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KANSAS CITY, MO — Not long into what promised to be an eventful offseason, the Kansas City Royals learned that they had been eliminated from the list of teams pursuing free agent outfielder Juan Soto after he asked for more than the $50,000 per year and Amazon gift card the team had offered.

With the team in need of a power-hitting outfield bat and Soto hitting the open market after another outstanding season, the pairing had seemed to be a perfect match, but due to the Royals' small market budgetary constraints, the club's offer fell just short of the $660 million-plus contract Soto was looking to sign.

"We put our best offer out there, but it just wasn't enough," said Royals General Manager J.J. Picollo. "We knew the initial offer of the 50K per season might n

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