BP★ Lucas Erceg 12 · Matt Strahm 9 · Daniel Lynch IV 8 · Nick Mears 5 · John Schreiber 4 · Alex Lange 1 · Steven Cruz 0 · Eli Morgan 0
Each position lists its starter then backups by games (so platoons & bench show). Starters (mound) & bullpen (left, foul territory) are ranked by WAR; ★ marks the closer (most save chances). MLB Stats API.
2026 roster — value & surplus
Player
Age
Service
G
fWAR
Salary $M
Surplus $M
Bobby Witt Jr.
26
–
94
7.3
14.1
+31.7
Michael Wacha
34
FA-elig
20
2.9
18.0
+0.1
Carter Jensen
22
pre-arb
97
2.7
0.8
+16.4
Michael Massey
28
arb
85
2.4
1.6
+13.8
Maikel Garcia
26
pre-arb
69
2.2
4.3
+9.7
Noah Cameron
26
pre-arb
20
2.2
0.8
+13.0
Jac Caglianone
23
pre-arb
96
2.1
0.8
+12.5
Seth Lugo
36
FA-elig
21
2.0
21.5
-9.1
Lane Thomas
30
FA-elig
90
1.3
5.2
+2.9
Kris Bubic
28
arb
9
1.2
6.2
+1.6
Daniel Lynch IV
29
arb
42
1.2
1.0
+6.3
Isaac Collins
28
pre-arb
94
0.9
0.8
+4.6
Nick Loftin
27
pre-arb
67
0.8
0.7
+4.5
Stephen Kolek
29
pre-arb
10
0.7
0.8
+3.9
Kyle Isbel
29
arb
56
0.7
2.7
+1.6
Luinder Avila
24
pre-arb
19
0.7
0.7
+3.4
John Rave
28
–
9
0.3
–
–
Elias Díaz↔ TEX
35
FA-elig
10
0.2
0.1
+1.4
Jose Cuas
32
–
5
0.2
–
–
Tyler Tolbert
28
pre-arb
41
0.2
0.6
+0.5
Luke Maile
35
–
3
-0.0
–
–
Connor Seabold↔ DET
30
–
5
-0.0
0.2
-0.4
Nick Mears
29
arb
21
-0.1
1.9
-2.2
Jonathan India
29
arb
17
-0.1
8.0
-8.4
Randy Dobnak
31
–
4
-0.1
–
–
Andrew Velazquez
31
–
2
-0.1
–
–
Josh Rojas
32
–
20
-0.1
0.0
-0.7
Starling Marte
37
FA-elig
47
-0.1
1.4
-2.2
Alex Lange
30
arb
40
-0.2
0.9
-1.9
Beck Way
26
–
19
-0.2
0.5
-1.6
Vinnie Pasquantino
28
arb
77
-0.2
4.2
-5.6
Mason Black
26
pre-arb
12
-0.3
0.6
-2.2
Mitch Spence
28
pre-arb
3
-0.4
0.0
-2.5
Carlos Estévez
33
FA-elig
1
-0.4
10.1
-12.6
Cole Ragans
28
arb
8
-0.4
4.6
-7.2
Eric Cerantola
26
–
4
-0.4
0.0
-2.7
Eli Morgan
30
arb
16
-0.5
0.8
-3.7
Bailey Falter
29
arb
5
-0.5
3.6
-6.9
Kameron Misner
28
–
18
-0.6
0.5
-4.3
Steven Cruz
27
pre-arb
34
-0.6
0.6
-4.6
John Schreiber
32
arb
43
-0.6
3.7
-7.7
Lucas Erceg
31
pre-arb
40
-0.9
0.8
-6.3
Matt Strahm
34
FA-elig
38
-1.6
7.5
-17.4
Salvador Perez
36
FA-elig
97
-1.9
12.5
-24.4
Key additions (new vs 2025)
Player
fWAR
Lane Thomas
0.8
Isaac Collins
0.6
Elias Díaz
0.2
Jose Cuas
0.1
Connor Seabold
-0.0
Nick Mears
-0.0
Key subtractions (gone from 2025)
Player
2025 fWAR
Mike Yastrzemski
1.3
Michael Lorenzen
1.2
Ryan Bergert
0.7
Adam Frazier
0.6
Hunter Harvey
0.5
Freddy Fermin
0.4
Current & Historical Payroll
2026 payroll
$143.0M
luxury tax $139M
2027 guaranteed
$82.7M
What the front office was committed to as of 2026, 2026–2032.
Guaranteed $ are contract commitments signed by 2026; arbitration & free-agent years are projected from service time. Hover a figure for its luxury-tax (CBT) & actual-cash values.
current $guaranteed $arbitration (proj)pre-arb (proj)free agentclub optionplayer optionmutual optionvesting option
Summary — luxury-tax (CBT) basis
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
Tax threshold
$244M
$247M
$250M
$253M
$256M
$259M
$262M
Guaranteed contracts
$101M
$85M
$48M
$12M
$12M
$12M
Proj. arbitration
$29M
Proj. pre-arbitration
$10M
Player benefits
$18M
$18M
$18M
$18M
$18M
$18M
Total CBT payroll
$157M
$103M
$66M
$30M
$30M
$30M
Tax space
+$87M
+$144M
+$184M
+$224M
+$226M
+$230M
Est. tax bill
—
—
—
—
—
—
Luxury-tax (CBT) basis: contract AAV + ~$18M benefits/bonus-pool — distinct from the base-salary payroll above. Threshold is the CBA line. Tier-1 payor rates on the overage. Forward years show only guaranteed deals (arb/pre-arb not yet set). Figures are estimates.
Guaranteed / signed (12)
Player
Age
Svc
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
Seth Lugo
36
9.082
$21.5M
$21.5M
$17.0MCLUB
FREE AGENT
Michael Wacha
34
12.062
$18.0M
$14.0M
$14.0MCLUB
FREE AGENT
Salvador Perez
36
14.050
$12.5M
$12.5M
FREE AGENT
Carlos Estévez
33
9.022
$10.1M
$13.0MCLUB
FREE AGENT
Matt Strahm
34
9.064
$7.5MVEST
FREE AGENT
Lane Thomas
30
6.014
$5.2M
FREE AGENT
Cole Ragans
28
3.029
$4.6M
$7.6M
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Maikel Garcia
26
2.168
$4.3M
$7.3M
$10.3M
$13.3M
$19.3M
$21.0MCLUB
FREE AGENT
Vinnie Pasquantino
28
3.101
$4.2M
$6.9M
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Starling Marte
37
12.162
$1.4M
FREE AGENT
Elias Díaz
35
9.087
$110k
FREE AGENT
Luke Maile
35
8.148
—
FREE AGENT
Arbitration-eligible (15)
Player
Age
Svc
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
Bobby Witt Jr.
26
4.000
$14.1M
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Jonathan India
29
5.000
$8.0M
FREE AGENT
Kris Bubic
28
5.135
$6.2M
FREE AGENT
John Schreiber
32
5.027
$3.7M
FREE AGENT
Bailey Falter
29
3.138
$3.6M
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Kyle Isbel
29
4.043
$2.7M
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Nick Mears
29
4.022
$1.9M
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Michael Massey
28
3.068
$1.6M
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Daniel Lynch IV
29
3.136
$1.0M
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Alex Lange
30
3.145
$900k
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Eli Morgan
30
4.091
$821k
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Josh Rojas
32
5.126
$23k
FREE AGENT
Jose Cuas
32
3.129
—
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Andrew Velazquez
31
5.126
—
FREE AGENT
Randy Dobnak
31
5.038
—
FREE AGENT
Pre-arbitration (15)
Player
Age
Svc
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
Lucas Erceg
31
2.136
$804k
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Noah Cameron
26
0.137
$802k
Pre-Arb
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Isaac Collins
28
1.022
$800k
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Stephen Kolek
29
1.099
$785k
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Jac Caglianone
23
0.118
$784k
Pre-Arb
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Carter Jensen
22
0.028
$781k
Pre-Arb
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Nick Loftin
27
1.081
$728k
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Luinder Avila
24
0.033
$659k
Pre-Arb
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Tyler Tolbert
28
0.144
$645k
Pre-Arb
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Steven Cruz
27
1.057
$626k
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Mason Black
26
0.051
$580k
Pre-Arb
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Kameron Misner
28
1.029
$455k
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Connor Seabold
30
1.054
$190k
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Mitch Spence
28
1.124
$42k
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
John Rave
28
–
—
Graphs
Royals's path through relative payroll × TAB, smoothed; markers grow and the arrow points toward the present. WINDOW cheap&winning · CONTEND expensive&winning · FORCED-SPEND dead zone · REBUILD cheap&losing. Compare franchises →
Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Royals 2026; the black line = the league-average player at each slot that season. Staying above the line deep into the roster is the depth edge; dropping below it = holes & dead weight.
What each regime is worth — every settled team-season since 1985