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Royals deserve credit for making more effort than most small-market teams
Tuesday is a big day for the Kansas City Royals as top prospect Jac Caglianone will be making his Major League debut against the St. Louis Cardinals. It is not just his arrival that should be a big deal for Royals fans.
It is also another sign that the organization is making more of an effort to win right now than a lot of other small market teams.
By calling up Caglianone in early June, it could end up costing them money in future seasons by making him a Super Two player that will give him another year of arbitration eligibility. A lot of small market teams — and even some big market teams — take that so seriously that they will purposely manipulate service time by keeping top prospects in the minor leagues in an effort to avoid that super-two status.
It's such a strategy that Kansas City was ripped on Monday by former Marlins executive David Sampson for what he called "the single-most irresponsible move" he's seen in "quite some time."
"What Kansas City has done is the single-most irresponsible move I've seen in quite a long a time."@DavidPSamson breaks down why he is not a fan of the Royals calling up MLB's No. 10 prospect Jac Caglianone when they did. pic.twitter.com/WiesDWvlXX
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) June 2, 2025
It's an absurd statement, and that mindset is one of the things that is hurting the current quality of Major League Baseball.
Between the owners that refuse to spend, and the teams that purposely field inferior teams because they are afraid of spending a little extra money in four years, there are too many teams in baseball that are not even trying to win and putting embarrassing products on the field (Pittsburgh, Colorado, Miami).
Most of them are smaller market teams that just give up because they can't — or won't — spend like the top teams in the league.
The Royals are at least making something of an effort to compete, and they deserve credit for that.
Along with making the playoffs a year ago, the Royals are 31-29 entering play on Tuesday and very much in the American League wild-card race despite having a non-existent offense. Caglianone could absolutely help them fix that. Maybe not all of it, but at least some of it.
Calling up Caglianone also continues what has been an encouraging trend from the Royals front office and ownership to get better over the past two years. While the payroll is still only 20th in baseball, they have still made significant — and expensive — moves to improve the team in both the short-term and long-term windows.
They already locked in their franchise player — shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. — to an 11-year contract worth over $220M. Most small market teams would not do that.
They made big investments in their starting pitching rotation a year ago by signing free agents Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha to long-term deals. Most small market teams would not do that. Lugo and Wacha have completely transformed their rotation into one of the best in baseball.
Now they are potentially thumbing their nose at Super Two arbitration status and calling up a potential impact player that could help them make the playoffs for a second year in a row.
Those are positive things. There is nothing irresponsible about trying to win right now when you have the chance.
More must-reads:
- Royals top prospect Jac Caglianone getting his chance
- Royals need more than Jac Caglianone to fix their offensive woes
- The 'MLB shortstops to hit 30+ home runs in a season' quiz
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