Royals Made Wrong Jac Caglianone Decision, Says Former MLB Team President

Enthusiasm around the Kansas City Royals is at its peak heading into Tuesday night.

When the Royals take the field at Busch Stadium, they'll have their number-one prospect Jac Caglianone in the lineup for the first time. Caglianone had 15 home runs in his 50 minor-league games this season; Vinnie Pasquantino leads the Royals this season with eight.

It's an exciting day for the 31-29 Royals, who desperately need a jolt on offense. But according to one former Major League Baseball executive, calling up Caglianone now was a massive mistake.

On Monday, former Miami Marlins team president David Samson, now a sports business podcaster, blasted the Royals on CBS Sports for not waiting until the "Super Two" deadline to call up Caglianone, when they could have gained an extra year of pre-arbitration control.

"What Kansas City has done is the single-most irresponsible move I've seen in quite a long a time," Samson said. "If he's going to be that good, how do you call him up now, where he will hit arbitration a full year earlier than if they had waited until after around Jun. 17?"

"I have no idea how a team that's not in the top 10 of payroll is not paying attention to dates. And the Royals forcing the issue? That's a bunch of horse hockey."

We'll give Samson the credit for one thing here: "Horse hockey" is an absolutely brilliant way to replace profanity. Creative, humorous, and still insulting. However, this pointed criticism is a bit sensationalist.

Unless Caglianone finishes in the top two of Rookie of the Year voting, the Royals won't lose an actual year of control over Caglianone. They'll just have to pay him a few million dollars in 2028 instead of getting him for less than a million.

And by then, it's entirely possible the club will have a long-term extension in place, much like they did with shortstop Bobby Witt Jr.

Hopefully, we can all enjoy the Caglianone experience as a group without worrying about the financial implications for a Royals team that has its focus set on the correct objective: making it back to the playoffs.

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