Kansas City Royals: Offseason Grades So Far

Well, it has been a slightly active, mostly inactive off-season for the Kansas City Royals‘ front office thus far. After Game 7 of the World Series, fans would agree that the Royals had three, maybe four crucial moves to make in the offseason to not lose ground in 2015.

Let’s take a closer look at those and see how well the Kansas City Royals have fared so far in the off-season.

Designated Hitter: C+

Billy Butler was a free agent after October 29th – when the season ended. Most fans, including myself, just couldn’t imagine the Kansas City Royals parting ways with Butler even though in August, it was pretty much a sure thing.

It seemed as if the Ned Yost and Butler patched things up during the historic playoff run. Well, whether they did or not, Billy signed with the A’s and just like that, the Royals needed to find a new option.

They settled on Kendrys Morales, the older, less athletic Billy Butler. They signed the soon to be 32 year-old to a 2 year deal worth virtually $17 million with a third year mutual option worth $11 million. This was a questionable move. I can see the positives and I can see the negatives.

Positives

Morales has proved to be an excellent hitter in the past. He is a switch hitter. And, in a good year, can provide power to a team that needs it. Also, Morales is the type of player who will give you 100-120 games at DH. This gives Perez and Gordon some much-needed rest while keeping them in the lineup at DH.

Negatives

Most people agree that the Royals paid too much for Morales (although several free agent market projections say otherwise). Morales is coming off a pitiful 2014. He hasn’t proved to be the same player since his injury in 2013. He is very one-dimensional in the fact that he can’t play defense.

Right Fielder: B-

With Nori Aoki becoming a free agent after the 2014 season, Royals needed to find a true answer to their right field problems. Although Nori ended up being an okay fill-in, they needed a solution.

In comes Alex Rios on a 1 year/ $11 million contract. Again, Dayton Moore was heavily criticized for his decision to give Rios $11 million.

Rios is coming off a below average season in Arlington, which is a hitter’s gold mine, where he only hit four home runs. He did, however, manage a .280 average and 30 doubles. Rios had a late-season ankle injury and is 33 years-old. He likely only signed a one year deal to prove to the league that he still has power to offer.

Positives

Rios can be considered a pretty good player with a career 16.5 homers and .278 per 162 average. He has the potential to provide the Royals with much needed power and is likely looking to prove something.

Negatives

More from KC Kingdom

Again, probably paid too much to land Rios and banking on a rebound year. Not very good defensively.

Starting Pitcher: A

It was a tad bit concerning for a while. Dayton Moore had gone the entire week of the Winter Meetings without making a move. And then he finally made his first starting pitcher free agent signing: Yohan Pino. This worried some folks. Was Moore trying to replace James Shields with Pino? Pino, the one who struggled in 2014 while playing with division foe, the Minnesota Twins?

Then he made another move. This time, Edinson Volquez. The overall feeling was more satisfaction from the fan base, but still feeling a little let down. Edinson Volquez was obviously a better sign than Pino, however, with a 4.44 career ERA, he isn’t going to take the Royals the extra step that they need after losing Shields. Although, coming off a 3.04 ERA in 2014, he showed some upside.

Then, yesterday, Dayton Moore really shook some things up. It took everyone by surprise when the Royals signed Kris Medlen. Wow. Medlen is the type of player that can take Shields place at full potential. He’s shown his brilliance before. With a 2.95 career ERA, he can be considered a true ace. However, it is unknown whether or not Medlen will be able to fully recover from Tommy John surgery which forced him to sit out the entire 2014 season.

He will probably start the season in the bullpen to ease him back into pitching. Surely, the first sign of struggle from the Royals pitching staff will be showered with the calls for Medlen from fans. It would be beneficial for Medlen to have half a season in the bullpen to rebuild his arm strength, however, there’s a chance we see him on the mound starting a game before the All-Star Break.

Either way, Medlen was a great low-risk, high reward signing, and probably Moore’s best of the off-season.

Conclusion

Overall the Kansas City Royals have made some moves, but not all of them have been impressive. Hopefully Dayton Moore has something good up his sleeve and can bring an impact player on board for the Royals in 2015.

Next: Top Second Basemen in Royals History

Home/Kansas City Royals