Kansas City Royals news: Melendez, Clarke non-tendered

You may have already seen it, but in case you didn’t, MJ Melendez and Taylor Clarke were not tendered contracts by Friday afternoon’s deadline. Jeremy’s got you covered here.

Anne Rogers and Matthew Leach wrote about how the Royals non-tendered those fellows and also agreed to terms with Jonathan India.

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.

Jaylon Thompson also wrote about the decision to keep India and wrote about the decision not to keep Melendez and Clarke.

Brian Murphy at MLB dot com wrote about each position on the diamond and which team needs to upgrade the most at said position. Naturally, he chose the Royals for outfield. *waves hands at entire outfield*.

Kevin O’Brien at Royals Keep reacts to the Melendez/Clarke news.

How about them Chiefs? I attended yesterday’s slopfest that the Chiefs won 23-20 in overtime. I managed to escape the traffic, mostly, on the way out of the stadium.

The Rangers and Mets hooked up for a one-for-one swap of Brandon Nimmo and Marcus Semien.

One of the bats used during Shohei Ohtani’s 2024 50/50 season sold at auction for $300,000.

Orioles president Mike Elias elaborates on the trade for Taylor Ward.

JJ Bleday was among the casualties in the non-tender deadline on Friday. He had a great 2024 but was lackluster with the bat in 2025. He was miscast as a CF.

The WPBL had their draft last week.

Dak Prescott overtook Tony Romo for the most career passing yards as a Cowboy during their hilarious come-from-behind win over the Eagles. Philly’s reaction will be measured, I’m sure.

Your song of the day is Bear Ghost with Rivers Is A Vampire (feat Dan E.T)