Kansas City Royals news: Kansas, Clay County may be done talking Royals ballpark

That said … it doesn’t mean the Royals are done. They are content with their roster — which has a raised floor — but are still open to making a last-minute move. In layman’s terms: The Royals are window shopping.

“There’s still been ongoing conversations about acquisitions of players,” Picollo told reporters via Zoom on Monday. “But as we said, I think after our last trade, you know, we are in a position where we will continue to make our team better. I don’t know what shape or size or form that will come in or what position that’ll be. But you know, there’s going to be activity through the months of January and February. So we are just going to stay on top of it.”

I don’t believe Estevez will go anywhere, but there’s a voice in the back of my head that wonders a little bit. The reason I’d be very surprised if he’s moved is that he stabilized the closer’s role last year, no matter what so many believed during the season. But he’s also considered a supremely important voice in that bullpen. We can like or dislike the idea of leadership, but the Royals (and every team) believe it’s a thing, so it’s there. That said, if the Royals believe they can slide Lucas Erceg into that spot and sign someone else to fill the seventh or eighth with Strahm, well, I think it’s possible, though not at all probable.

And the other is India. I know people have scoffed at this, but for all the reasons the Royals think he could bounce back, there are teams who would have interest in him.

“They are trying to avoid a public vote — let’s be very clear,” said Victor Matheson, an economics professor at College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts who studies stadium subsidies. “Stadium deals tend to be far more popular among city executives than they do among everyday taxpayers.”

The debate comes as Kansas and Missouri have spent the past 18 months fighting over the right to host the Chiefs and Royals. While both states passed sweeping stadium-funding incentives plans to secure the teams, the future home of the Royals has remained unclear.

A Royals spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.