The Royals currently have one of the most homegrown teams in baseball

It has been a quiet off-season for the Royals so far, and while they can still make some moves between now and the season opener on March 30, the core of the team that will begin the season is likely already in place. Much of it is homegrown - originally drafted or signed as an international free agent by the Royals.

In fact, the Royals are tied with the Cleveland Guardians for having the most homegrown players on their 40-man roster with 26 players beginning their professional careers with the Royals. The Royals have just 6 players acquired as free agents, with 8 acquired via trade. They have no players that were originally claimed off waivers, and technically have no Rule 5 picks (Brad Keller was selected in the Rule 5 draft by the Reds and immediately traded to the Royals for cash considerations).

Using the 40-man roster breakdowns at Fangraphs’ Roster Resource, I went through and looked at how each 40-man roster is composed around baseball and found that the average team has 16 homegrown players on their roster, far fewer than what the Royals have on their roster.

Only three teams have fewer free agents than the Royals, but it isn’t necessarily small market teams with few free agents - the Astros, Twins, and Rays are the clubs with fewer free agents than the Royals. In fact, the big-spending Yankees only have seven free agents on their roster, one more than the Royals. On the other hand, the Padres and Giants have the most free agents with 15 apiece.

Only the Rockies have fewer players acquired via trade, leaving the Royals tied with the Orioles, Dodgers, and Nationals. John Sherman has talked about wanting to emulate teams like the A’s, Rays, and Brewers, and they are the three teams that have acquired the most players through trades. The Orioles have been one of the busiest teams on the waiver wire, picking up seven players through waivers.

Here’s a complete breakdown of how other 40-man rosters are composed.

This is just a snapshot in time - there are still free agents out there that will be added to rosters by spring. And one method of acquiring players isn’t inherently a better way to compile a roster - not all trades are created equal!

What it does illustrate is the direction the Royals are going in - with guys they have developed. Their small market status doesn’t necessitate that they stick with homegrown players - other small market teams rely far more on trades. But the Royals seemingly have faith in their minor league development, or at least they want to see what the fruits of that development will bear before making big moves.

Here is a breakdown of the Royals’ 40-man roster:

Homegrown (26)

Jonathan Bowlan (2018 draft, 2nd round)

Kris Bubic (2018 draft, 1st round)

Hunter Dozier (2013 draft, 1st round)

Nate Eaton (2018, 21st round)

Freddy Fermín (2015, international free agent)

Maikel Garcia (2016, international free agent)

Jonathan Heasley (2018, 13th round)

Carlos Hernández (2016, international free agent)

Diego Hernández (2017, international free agent)

Kyle Isbel (2018 draft, 3rd round)

Jackson Kowar (2018 draft, 1st round)

Nicky Lopez (2016 draft, 5th round)

Richard Lovelady (2016 draft, 10th round)

Daniel Lynch (2018 draft, 1st round)

Alec Marsh (2019 draft, 2nd round)

Michael Massey (2019 draft, 4th round)

MJ Melendez (2017 draft, 2nd round)

Adalberto Mondesi (2011, international free agent)

Vinnie Pasquantino (2019 draft, 11th round)

Salvador Perez (2006, international free agent)

Nick Pratto (2017 draft, 1st round)

Brady Singer (2018 draft, 1st round)

Collin Snider (2017 draft, 12th round)

Josh Staumont (2015 draft, 2nd round)

Bobby Witt Jr. (2019, 1st round)

Angel Zerpa (2016, international free agent)

Free agent (6)

Scott Barlow (minor league free agent, December 7, 2017)

Taylor Clarke (MLB free agent, December 1, 2021)

Jose Cuas (minor league free agent, June 23, 2021)

Jordan Lyles (MLB free agent, December 28, 2022)

Michael A. Taylor (MLB free agent, November, 30 2020)

Ryan Yarbrough (MLB free agent, December 13, 2022)

Trades (8)

Max Castillo (from the Blue Jays with Samad Taylor for Whit Merrifield on August 2, 2022)

Dylan Coleman (from the Padres with Edward Oliveras for Trevor Rosenthal on August 29, 2020)

Amir Garrett (from the Reds for Mike Minor and cash on March 16, 2022)

Brad Keller (from the Reds for cash considerations on December 14, 2017)

Anthony Misiewicz (purchased from the Mariners on August 1, 2022)

Edward Olivares (from the Padres with Dylan Coleman for Trevor Rosenthal on August 29, 2020)

Samad Taylor (from the Blue Jays with Max Castillo for Whit Merrifield on August 2, 2022)

Drew Waters (from the Braves with CJ Alexander and Andrew Hoffman for the 35th pick in the draft on July 11, 2022)

Waivers - 0

Rule 5 - 0