early. JJ Picollo and company also added super-platoon outfielder Randal Grichuk, who was a target this past offseason before sticking with Arizona on a one-year deal with a mutual option for 2026. It was a light “buy,” sending Triple-A reliever Andrew Hoffman to the Diamondbacks for a hitter they hope can improve their results against both left-handers and fastballs.

These deals hint at the reflection Kansas City’s front office sees in the mirror, which, at least internally, is a club that still is taking aim at October. The Royals are still in the race, to be sure, but at 52-54, four games back of a Wild Card spot and with a -19 run differential, FanGraphs continues to frown on their shot at a postseason berth, pegging their playoff chances at 12.2%.

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