After making a return to the MLB postseason for the first time in nearly a decade, baseball fans in Kansas City must be wondering where this year’s Royals team goes this season, with the AL Central stalwart looking to one-up their 86-win total from 2024.
Entering Spring Training, oddsmakers from DraftKings Sportsbook aren’t flying high on Kansas City’s chances, with a preseason win total over/under of 83.5 and +270 odds on the Royals winning the AL Central for the first time since that magical season of 2015 that ended with the club’s first title since 1985.
Overall, the 2025 Kansas City Royals rank second on DraftKings Sportsbook’s AL Central odds board, behind the Minnesota Twins (+210) and ranked alongside the Detroit Tigers and ahead of the Cleveland Guardians (+300) and Chicago White Sox (+25000).
BetMissouri.com broke from Missouri sports betting coverage and utilized Fangraphs.com to gather the 2025 salary information and projected 2025 WAR. Once acquiring that information, we divided the salary by the player’s projected WAR to determine the player’s potential value.
Most Undervalued Kansas City Royals on 2025 Roster
Player | 2025 Salary | 2025 Projected WAR | Value (Salary Per WAR) * |
Cole Ragans (Pitcher) | $1,083,333 | 3.6 | $300,926 |
Vinnie Pasquantino (First Baseman) | $800,000 | 2.4 | $333,333 |
Maikel Garcia (Third Baseman) | $800,000 | 2.4 | $333,333 |
*Rounded to nearest whole number
Note: Some players’ salaries are represented by their salary before arbitration. Only players projected on the Opening Day 40-Man Roster were included.
Which Royals Are Most Undervalued?
With a preseason WAR projection of 3.6 and a salary of $1,083,333, fourth year pitcher Cole Ragans is Kansas City’s most undervalued player, with a value (salary per WAR) figure of $300,926, beating out first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino ($333,333 value) and third baseman Maikel Garcia ($333,333 value).
Of the three, Ragans is also expected to post the best year-end WAR total, at 3.6, while the other two infielders are expected to have 2.4 WAR seasons in 2025, with both earning $800,000 in salary during the season as well.
For now, what we know is that Ragans, Pasquantino, and Garcia will be counted on to serve as youthful leaders of Kansas City’s ongoing diamond revival this season, as the Royals look to prove that their playoff run in 2024 was anything but a fluke.
Stay with BetMissouri.com for the latest Royals news and the best Missouri sportsbook promos as soon as sports betting launches in the Show Me State.
Author
Christopher Boan is a lead writer for BetMissouri.com, specializing in covering state issues. He has covered sports and sports betting in Arizona for more than seven years, including stops at ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly and the Green Valley News.
