The Royals tendered contracts to all of their other arbitration-eligible players, a group that includes pitchers Kris Bubic, Daniel Lynch IV, Angel Zerpa, John Schreiber and Bailey Falter; infielders Maikel Garcia, Michael Massey and Vinnie Pasquantino; and outfielder Kyle Isbel.
Melendez, a homegrown product and former Top 100 prospect, never fully put it together with the Royals despite showing promise at times and possessing immense power. The club elected to make him a free agent rather than bring him back for 2026 at a salary determined via the arbitration process.
India had also been considered a candidate to be non-tendered following a first season in Kansas City in which he posted a .233/.323/.346 line. He was acquired last November in a trade that sent Brady Singer to the Reds. Instead the club elected to keep him. A source told MLB.com the deal is worth $8 million; he made just over $7 million in 2025.
Lange, who turned 30 last month, missed much of the 2025 season due to injury. Over five years with the Tigers, he sported a 3.70 ERA with 29 saves in 196 appearances — all in relief.
Friday was Major League Baseball’s tender deadline, where clubs were required to decide whether to offer a 2026 contract to their players under club control or otherwise non-tender them, making them free agents. Kansas City has already reached agreement with reliever James McArthur on a one-year deal, avoiding arbitration with him.
India scuffled in 2025, logging career-lows in several offensive categories, though some underlying metrics suggest potential for a bounceback — including a solid chase rate (18.6%) and whiff rate (19.9%). India played through some injuries, and he couldn’t move around the field like the Royals had hoped. By June, he only played second base, and by August — after they acquired Mike Yastrzemski at the Trade Deadline — he was moved down in the batting order.
He could still be an asset at the bottom of the lineup, especially if he can get his on-base numbers up to what he showed in Cincinnati. That also puts even more of an importance on the Royals’ front office to find additional bats this offseason.
Melendez, who will turn 27 next week, was the Royals’ second-round pick in the 2017 Draft who hit 41 homers between Double-A and Triple-A in 2021. After his debut in ’22, though, he had a tough time consistently tapping into that power at the Major League level.
In two seasons as an everyday outfielder for the Royals, Melendez slashed .222/.298/.399 with 33 home runs and 100 RBIs, to go along with a 26.9% strikeout rate. At times, Melendez flashed tremendous power. But it was too inconsistent for the Royals to play him as an everyday player, especially with the outfield as a whole struggling for most of ’24 and into this past season.
Entering 2025, Melendez underwent several swing changes to try to unlock the consistency he and the Royals sought. He made the Royals’ Opening Day roster, but the changes didn’t translate; he logged just four hits in 47 at-bats between March 27 and April 16, including one homer, and he struck out 20 times. The Royals demoted him to Triple-A on April 19, and he had just one other stint in the Majors this year, logging seven games at the end of July. Melendez finished the year with a .083/.154/.167 slash line across 23 Major League games and a .261/.323/.490 slash line with 20 home runs across 107 Triple-A games.
