Patrick Mahomes Has High Hopes for KC Royals After Recent Moves

Sometimes, it's easy to forget that the Kansas City Chiefs share the Truman Sports Complex with another professional sports team. It's a club that has even won a championship in the last decade. In a classic representation of reality for some small-market teams, however, the Kansas City Royals' window didn't stay open for too long and ultimately shut by the time Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was in the neighborhood.

With that said, the Royals are making some moves to ensure that they don't have another season of 100-plus losses.

Over the past few weeks, Kansas City spent more than it has in recent memory. With free agent pickups, the team is actively trying to field a more competitive product in 2024. Via free agents alone, the Royals pretty easily cleared the $40 million mark in commitments for its next-year payroll. The roster is improved in multiple areas relative to the conclusion of the 2023 campaign.

Mahomes, a part-owner of the team, is taking notice. Speaking to the media this week, the reigning NFL MVP provided some thoughts on the offseason for the Royals and even added a carefully crafted vote of confidence for a contract extension with star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr.

“It’s cool," Mahomes said. "Obviously, since I’ve been here it’s been down a little bit. Before I got here — I talked to Travis (Kelce) about it a little bit about how cool it was for those two World Series title runs. A lot of those players left and now they’re trying to rebuild that thing. You can see the young core and how talented those guys are, now they just want to add the veterans. The veterans to come in and not only have their impact on the team, but they want them to influence that young core of how you do things the right way. I think they have as good a chance as any to win their division. I think it’s going to be a great season and I’m excited to be able to be there and just see it. I want to see The K (Kauffman Stadium) packed and how those World Series runs were. I’m super excited about it obviously. Hopefully — I’m an owner so I can’t really say anything — hopefully we have Bobby Witt here for a long time.”

The Royals had one of the youngest lineups in all of baseball this past season, fueled by Witt and running mates MJ Melendez (left field), Vinnie Pasquantino (first base), Maikel Garcia (third base) and others. With the return of Pasquantino after an injury, as well as the offseason pickup of outfielder Hunter Renfroe, it's expected that the floor and ceiling of the batting order will be raised. Adding a utility man like Garrett Hampson also gives Kansas City some added depth in the field.

Pitching, though, is where the Royals are hoping to take the biggest jump in 2024. They added not one, but two formidable veteran arms to the starting rotation in Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha. In the bullpen, the signings of Will Smith and Chris Stratton will push everyone else down in the pecking order a bit. One of the (positive) consequences of bringing players in this month is less pressure being placed on young contributors. The age and youth are poised to work together to form a productive club. Mahomes says his favorite part of the offseason is the effort to sign Lugo and Wacha.

“I think just adding to the rotation," Mahomes said. "We have a lot of talented young guys. If you look at (Cole) Ragans you look at (Brady) Singer, you look at the other guys [like] Kris (Bubic) that we just signed back. We’ve got talented young guys. To add those veterans Wacha, Lugo, guys that have done it in a lot of different places, know how to pitch, know how to teach other guys how to take their game to the next level. Then adding some bullpen guys as well. I think they’ve done a great job, that’s what their plan was. I heard them talking about it, the GM (J.J. Picollo) talking [about] what the plan was and how they were going to go out and execute it and they’ve done that. I don’t know what else is in the works. I’m not that close, but hopefully we come into the season with some momentum going and we can go in there and start off hot and finish even better."

To say 2023 was a rough season for the Royals would be an understatement. The franchise won nine fewer games than it did the season prior despite coming into the year anticipating more growth. Now, that growth is going to be supplemented by some proven contributors. With Witt growing into a full-fledged star, some better health and the signings factored in, the team believes that it can compete for a division title or at least remain competitive deep into the year. As he gears up for a playoff run of his own, Mahomes shares that same hope while the winter rolls on.

Patrick Mahomes Gives Huge Gifts to His Offensive Linemen