Kansas City Royals Made Contract Offer to Top Starter, Exploring Pitching Market
According to Ken Rosenthal of 'The Athletic,' the Kansas City Royals made a surprising run at Sonny Gray on the free agent market before he signed with the St. Louis Cardinals.
It's surprising to see the Royals shopping near the top of the food chain considering they finished with the second-worst record in baseball last season and notoriously don't spend much on free agent contracts.
Per Rosenthal:
As for free agents, the Royals made an offer to Gray, who signed a three-year, $75 million contract with the Cardinals, and they also were in on righty Erick Fedde, who went to the White Sox on a two-year, $15 million deal. They likely will be active on the tier below the front-line starters, exploring pitchers such as Wacha, Lucas Giolito, Marcus Stroman and Seth Lugo
While the Royals missed out on Gray, perhaps this signifies they are trying to return to contention earlier than we have thought. They do have one of the best players in baseball in Bobby Witt Jr. and still have veteran backstop Salvador Perez.
In addition, they have promising young starters like Cole Ragans and Brady Singer. Given the mediocrity of the American League Central, perhaps it's not farfetched to think the Royals can compete sooner rather than later.
As the Royals scour the rest of the pitching market, they aren't likely to get any answers until the rest of the dam breaks. Once Yoshinobu Yamamoto signs, we should see the rest of the market move, unlocking some of the pitchers that Rosenthal mentions.
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