Kansas City Royals

Royals Rumors: Royals Interested in Gerardo Parra

by Zach Blochlinger Follow @zachblochlinger

The KC Royals have been reportedly interested in Baltimore Orioles’ outfielder Gerardo Parra.

Gerardo Parra is 28-year-old outfielder that the Kansas City Royals have expressed interest in acquiring. This news comes on the heels of Alex Gordon officially rejecting the qualifying offer that the Royals gave him, which marks the second time that Gordon has rejected an offer to return to Kansas City already this offseason.

The Royals have also been rumored to be interested in Boston Red Sox outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. as well as Parra. It is pretty unlikely that the Royals sign both with the outfield that the Royals already have, but signing one is obviously not out of the realm of possibility.

With Gordon seemingly interested in signing elsewhere, general manager Dayton Moore is not wasting any time looking for depth and his potential replacement. Gordon can play basically anywhere he wants next year, but will likely go after the big money with either the Red Sox, Yankees, or Cubs.

Parra is a Venezuelan-born outfielder who has been in the league for seven years and has been with three different teams, most recently the Baltimore Orioles last season. He hit .291/.328/.452 with 14 home-runs,  51 RBI’s, and 36 doubles last year for the Orioles and the Milwaukee Brewers. He has also won two Gold Gloves thus far in his career.

He hit .291/.328/.452 with 14 home-runs,  51 RBI’s, and 36 doubles last year for the Orioles and the Milwaukee Brewers.

Gerardo is a pretty good MLB outfielder on the defensive side of things. As I said above, he has already won two Gold Gloves and would love to add a couple more before he gets into the latter stages of his career.

Last season in Baltimore, Parra played more center field than he has in the past with Milwaukee or Arizona (his first MLB team). In Kansas City, center field is pretty filled with the likes of Lorenzo Cain and Jarrod Dyson, so if Parra signed with the Royals, he would have to re-adjust to playing either left or right field.

Parra should probably expect a two or three-year contract worth around $7-8 million per year. Signing Parra to that type of contract instead of a giving a potential $100 million deal to Alex Gordon would free up more money to address other needs, including starting pitching and right field.