Royals Rumors: Should Royals Pursue Ian Kennedy
The MLB off-season is in full swing and so are the Royals rumors. While Ian Kennedy to Kansas City hasn’t been as prominent as a rumor, it’s still a move that would make sense for the Royals.
Just think about it.
The Kansas City Royals are more than likely losing Johnny Cueto to free agency and their rotation for next year needs a boost. Ian Kennedy could be the answer to help fill the Royals’ rotation next season.
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Kennedy didn’t have the greatest season in 2015, but he’s still an experienced pitcher that could jump into the rotation and contribute right away. He ended his 2015 season going 9-15 with a 4.28 ERA in 30 games. Kennedy pitched 168.1 innings last year, striking out 174 batters in that span.
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Right now, the Royals are in desperate need for a starting pitcher to fill their rotation. With only two for sure starters set in stone next season (Yordano Ventura and Edinson Volquez), the Royals have three spots to fill. I imagine Danny Duffy and Kris Medlen could fill two of those spots, but only time will tell on that.
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Kennedy was offered a qualifying offer by the San Diego Padres, but players never sign the qualifying offer (well, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com is saying that Colby Rasmus accepted a qualifying offer from the Astros, so there’s that). An interesting point was made by Derek Togerson of NBC San Diego though in saying that due to Kennedy’s rollercoaster of a season in 2015, he could be the first (well, possibly second now) player ever to accept a qualifying offer.
"With names like Zack Greinke, David Price and Jordan Zimmermann on the market it’s likely Kennedy will not be the first choice of most teams in free agency, so he’ll seriously consider the offer and hope to have a great season to build value working into next year’s off-season. If he rejects it, then Ian enters the free agent waters hoping for a multi-year deal on the open market with no guarantees the total value reaches that level."
If the Royals were to sign Kennedy, they’d be giving up a draft pick for him as well, which might make this a more difficult decision.
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"Is Ian Kennedy, a pitcher at Petco Park who had a WAR (Wins Above Replacement) of a paltry 0.8 in 2015, really worth a long-term deal in the $20 million range PLUS a draft pick?Most likely not, so it’s going to be tough for Ian to get a big pay day outside of San Diego which makes the guaranteed $15.8 million awfully enticing. Keep in mind, Kennedy’s agent is Scott Boras so odds are he’ll take the free agent route."
Ian Kennedy is the type of starting pitcher the Royals have signed in the past few years and lucked out on. Maybe this could be another lucky signing for Dayton Moore and the Royals.
Next: Pitchers to Target in Free Agency
Would you want the KC Royals to sign Ian Kennedy?