Royals Rundown: A Kansas City Royals Podcast · Kansas City Royals Baseball

Royals Review Editor Max Rieper joins to prepare everyone for Spring Training and the World Baseball classic!

·1 hr 14 min·5 clips

Players over 37 may miss the World Baseball Classic because insurers will not cover their contracts.

1. Royals Rundown: A Kansas City Royals Podcast examines Spring Training, the World Baseball Classic, Royals roster decisions, prospects, and stadium planning. 2. Host Jeremy Hakaias-Greco brings in Max Rieper, editor of Royals Review, because regular co-host Jacob is unavailable. 3. The episode asks whether the Royals can turn early-season roster decisions, farm-system development, and ballpark uncertainty into a clearer 2026 direction. 4. The World Baseball Classic may exclude players over 37 because insurers will not cover their contracts. 5. Puerto Rico's team has reportedly had much of its roster affected and has threatened not to participate despite hosting a pool. 6. Max and Jeremy connect the WBC's appeal to international stars from the Dominican Republic, Japan, and Venezuela. 7. Roki Sasaki's visibility during the previous WBC helped explain why the Dodgers pursued him the following offseason. 8. Vinnie Pasquantino signed a two-year contract covering his first two arbitration-eligible seasons while retaining a third arbitration year. 9. Pasquantino's $4.5 million request and the Royals' $4 million figure differed by only $500,000, an unusually small gap for arbitration. 10. Chris Boobage still faced a larger arbitration split, with the pitcher seeking $6.15 million and the Royals offering $5.15 million. 11. Max describes arbitration as a process created in 1973 before players had free agency. 12. He argues that arbitration's emphasis on service time can undervalue productive players such as Pasquantino. 13. Max proposes moving compensation toward earlier performance-based pay because pre-arbitration players can produce during their cheapest seasons. 14. Spring Training non-roster invitees include Blake Mitchell, Gavin Cross, Frank Mazzacato, Josh Rojas, and Carson Rocaforte. 15. Max identifies Josh Rojas as a plausible bench option because he plays multiple positions, bats left-handed, and has defensive value. 16. Keith Law ranked Carter Jensen 10th, Blake Mitchell 56th, and Kendry Chorio 61st among prospects. 17. Max says David Shields and Chorio stand out because they already throw strikes despite lacking elite velocity. 18. The conversation is an informal two-person interview with seasonal analysis, roster debate, prospect evaluation, and Kansas City stadium reporting. 19. Royals fans tracking prospects, arbitration, and the World Baseball Classic. 20. Listeners seeking game-by-game analysis or non-Royals baseball coverage.

As heard by us

A Royals Spring Training preview that finds its focus in pitching values, not just warmer weather.

Spring Training gives this Royals Rundown a clean seasonal lift, but the episode is less about sunshine than about what Kansas City should actually reward on the mound.

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Why you'd press play

Want the Royals' first warm breeze of spring, with the World Baseball Classic just off to the side?

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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