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Royals Insider Jaylon Thompson drops in to recap and look a head at the Royals in 2026 & 2027
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00:00Happy Friday, everybody. Welcome back. Sports Daily here on KFH. Brady Bowman along with T.J. Cleland.
00:08And in for the last time of the season, Kansas City Star, Royals Beat reporter, Jalen Thompson in.
00:16Jalen, how are your emotions right now? Are you keeping it together?
00:21You guys getting rid of me? Oh, man.
00:25We might need a Saints reporter, so we'll see if we need to keep you around for some Saints football
00:29talk.
00:31If the Saints make a playoff run, you will be on here every week. I promise you that.
00:37We'll do that. Jalen, we are going to put a bow on the season that was for the Kansas City
00:42Royals
00:42in an effort to make our listeners a bit less depressed so we don't have to talk about all the
00:48losses anymore.
00:49The Royals put a bow on it earlier this week with Charo and J.J. Piccolo talk.
00:54What's the biggest takeaway that you got from them?
00:57They're going to be aggressive and they're going to try to fix that bullpen that gave up 26 home runs
01:03in the ninth inning or later.
01:05And they're going to try to fix a starting rotation that has more injuries than your favorite basketball team at
01:12the end of March and April.
01:14So, yeah, they have a lot of work to do this offseason.
01:19Jalen, I think the big thing is like you look at this as a season that was or a season
01:23that maybe could have been,
01:25especially with the expectations going into the season.
01:28I mean, national media was talking pretty high on the Royals before opening day.
01:33And obviously, pretty much right away, you know, we knew that, wait, maybe maybe those expectations aren't necessarily going to
01:40be met.
01:40It was a really, really tough first half, really tough first month.
01:46Looking back now, and maybe there's just kind of more time or maybe there's been enough time to kind of
01:50look back and digest it.
01:52Where did it kind of go wrong?
01:53Especially just right away, right out of the gate, just kind of off the rails pretty, pretty quickly.
01:58What happened, Jalen?
02:00Well, they didn't use that.
02:01They didn't use it as an excuse.
02:04But the WBC had a big effect on this team.
02:09Essentially, most of the star players were not there.
02:12So, you didn't have that spring training to really work out those kinks that you really wanted and needed to
02:19work out to get off to a better start.
02:22And like I said, they're not using it as an excuse.
02:25But that happened.
02:27And then the slow start of just not playing well.
02:30I mean, really, you didn't have your closer after one game.
02:33And then you lost your second baseman in John to India.
02:36And guys just weren't hitting with runs and scoring position.
02:39And, you know, they may also be at a point of looking to see how can they operate in different
02:46environments.
02:46And, you know, you play in Arizona where it's a hitter-friendly park.
02:49And you come to play in cold Kansas City and on the road.
02:53And it's just so many other factors that they all threw out there in their last meetup on Wednesday.
03:01And I guess they're trying to figure out what can they do to be better in that regard.
03:05So, who knows?
03:06If there's a lockout, maybe they play in June.
03:08And then it'll be hot.
03:10And they can get off to a hot start.
03:12I don't know.
03:12Well, I guess we should preface by saying we're going to talk as if there will be a season next
03:17year.
03:17So, maybe this is all just irrelevant.
03:19They'll have a long time to figure it out.
03:21But, Jalen, we've talked a lot about where they've got so many pieces on this roster.
03:27And, you know, their lineup is in a spot where I feel like they have to be happy about it.
03:31And they've got pitchers that they like, maybe just not enough of them.
03:35I think that you said a couple of weeks ago is that they made the playoffs in 2024.
03:39But outside of that, right, there's been so many missed playoff appearances.
03:42Even with a lot of these guys on the roster, you know, how optimistic should we be heading in the
03:47next season
03:48if it's going to be majority of the same roster?
03:51Is there belief to be had?
03:53Yeah, it's going to have to be, right?
03:57You've got to believe at some point because look at what they have left.
04:03They have Bobby Wade Jr. still.
04:05He's an all three-time all-star.
04:07You want to run for AL MVP in 2024.
04:11You still have Salvador Perez, home run king in franchise history, a future Hall of Famer.
04:16Your two rookies, Carter Jensen and Jack Caglione, were AL Player of the Month in August and September, respectively.
04:26You've got Vinny Pasquantino, 30 home runs, 100 RBIs, Michael Garcia, Gold Glover, all-star.
04:32You have pieces, right?
04:33The problem is how do you get those pieces to be together at the same time and play at the
04:39same level?
04:40And I don't know if you can.
04:43It's just guys, they haven't clicked on all cylinders, and that's been the problem.
04:49You can go out and get another bat, maybe a right-handed bat to balance the lineup, but does that
04:55help you?
04:56You still need pitching, and you don't have that.
04:59Your bullpen is tough.
05:00It's rough right now.
05:01How do you make all that come together to be a 2024 again?
05:07Because, and we're being honest, next season, it could be a hot season for a lot of guys.
05:13Yeah, actually, that's exactly where I was going to go, Jalen, again, assuming that we have a season next season
05:19as normal.
05:20How hot are those seats?
05:22I guess how equipped is this clubhouse to deal with that sort of pressure?
05:28Because they've got to think that everybody's aware that next season, if everything goes right, it could be a very
05:35big make it or break it.
05:36So how do you feel about the mental toughness of the clubhouse to deal with that?
05:41They still lean on Salvador Perez.
05:45He's the captain, and I think a lot of guys have been through this, and I think they understand what
05:51needs to be done.
05:52But we say that every year.
05:53We said that at the beginning of this year.
05:55They came in, and they were like, well, we know what we have to do.
05:58We know what we went through in 2025, and we don't like that feeling again in the midst of the
06:02playoffs.
06:03After making it in 2024, we're going to be better.
06:05And they had a terrible season.
06:07So I'm at the point where they can say all that they want about we know where our mental state
06:13is,
06:13and we know how well we need to play and get off to a hot start.
06:17They need to do it.
06:18They really need to just do it.
06:20I think a lot of the fan base, they don't want to hear about the optimism of, well, we play
06:25well, and we play our brand of baseball.
06:27We can win.
06:28It's past time for that.
06:30It's just go out there and get the job done.
06:33And if you look at some of the moves they made this offseason already, they sent Alex Zumwalt back to
06:39the minor leagues.
06:39They're going to roll with Marcus Deems and Conor Dawson as the hitting coaches.
06:44And then they got rid of the entire medical training, athletic training staff.
06:49Basically, they're going to have to replace all of that.
06:52And they said they're looking at ways to be more efficient at getting guys back on the field.
06:58They're making these coaching changes, these internal staff changes.
07:03So I wouldn't be surprised that if they don't get off to a good start next year, well, they pull
07:08the plug on the whole thing.
07:11I laugh, Jalen, because I've never heard of an organization, usually when things go bad, it usually goes like hitting
07:17coach, pitching coach, manager.
07:19The Royals went hitting coach, entire medical staff, which is usually out of order.
07:24It usually doesn't happen that way.
07:25Talk about Alex Zumwalt.
07:27So it's interesting, Jalen, because they didn't fire him, right?
07:31They just reassigned him elsewhere, which that also feels like that doesn't happen elsewhere in Major League Baseball.
07:38So essentially what happened was Alex Zumwalt is the senior director of hitting performance.
07:46So that's his main title.
07:48In 2022, he came on to be the hitting coach as well.
07:52So he's been doing both roles for the last five seasons, pretty much.
07:59Now he's going back to just being the senior director of hitting performance and going across the minor league and
08:05helping guys try to get ready to be prepared to go up and make their big league debut.
08:10So that's what he's going to be doing next season.
08:13And it's been something that they've talked about for a while.
08:15That's why they hire Marcus Deems and Connor Dawson.
08:18Connor has that succession plan, in a sense, to have a long-term option as the hitting coach.
08:24But, like I said, it's great and all that you have those guys.
08:28It's great and all that we've seen Jack Cavill hit 20-something homers, 25, 26 homers.
08:34Carter Jensen hit 27, lead the team in RB.
08:37It's great.
08:37All of that's great.
08:39But I think a lot of fans are at the point where that does not matter unless the wins and
08:44the losses add up to them making the playoffs again.
08:47Because if you look at the AL Central, every team has gotten better except for the Kansas City Royals.
08:53You have the Guardians and the White Sox playing each other for a chance of luck to the ALCS this
08:59weekend.
09:00And the Royals have beaten the Guardians.
09:04They have beaten the White Sox.
09:06But yet they're sitting at home.
09:08And both of those teams celebrated on their own field.
09:12At Kauffman Stadium, that has to rub you the wrong – that has to sit with you, that has to
09:16rub you the wrong way.
09:17And that has to make you angry to want to come back next year and get to the playoffs and
09:22prove you can beat those teams.
09:24Jalen Thompson, Kansas City Royals beat reporter.
09:27For the KC star with us on KFH Sports Daily Friday edition.
09:32You know, we've talked a lot about how much we like the lineup.
09:36There's a lot of good pieces coming back.
09:38But, Jalen, we know one of the big issues – probably two big issues for this team this past season
09:43was,
09:44one, just consistency and not having your bats and pitching playing well at the same time at a consistent pace.
09:52But, overall, pitching really kind of failed and was kind of a weakness for this team this year.
09:57I really thought you were about to say, Brady, there was two big weaknesses on this team this year.
10:02The hitting and the pitching.
10:03Oh, so the entire team?
10:05Yeah, you just can't have that in baseball.
10:08You can't have both those things going wrong at the same time.
10:10That is true, TJ.
10:12No, that's not – the consistency of making it all happen at the same time.
10:15Because sometimes the bats are great, the pitching wasn't there.
10:18Sometimes the pitching was there, the bats weren't good.
10:20Michael Wacca, of course, he had a fantastic season.
10:24Noah Cameron came on there late and looked pretty good at times.
10:28So, how do we feel about pitching for next season?
10:32Yeah, Brady and TJ, I'll be honest with you.
10:35But it's going to be really risky because if they don't figure this out, you are tabbing your pitching staff
10:44to have Michael Wacca and Seth Lugo in their mid-30s continue to pitch at the way that you –
10:51that all-star level or even just a complementary level, right?
10:55And we saw Seth Lugo really struggle this season.
10:59And if he doesn't figure it out, like we always say, father time is undefeated.
11:05So, they're putting a lot of risk into saying Michael Wacca and Seth Lugo are the tent poles of this
11:11pitching rotation until you get your injured guys back of Luen Durava, Stephen Colick, Ryan Berger, and the like.
11:18Like, that's really tough to go into an offseason or 2027 not really knowing if you have enough pitching to
11:29compensate.
11:30So, what I think they should do is go out and try to sign some guys that don't have to
11:36have Michael Wacca and Seth Lugo be those tent poles.
11:39They can just be a part of it.
11:41So, go get two guys that can be – this is the front of my rotation.
11:45And those other two guys, Wacca, Lugo, and Noah Cameron, they feel in the back end of the rotation.
11:51So, that's what they need to do.
11:54And they need to go fix the bullpen, too.
11:56And they already said they don't – they have a closer on the roster.
11:59So, are you going to go spin for a closer?
12:02Are you – maybe you have to look around the league and see if you can go trade for someone
12:06that can be your closer, that can be a starting pitcher for you.
12:09And that's why I got to asking J.J. Ficola about, can you make an uncomfortable trade?
12:15Are you willing to do that?
12:16And he said, any options on the table.
12:18And when I mean by uncomfortable trade, I mean, do you move a Michael Garcia?
12:22Do you move a Gini-Pas-Fantino to go and get what you need as far as a starter or
12:27a reliever?
12:28Do you move one of your top prospects to go and get that?
12:31Because, let's be real here, after the 2030 season, Bobby Wood Jr. can say, you know what?
12:37I'm peacing out.
12:38I don't want to go somewhere else.
12:40Or he can say, I want more money on a new deal.
12:44All that's possible.
12:46And if you don't have a team that can support him these next couple of years,
12:50do you really want to let the best player in franchise history outside of George Brett walk out of town?
12:56You can't have that happen, right?
12:58So, you've got to go and fix this team and show him that you have a winner.
13:03The Dodgers are on the verge of winning their third consecutive title.
13:09Yep.
13:10So, what are you going to do?
13:13Jalen, give me a quick answer here.
13:15Whether it be a free agent signing or a trade, who is your priority one?
13:19And give me a name that will be, if they're getting a starter, which starter will they go get?
13:26I'm going to say, for agency, I can see them do Sonny Gray.
13:30And then, my trade, I really like what Josh Vernier says, who does the post-game show, 9-6-5,
13:38the fan.
13:39Sandy Alcantara, I like that.
13:40Yeah, that'd be fun.
13:41He starts and closes games.
13:43You see, he's been doing that.
13:44That fills both boxes.
13:45Hey, that's a bargain.
13:46That's right.
13:47Jalen, we're out of time.
13:48We appreciate all your help throughout the season, waking up early with us on Friday mornings.
13:52Through all the travel, we appreciate it.
13:54We'll have to connect in the off-season when the Royals give us something to talk about.
13:57That's right.
13:58I can't wait.
13:59That's right.
14:00Go pick up the golf club.
14:01We're just...
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