As the MLB offseason draws closer to a close, the shape of the roster for the Kansas City Royals has started to come into focus. With some additions this week, the puzzle pieces are falling into place. Most notably, Kansas City re-signed pitcher Michael Lorenzen. He will pitch out of the team’s rotation to open the season. Other moves, including claiming infielder Braden Shewmake and signing infielder Cavan Biggio to a minor league contract have rounded out the team’s outlook. It all culminates in one underlying question around the 2025 season: the Royals aren’t going to return one of the league’s worst outfield groups from a year ago, are they?

The short answer might be yes. The long answer is unequivocally no. Let me explain.

No, the Royals aren’t simply “running it back” with last year’s struggling outfield group

By March 2024, Farm to Fountains was releasing our look at the team’s final 26-man roster heading into Opening Day. In that list, the team carried five outfielders, plus Garrett Hampson. The five included Kyle Isbel, MJ Melendez, Hunter Renfroe, Nelson Velázquez, and Dairon Blanco. Heading into 2025, it looks like four of those five — at least — will again be back for Kansas City. It’s unlikely Velázquez forces his way back to the big leagues to open the season. The other four are all more or less secure in their current roles as we enter the new year. That’s the short answer mentioned before. The starting three returns for 2025, despite finishing last season ranked 25th with -4.3 collective bWAR from the team’s outfield.

The long answer is where things can be put more into context. In 2024, Kansas City entered the season with Hampson and veteran Adam Frazier as the depth behind the starting three in the outfield. In the minors, they could potentially lean on Tyler Gentry, but not much else looked ready to contribute from the minor leagues. Into 2025, the Royals have done well to change that narrative. Most prominent was the addition of Jonathan India and Joey Wiemer. Wiemer is key, but we will get to him in a moment. India, by all accounts, is willing to play left field if needed. The same goes for Michael Massey. That alone gives the Royals a proven offensive contributor who could slot into that corner outfield role. The defense won’t be much of a downgrade from Melendez or Renfroe either, even if it’s subpar.

Wiemer is the true wild card in the new outfield rotation. Defensively, he’s a home run. There’s little question that he adds a new level of defensive talent to the group alongside Kyle Isbel. Wiemer was worth five defensive runs saved and eight outs above average in his only notable MLB playing time back in 2023. He can easily slot into any of the three outfield positions and offer up better defense than any other option on the roster, save for Isbel. At the plate, Wiemer offers post-hype top prospect potential. That sort of potential ceiling was absent from last season’s 26-man roster.

The Royals are set to return much of last season’s outfield. This time around, however, the team’s contingency plans offer much more hope. Wiemer and a mixture of India and Massey offer backup options should Melendez and Renfroe continue to struggle to the same degree we saw in 2024. In the minor leagues, Tyler Gentry remains on the 40-man roster and could get a call. Unlike last season, however, it’s unlikely he will be called upon to “save” this outfield to any degree. That level of pressure isn’t likely to help even the best prospects succeed, and the Royals have done well to insulate any potential pressure for prospects they can add to the outfield picture.

Also of note are other prospects including Gavin Cross, John Rave, and possibly even Javier Vaz. The notion that Cross could reach the big leagues last season was laughable before the season started. Entering 2025, it isn’t far-fetched in the least. The Royals’ struggles in the outfield last season weren’t for nothing. They effectively bridged the gap between the big league needs and the farm system’s supply. Rave is 27 years old and can hardly be called a prospect these days. Even still, he hit 21 home runs last season for Omaha. Factoring in Omaha’s park factor for home runs (118) dampens that outlook substantially, but he’s a solid defender and has taken clear strides offensively over the last two seasons.

The long short of it is, the Royals have better positioned themselves to react in 2025 where they couldn’t a year ago. The organization isn’t close to “win now” mode at the big league level, so giving up too soon on a promising young player like Melendez makes little sense. Kansas City has reached the perfect level of balance between employing patience with player development while also preparing for the worst. The 2025 Royals are much better equipped to churn the outfield should the need arise. That in itself is perhaps the best realistic improvement they could make to this year’s outfield.