SURPRISE, AZ — Seth Lugo’s first question to Will Smith was not one a free agent often asks a potential new teammate:
Does anyone else on the team have children?
Smith, 34, was recruiting Lugo, also 34, to join him with the Kansas City Royals. Lugo’s wife, Amanda, knowing the team was young, had said to him in a near-panic: “We’re going to have the only kids!”
The Lugo children are 3 and 1. Smith, texting rapidly with Lugo as the two families tried to get their kids to sleep, relayed that he understood Amanda’s concern.
“You don’t want to be the only wife there with a kid,” Smith said. “I said, ‘Yeah, I’m married. Yeah, we have a son (less than a year old). Your wife won’t be out there solo.’”
With that, the Royals’ offseason began to accelerate, featuring Smith, a respected, popular veteran who has played for three straight World Series champions, as lead recruiter.
The Royals ended up spending $109.5 million on seven free agents, then signing shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. to an 11-year, $288.8 million extension and adding reliever John Schreiber from the Red Sox on Saturday in a trade. The projection systems to this point are unimpressed. Fangraphs has the Royals winning 76 games, PECOTA 70. But the club’s new additions offer a singular vision, saying they expect the team to contend.
Playing in the weak AL Central, who’s to say they’re dreaming?
“It’s important for a team to set goals,” right-hander Michael Wacha said. “That starts with winning the division. I think that’s very much possible.”
If the Royals indeed engineer a turnaround from last season’s 56-106 nightmare, at least some of the credit will go to Smith, who signed a one-year, $5 million free-agent contract on Dec. 10, eagerly accepting the Royals’ offer to return to a late-inning relief role.
The deal was barely complete when Smith began firing a series of questions at general manager J.J. Picollo.
“Now what are we going to do?” Picollo recalled Smith saying. “Who do we need to talk to? Who do we need to go get?”
Picollo, full of ideas, asked Smith for help.
That night, Smith called fellow reliever Chris Stratton, his former teammate with the Rangers last season and the San Francisco Giants from 2016 to ‘18.
“C’mon, let’s do this,” Smith recalled telling Stratton. “I know how good you are. We can help turn this bullpen around.”
The Royals had traded the previous month for reliever Nick Anderson and signed free-agent infielder Garrett Hampson. But now their push was on.
Two days after Smith’s deal became official, Stratton finalized a two-year, $8 million agreement and Lugo signed a three-year, $45 million contract with an opt-out after two years.
Lugo told Picollo the first congratulatory text he received was from Wacha, his teammate with the San Diego Padres last season. Picollo then enlisted Lugo to call Wacha, who was surprised the Royals were still interested in him. Wacha figured once the Royals signed Lugo, they were done adding starting pitching.
Nope, Picollo was still looking. He could sign Wacha to a two-year, $32 million deal with an opt-out after one year or trade first baseman/DH Vinnie Pasquantino to the Miami Marlins for left-hander Jesús Luzardo. Owner John Sherman authorized him to sign Wacha, enabling the Royals to keep one of their most promising young hitters.
The addition of Lugo actually made Picollo more comfortable proceeding with Wacha three days later. Lugo threw 146 1/3 innings last season, his first as a full-time starter. He figures to increase that number this season. The Royals, who also have veteran Jordan Lyles, bounceback candidate Brady Singer and second-half breakout star Cole Ragans in their rotation, should not need 180 innings from Wacha, who threw 134 1/3 last season, his highest total since 2017.
The day the Royals came to terms with Wacha, they also agreed on a two-year, $13 million contract with outfielder Hunter Renfroe. Here,…
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