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Royals hire Giants hitting coach Hunter Mense

Kansas City Royals Photo Day

Matt Quatraro

KC Manager

Player Stats

The Royals are bringing in Hunter Mense as an assistant hitting coach.

MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand first reported that Mense would be the Royals’ hitting coach but has since added a correction saying it’d be assistant hitting coach role. Mense was the Giants’ primary hitting coach last season. Given that he’s now taking on a lesser role, he might have had an idea that he wasn’t long for San Francisco. Prior to 2026, Mense spent four years as an assistant hitting coach in Toronto. The 42-year-old spent parts of five seasons in the Marlins system before ending his playing career in indy ball in 2012.

- Matthew Pouliot

Source: Mark Feinsand

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Matt Quatraro

KC Manager

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Alec Zumwalt is out as the Royals’ hitting coach but will remain with the club as their senior director of hitting performance.

That was his role before he was named hitting coach partway through the 2022 season. The Royals were 22nd in the majors in run scoring this year, even after bringing in the fences some at Kauffman Stadium.
Matt Quatraro

KC Manager

Royals signed manager Matt Quatraro to a three-year contract extension.

The 52-year-old skipper was already under contract through the 2026 season, so he’s now locked up through the 2029 season. The deal also includes a club option for 2030. In his three seasons at the helm, the Royals have gone 224-262 (.461) though they finished above .500 in each of the past two seasons. No word on the financial terms of the contract.
Matt Quatraro

KC Manager

The Royals are hiring Marcus Thames as a hitting coach.

Thames spent last season with the White Sox. He’ll work alongside Connor Dawson as one of two hitting coaches behind senior director of hitting performance Alec Zumwalt. Joe Dillon and Keoni DeRenne previously occupied the two roles behind Zumwalt, but they were let go after the season.
Matt Quatraro

KC Manager

Royals exercised manager Matt Quatraro’s club option for 2026.

Kansas City also signed general manager J.J. Picollo to a contract extension through 2030. Quatraro finished second in AL Manager of the Year balloting last year after leading the Royals to 86 victories following a 56-win campaign the previous year.
Stephen Vogt

CLE Manager #21

Stephen Vogt won the American League Manager of the Year Award.

Vogt, who led Cleveland to a 92-win season in his managerial debut, received 27 of 30 first-place votes to take home the hardware just two years after his final season of his playing career. Royals skipper Matt Quatraro came in second and Tigers manager A.J. Hinch finished third in balloting.
A.J. Hinch

DET Manager

A.J. Hinch, Matt Quatraro and Stephen Vogt have been named finalists for the American League Manager of the Year Award.

It’s a bit jarring to see three managers from the same division in the mix here, but the trio are all deserving candidates after leading the Tigers, Royals, and Guardians, respectively, to the postseason. Hinch might be a slight favorite after engineering a pretty unexpected turnaround in Detroit last season, guiding the club to an 86-win season and a playoff berth. The same goes for Quatraro, who took Kansas City from 56 wins in his managerial debut to 86 victories this past season. Vogt was at the helm for 92 wins and an AL Central division title in his managerial debut.
Matt Quatraro

KC Manager

Royals manager Matt Quatraro is away from the team tending to a personal matter, the club announced.

Bench coach Paul Hoover will step in as manager. No word yet on when the Royals expect Quatraro back.
Matt Quatraro

KC Manager

Royals manager Matt Quatraro is back for Monday’s game against the Rangers.

Quatraro wound up missing five games after testing positive for COVID-19 last Wednesday.
Matt Quatraro

KC Manager

Royals manager Matt Quatraro will be away from the team after testing positive for COVID-19 prior to Wednesday’s game against the Blue Jays.

Bench coach Paul Hoover will serve as interim manager until Quatraro is cleared to return.
Matt Quatraro

KC Manager

Pat Ragazzo of SI.com reports that the Royals have hired Zach Bove to be their assistant pitching coach.

Bove has spent the past four seasons in the Twins organization -- and in 2022 functioned as their assistant pitching coordinator. He had also been a candidate to join the Mets staff as their bullpen coach. Bove will work under new pitching coach Brian Sweeney on new skipper Matt Quatraro’s staff in Kansas City.

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Pat Murphy

MIL Manager
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Pat Murphy was named 2026 National League Manager of the Year.

It’s the third-straight time that Murphy has won the award. The 67-year-old culminates a dream season where he led the Brewers to the best record in the National League and a dominant performance in the postseason that ended with the Brew Crew winning their first World Series championship. He’ll have a chance to make it four in a row in 2027 if the BBWAA isn’t tired of voting for him.
- Christopher Crawford

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Trevor Larnach

MIN Left Fielder #9
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Trevor Larnach will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his left wrist.

Twins general manager Jeremy Zoll told reporters that the procedure will be a “clean up.” It’s not yet known if Larnach will need to miss time because of the operation.
- Christopher Crawford

Injury

Source: Bobby Nightengale

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Will Venable

CWS Manager #25
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Will Venable was named 2026 American League Manager of the Year.

Zero surprise here. Venable received 15 first-place votes while Kevin Cash received 12 and Chad Tracy the other three. Venable helped the White Sox to an improbable playoff run after winning just 60 games in 2025 and took the club to within a game of the ALCS. If you weren’t expected to be good and outperform expectations, there’s a pretty good chance you’re going to win Manager of the Year.
- Christopher Crawford

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José Berríos

TOR Starting Pitcher #17
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Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins told reporters that José Berrios “looks great” in his rehab work.

Atkins had a chance to see Berrios during his rehab in the Dominican Republic. The 32-year-old is recovering from Tommy John surgery that he underwent in May, so even with the positive development, it’s unlikely he returns until the end of 2027 at the very earliest.
- Christopher Crawford

Injury

Source: Ben Nicholson-Smith

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Kyle Freeland

FA Starting Pitcher #21
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Rockies president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta told reporters that the team hasn’t ruled out a reunion with Kyle Freeland.

DePodesta said that “door is open” for a reunion with Freeland. He posted a 6.65 ERA in 2026 and has statistically been among the worst pitchers in baseball over the past four seasons. The Rockies will need innings, so a reunion does make some sense. It obviously doesn’t matter where Freeland pitches from a fantasy perspective, there’s no reason to have any interest.
- Christopher Crawford

Source: Kevin Henry
Colorado Rockies
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Seiya Suzuki

FA Right Fielder #27
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Adam Jude of the Seattle Times reports that the Mariners are expected to pursue free-agent outfielder Seiya Suzuki.

Suzuki is coming off a .270/.368/.473 season with 26 homers over 545 plate appearances. The Mariners need bats, and with the team not expected to pursue a long-term extension with Randy Arozarena, it would not be a surprise if the 32-year-old was the replacement. There’s likely to be several suitors for Suzuki, but Seattle does make sense as a landing spot. It may not be an ideal one for fantasy managers, however, considering how tough it can be to hit in Seattle’s home park.
- Christopher Crawford

Source: Seattle Times
Randy Arozarena

Seattle Mariners
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Harrison Bader

SF Center Fielder #9
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Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey said there will soon be an official update from MLB on Harrison Bader’s situation.

Bader, now halfway through a two-year, $20.5 million deal, spend the last two months of last season suspended without pay after a scooter accident left him with a significant foot injury. Before that, he was already expected to miss the rest of the season with plantar fasciitis. Posey didn’t indicate what the official update would be, but he did say Bader would remain in the organization. It sounds like Bader intends to return healthy next season.
- Matthew Pouliot

Source: Alex Pavlovic

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Marcus Semien

NYM 2nd Baseman #10
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The Mets don’t plan to try to upgrade at second base this winter, president David Stearns said.

Jefferson Rojas could be ready to make the position his own by the middle of next year, so the team will stick with Marcus Semien, Brett Baty and maybe a little bit of Ronny Mauricio, if he’s still around. Starting Baty against righties and Semien against lefties is one option. However, it sounds like Semien might enter camp with the edge for the starting job.
- Matthew Pouliot

Source: Anthony DiComo
Brett Baty

Jefferson Rojas
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Will Vest

DET Relief Pitcher #19
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Will Vest is on track to be ready for spring training after elbow and hip surgeries.

Vest, who saved 23 games for Detroit in 2025 before struggling in a setup role in the first half of last season, needed a stress fracture repaired at the tip of his elbow. “He looks good. He feels good,” GM Scott Harris said. “All the reports we’ve gotten have been really positive, and so we’re expecting him to be good to go.”
- Matthew Pouliot

Injury

Source: Jason Beck

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J.P. Crawford

FA Shortstop #3
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The Mariners have told free agent J.P. Crawford they don’t intend to re-sign him, sources told the Seattle Times.

This was widely assumed by the end of the season, as the Mariners no longer see Crawford as a starting shortstop. The 31-year-old Crawford had an excellent eight-year run in Seattle, racking up 21.7 bWAR while hitting .247/.340/.367 in a tough environment for offense.
- Matthew Pouliot

Source: Seattle Times
Seattle Mariners
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