*** Official 2018-2019 Royals Offseason Repository ***

[Coach]

As the season comes to a close after an awful season, there is a possibility of some hope since the team played better in late August to the end of the season.

Here are all the important dates you need to know for the 2018-19 MLB offseason. Some of them do involve the Royals, such as:

Oct. 29: As of 9 a.m. ET on Monday, all eligible players are free agents (Escobar - good riddance).

Oct. 31: Most contract option decisions are due on this date (Hammel should be declined, resulting $2 million buyout and Peralta should be accepted, resulting $3 million increase to the payroll, and could be future flip for additional minor leaguers if he performs well).

Spoiler!

10/30/2018 - Hammel's option has been declined.

10/31/2018 - Peralta apparently received new 1 year contract with 2020 option. Contract Details.

10/31/2018 - Nate Karns is a Free Agent.

Nov. 2: Deadline for teams to tender their eligible FA the qualifying offer.

Spoiler!

11/02/2018 - Brandon Maurer elects to FA & Orlando & Torres outrighted to Omaha, will be minor league FA's.

11/02/2018 - Corresponding moves is Cuthburt, Hahn, & Soler reinstated.

Nov. 3: Free agency begins.

Nov. 4: Gold Glove winners announced (Gordon & Perez).

Spoiler!

11/04/2018 - Salvy wins his fifth Gold Glove.

11/04/2018 - Gordon wins his sixth Gold Glove.

Nov. 6-8: General manager meetings in Carlsbad, California.

Nov. 12: Deadline for free agents to accept or reject the qualifying offer.

Nov. 14-15: Owners meetings in Atlanta (possible future CBA discussions).

Nov. 20: Deadline for teams to add eligible minor leaguers to the 40-man roster to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft.

Spoiler!

The Royals announced they've added RHPs Arnaldo Hernandez, Josh Staumont and Scott Blewett to the 40-man roster, protecting them from next month's Rule 5 draft. Blewett appeared to take a big step in the Arizona Fall League. The 40-man roster is full right now.

— Rustin Dodd (@rustindodd) November 20, 2018

Nov. 26-29: MLB Players Association executive board meeting in Dallas (possible future CBA discussions).

Nov. 30: Non-tender deadline.

Dec. 9-13: Winter Meetings in Las Vegas. This is typically when all offseason hell breaks loose.

Dec. 13: Rule 5 Draft (could see the Royals taking a stab here).

Jan. 11: Deadline for teams and arbitration-eligible players to submit 2019 salary figures (I believe KC has some arb-eligible players).

Feb. 1-20: Arbitration hearings. You win some, you lose some.

Mid-Feb. : SPRING TRAINING!

As usual, let's have a good off-season discussion on ways that the Royals can/should/would do to improve. I will try to update the OP as the off-season goes along. And Duncan, you're more than welcome to provide us some information that I can add onto the OP. Just let me know.

To see the 2018 Royals thread, go here.

[tk13]

Source: #Royals, Whit Merrifield nearing 4-year contract extension. Story: https://t.co/OiQf6nv83C @MLBNetwork @MLB

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) January 28, 2019

[RealSNR]

I wasn't opposed to trading Whit, but I did think we were better off holding onto him than potentially making a poor deal that wouldn't net us even value in prospects.

We can always trade him later if the rebuild doesn't go very well.

[ChiefsCountry]

Originally Posted by tk13

Source: #Royals, Whit Merrifield nearing 4-year contract extension. Story: https://t.co/OiQf6nv83C @MLBNetwork @MLB

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) January 28, 2019

Hopefully this causes kcchiefsus to go drink anti freeze.

[Chris Meck]

Originally Posted by RealSNR

I wasn't opposed to trading Whit, but I did think we were better off holding onto him than potentially making a poor deal that wouldn't net us even value in prospects.

We can always trade him later if the rebuild doesn't go very well.

I think it also signals that they think they're closer than a lot of outsiders do.

[Why Not?]

Good. Love Whit. No need to trade fun, likeable players if you can’t get value in return

[tk13]

Originally Posted by Chris Meck

I think it also signals that they think they're closer than a lot of outsiders do.

I think there was already zero doubt of that.

This probably doesn't 100% eliminate trading Whit. What we basically did was buy out all the years we already had him under control. Now we don't have to go to arbitration with him and we know exactly what he'll cost going forward. But I always thought it was way unlikely he's traded.

The game has changed. Look at how Harper and Machado are still out there. All these big market teams have totally changed the way they work. They still spend money but they don't blow out the budget on FAs and they don't trade their big prospects away so they can build from within.

[Chris Meck]

Originally Posted by tk13

I think there was already zero doubt of that.

This probably doesn't 100% eliminate trading Whit. What we basically did was buy out all the years we already had him under control. Now we don't have to go to arbitration with him and we know exactly what he'll cost going forward. But I always thought it was way unlikely he's traded.

The game has changed. Look at how Harper and Machado are still out there. All these big market teams have totally changed the way they work. They still spend money but they don't blow out the budget on FAs and they don't trade their big prospects away so they can build from within.

well, and he fits the park and the club. We need to quit trying to get these low contact power hitters, it's nuts. We need to run, run, run, play defense and slap doubles into the gaps. Whit's the prototype Royal. I think he'll age well too, he's so fundamentally sound. he'll be good into his late 30's. AND-you're right also, if they DO decide to trade him, it's probably even easier now, as his salary going forward is locked in.

[tk13]

Whit Merrifield’s four-year extension with #Royals will be worth $16.25 million with $2 million in performance bonuses, source says. @MLB @MLBNetwork

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) January 28, 2019

[MAHOMO 4 LIFE!]

Originally Posted by tk13

Whit Merrifield’s four-year extension with #Royals will be worth $16.25 million with $2 million in performance bonuses, source says. @MLB @MLBNetwork

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) January 28, 2019

That’s a steal!

[TomBarndtsTwin]

Wow. That’s peanuts.

I mean, I get why he did it, significant raise, guaranteed money in case of injury, etc., but wow.

He’s even more tradeable now than he was before (if they get a good enough offer). If not, the Royals get to keep a good player for next to nothing during his arbitration years.

Great deal for the Royals.

[Rivaldo]

we gonna steal some bases with a Hamilton, Merrifield, Mondesi top of the order

and blast some dongs.

[Bufkin]

Wait, that’s 16.25 million over 4 years? Not annually right?

Locking up Whit in his prime for essentially 4 million a year is insane. I almost feel bad for him.

[Chris Meck]

Originally Posted by Rivaldo

we gonna steal some bases with a Hamilton, Merrifield, Mondesi top of the order

and blast some dongs.

In my opinion, that pressuring the defense with the running game is what PECOTA could never calculate and why the '14 and '15 teams were so much better than projected. It forces the pitcher to throw fastballs, interferes with their location and accuracy, makes shortstops play out of the hole and gets in the head of every defender, forcing them to play everything perfectly and as fast as possible. We got away from that for a couple years for god-knows-why.

it's hard to put a statistic to that, but how often did we see that? Nobody plays that way anymore, it's foreign to most other teams. When I was a kid lots of teams played that way but that was a different era.

[TomBarndtsTwin]

Originally Posted by Bufkin

Wait, that’s 16.25 million over 4 years? Not annually right?

Locking up Whit in his prime for essentially 4 million a year is insane. I almost feel bad for him.

On the surface, it has a Salvador Perez ridiculous contract feel to it (before they renegotiated his deal), but in reality he was only getting 500K this year. Maybe $4-$5 mil. next year in his first arbitration year. Would have obviously made more in years 3 and 4 of arbitration, but he traded more money his last 2 years for some security (I.e. injury, etc.)

Still, a great deal for the Royals, no doubt.

[tk13]

Originally Posted by TomBarndtsTwin

On the surface, it has a Salvador Perez ridiculous contract feel to it (before they renegotiated his deal), but in reality he was only getting 500K this year. Maybe $4-$5 mil. next year in his first arbitration year. Would have obviously made more in years 3 and 4 of arbitration, but he traded more money his last 2 years for some security (I.e. injury, etc.)

Still, a great deal for the Royals, no doubt.

Yeah baseball Twitter is flipping out over it, not just Royals fans but all across the board. But he's 30 years old and has probably made about 1 million dollars so far... this gets him financial security regardless of what happens, and he obviously likes KC.