David Lesky

An Unlikely Trade Piece for the Royals? The latest rumors mention Cole Ragans potentially being available to get the Royals the outfielder they need so badly.

Would the #Royals *really* trade Cole Ragans? First off, I don't think so. But second off, the rumors are out there, so I wrote about it today. Maybe a bit of a ramble, but I had some thoughts.

My now three-year-old daughter just looked my wife in the eye and said “I took a deuce.”

I explained to her that you actually drop a deuce, but I loved the effort.

Subscribe to Inside the Crown Taking a deeper dive into all things Kansas City Royals. Click to read Inside the Crown, by David Lesky, a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Slight schedule change on ItC because, well, I fell asleep early last night and woke up late today.

To say sorry, how about a special Black Friday subscription deal to get all my #Royals analysis for 25% off?

Another New Royals Coach Hits the Mark I love the Royals hire of Mike McFerran for so many reasons.

The #Royals lost a big part of their pitching plan when Zach Bove left for the White Sox, but they made an inspiring hire. I wrote about Mike McFerren, the new assistant pitching coach, with a little insight from people way smarter than me.

Love Me (Non-)Tender Friday's deadline to tender contracts to all players on non-guaranteed contracts went almost as expected for the Royals.

Friday was the non-tender deadline and most of the #Royals decisions were easy, but there were some questions. I wrote mostly about the choices that weren't so easy plus included some non-tenders made by other teams who could interest KC.

YouTube video by FlexPro Grip The Layback Podcast - Mike McFerran, A's Pitching Coordinator (Ep. 33)

I haven't watched this yet, but guessing you get a lot of insight into what he is from this video:

Oh the #Royals made a very interesting hire for assistant pitching coach. Mike McFerran is not a name I know much about, but the background is certainly different. College guy until the last two years with the A’s system. And he’s only 32 years old.

Crown Jewels: A New Bullpen Arm, Cags Confidence and my Hypothetical HOF Ballot The Royals added some strikeouts, their potential star as a tough road ahead and how I'd vote for the Hall.

Fridays are free on Inside the Crown! In Crown Jewels this week, I wrote about the #Royals signing Alex Lange, confidence in Cags (both from the Royals and himself) and my hypothetical HOF ballot that I'm already questioning.

Royals 2025/2026 Offseason Trade Targets The Royals need help offensively (and probably in the bullpen). Maybe they make a trade or four?

This is the list. I ended up with 37 trade targets. I'm probably 37 short. Or more. But here are 37 players the #Royals could and maybe will target this offseason in trades.

Subscribe to Inside the Crown Taking a deeper dive into all things Kansas City Royals. Click to read Inside the Crown, by David Lesky, a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers.

Putting this out to make sure I finish it and to alert you to tomorrow's crazy newsletter, where I dig in on at least 32 trade targets (I might add more) for the #Royals. Click that link to make sure you get it in your inbox tomorrow morning.

That’s fair. I meant career numbers which are impressively close. MJ is probably better when you consider batted ball data too.

Compare his numbers to MJ and let me know what you think.

Mozzicato never made any sense, obviously, but there was talk.

The #Royals added Ben Kudrna and Steven Zobac to the 40-man. That means they didn’t add Gavin Cross, Frank Mozzicato and Javi Vaz, among others. The 40-man has 39 players on it now.

Non-tender deadline isn't until Friday, but they may not have a choice but to jump that gun a bit.

The deadline to add players to protect them from the Rule 5 is today. I wrote about 10 potential adds for the #Royals on Friday. They obviously won't all get added, but they only have three 40-man spots right now, so you might see a move today.

The Case For (and Against) Extending Vinnie Pasquantino The Royals are at an inflection point with their first baseman. What direction do they go?

Vinnie Pasquantino is an RBI machine, a fan favorite and seems like the glue in a strong clubhouse. The #Royals don't have to make a decision today or anything but that didn't stop me from weighing the pros and cons of extending him.

Crown Jewels: Royals Rumors, 40-Man Decisions and Questioning Trade Hesitancy This is an action time in baseball with roster deadlines and the GM meetings and the Royals were in the news.

Fridays mean ItC is free for everyone! In this week's Crown Jewels, I look at the #Royals rumors from the week, the 40-man decisions coming in the next week and wondering if I'm way off in my trade philosophies.

Kauffman Corner streaming at 8:30A Central. @dblesky.bsky.social, Les Norman and I discuss...
- 2 new hitting coaches.
- Salvy re-ups.
- Cameron 4th in ROY... Why?
- What's Mason Black?
- Trade Rumors.
- Passan says Gleyber Torres fits.

Click below...
tinyurl.com/m8e6zmsv

I was almost free of the weekly obligation to pretend to like Pat Strathman, but then the #Royals went and did a lot of stuff in the last week, so here I am again, talking about them with my arch nemesis on ESPN Wichita. How did I get so lucky?

Your 2025/2026 Royals Free Agent Target Guide Let's look at 50 free agents who could fit what the Royals might want to do this winter.

Free agency is not the only way to add to the team, but it's the way that only costs money. Today, I looked at 50 players who might be of interest to the #Royals in free agency. Some are unlikely, but I'm nothing if not thorough.

Okay, the free agent primer is about ready to go. I was able to make it a nice, round 50 players to look at for the #Royals. It'll hit your inboxes tomorrow morning.

I'm guessing the Mason Black move is just about starting pitching depth. He has an option left. He hasn't been especially good in the minors since 2023, but maybe they see something there. It's a fringe roster move, so meh, but I guess we'll see.

The Royals Hitting Picture is Now Clear...ish With the Royals hiring Marcus Thames, we know who Alec Zumwalt's big league staff is.

The #Royals made a move I was not expecting in hiring Marcus Thames. I can't say I love it, but I also think it's important to dig a little into what he brings to the table. I did some research, talked to some people smarter than me and wrote about adding Thames to the staff.

It’s still coming, don’t worry!

I had a really big free agent guide newsletter I was working on for tomorrow but after talking to a couple of people, I’m instead going to have something on Thames and how his philosophies can work with Dawson‘s and how they can all work together with the overarching plan.

Doing some searching and waiting on some texts to come back about Marcus Thames, but I wouldn't hold his time with the White Sox against him. A lot of Yankees players have lauded him and the approach makes a lot of sense to me. Seems like it's all about hitting hittable pitches, which, I mean, yeah.

I don't know enough to give you much here. When he was with the Angels, he talked a lot about getting to the fastball early in the count, which isn't a bad idea in general.

Royals Hire Connor Dawson As Hitting Coach Kansas City has added Connor Dawson to its coaching staff. Read more at MLB Trade Rumors.

Being credited on @mlbtraderumors.bsky.social for breaking something is pretty damn cool.

The Connor Dawson hire is now official.

There's another coach coming soon...