KC Royals: Should The Royals Target Howie Kendrick

The KC Royals have a hole to fill at second base this off-season. Is Howie Kendrick a viable option?

The Royals have already exceeded expectations this off-season by generating two contracts north of the seventy million dollar range. With spring training rapidly approaching, are David Glass and Dayton Moore ready to head into camp with the team they already have?

The Royals already have options at second base. Omar Infante is supposed to be headed to camp healthy for the first time since 2014. His 2015 season was marred with injury concerns and he posted a -.8 bWAR. His poor season led the Royals to seek an upgrade at second with brought Ben Zobrist into the fold. The trade paid off for the Royals, but Zobrist is gone now leaving a gaping hole up the middle.

Christian Colon would appear to be the other internal candidate to fill the role. Personally, I hope Colon wins the job out of camp. He is a good contact hitter and doesn’t shy away from pressure. He’s has a very small sample size, but he is a patient hitter at the plate who can draw a walk. He’s my ‘dark horse’ candidate for number two hitter in the Royals lineup this spring.

Spring Training is right around the corner and there is a free-agent second basemen still on the market. Howie Kendrick is entering his age 32 season and it’s worth wondering if the Royals will have any interest in the veteran ‘two-bagger’.

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Kendrick owns a career slash line of .293/.333/.423. To put that into perspective, Zobrist has a career slash of .265/.355/.431. Their numbers are very similar in terms of slash line, but Kendrick is not the patient hitter that Zobrist is. While they’ve struck out a similar number of times, Zobrist has almost 400 more free passes than Kendrick.

Kendrick would likely be an offensive upgrade over Infante or Colon. Infante is the superior defender but his bat may be bad enough to force him from the line-up. (Can we DH for a position player? Just Kidding)

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Kendrick also comes attached to the loss of a draft pick. The Royals already forfeited their first round pick in the 2016 draft by signing Ian Kennedy. To sign Kendrick they would have to forfeit their second round pick as well.

Dayton Moore has proven that he values his draft picks, but he also has a two-year window of time to contend before most of the core breaks apart. Is the cost for Kendrick, both literal and future picks, worth trying to increase the offensive production at second base?

Personally, I’m pulling for Colon. He is already a fan favorite and has proven to be reliable defender. He isn’t going to flash the range that Infante has, but he will make the plays that are hit right to him. Zobrist wasn’t quite the defender that Infante was either, but he’s got a World Series ring. (Technically, so does Infante)

Next: Royals' Top Second Basemen

So what do you think KC Royals’ fans? Would you seek one more impact bat? Is Infante set to have a bounce back year? Will Colon earn the job out of spring training? Let’s discuss in the comments section below.

(All stats courtesy of www.baseball-reference.com)