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November 29-December 05, 2024 — Winter Lines and Leverage
(OOTP25 Royals Journey – Manager’s Log)
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December 1 — Adjusting the Levers

The first morning of December always feels like pulling back the curtain on a new stage. The roster is quiet, the department leads are synced, and Jason McLeod’s final private-practice report lands like the opening note of the month.

Two names continue to rise above the rest — Mike Gago and Victor Cruz — but the entire group is progressing in ways that reinforce the value of steady development investment.

Figure 1. International Private Training — December



With confidence in our developmental direction, I locked in the 2025 internal budgets — a balancing act between ambition and restraint:

• Scouting: $16M
• Player Development: $20M
• Draft Budget: $11M
• IAFA Budget: $4.75M

The broader financial snapshot confirms what I’ve felt for weeks:

We’re not rich, but we’re stable — and stability is a competitive advantage in December.

Figure 2. Front Office Financial Summary — December 1



The inbox is quiet on the free-agent front. That silence used to bother me.

Now I know it just means the market hasn’t blinked yet. Expected. Irritating - but expected.

December 1 is always the most patient day of the month.
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December 2 — A Name from Santo Domingo

Out of nowhere, scouting discovery hands us a surprise:

Sergio Rodriguez, switch-hitting shortstop from Santo Domingo, 16 years old and mostly untamed.

He’s an ink sketch, not a finished drawing — but sometimes those are the players who take shape the fastest once structure and expectation hit them.

Figure 3. Sergio Rodriguez Player Profile



Later in the afternoon, we added Carter Aldrete on a minor-league deal. Frontier League success brought him onto our radar, but Jason’s glowing notes about leadership and adaptability sealed it. There’s value in baseball IQ and maturity — especially in AA.

Figure 4. Carter Aldrete Player Profile



December always introduces one or two names you didn’t expect to care about. Rodriguez and Aldrete both qualify.

Small moves on paper. Meaningful moves in context.
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December 3–4 — Signals in the Water

By midweek, the quiet finally broke.

Jordan Montgomery signaled he intends to sign with us.

It’s not official yet, but the message was clear:

He sees Kansas City as a place he can anchor a rotation — and maybe anchor a culture.

Turnbull and Beeks are still hovering, but the arrows point in the right direction.

Figure 5. Pending Offers — December 5 Status



I rewrote our final offer structures but held them back. Experience has taught me that the first week of December is where bad contracts are born.

Let someone else blink first.
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December 5 — Quiet, but Productive

The week ends not with fireworks, but with alignment.

• Montgomery: nearly over the line
• Turnbull: leaning toward KC
• Relief market: beginning to constrict
• Position players: ballooning in cost
• IAFA: stable footing for January
• Budgets: locked, clean, and future-proofed

The first five days of December don’t shape the offseason — they shape your posture entering the Winter Meetings. Week One of December is never about headlines. It’s about posture.

And posture matters.

The December WAR modeling didn’t change much, and our roster remained in a holding pattern — neither overreacting nor drifting.

Dallas is a week away. The conversations, pressure, and inevitable curveballs are coming.

But for the first time in a long time, it feels like we’re walking toward that storm with clarity, not guesswork.

The organization feels aligned — financially, strategically, and developmentally — for what comes next in Dallas.
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Built for the Crown — OOTP25 Royals Journey (December 1-5)
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