The Royals made a push to try to acquire Starling Marte in winter, but could not find agreement with the Mets, who were interested in a reliever such as Hunter Harvey or Angel Zerpa while Kansas City wanted to give up a lesser arm.

But Kansas City has not totally extinguished this possibility. The Royals have wanted to obtain a veteran bat who can hit fifth in their lineup, and they were willing to expand payroll with a three-year offer to Anthony Santander, who instead signed with Toronto.

They also considered free agent Jurickson Profar (who went to Atlanta) and tried trading for the Angels’ Taylor Ward. So with this still unsolved, Kansas City has not completely closed the door on Marte, who is closing in on playing in spring (knee) and has had his Mets role reduced to basically righty part of a DH platoon.

With a desire to use provided finances elsewhere, the Rangers did not spend big on their bullpen with, among other things, a signing of Chris Martin and a trade for lefty Robert Garcia. So they have no set closer and might never name one. And, though they liked how David Robertson pitched for them in 2024, the Rangers have no plans to go after the free agent.