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KC Royals: Remaining Free Agent Starting Pitching Options

Royals pitchers - Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Royals pitchers - Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports /
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Royals players around the mound – Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports
Royals players around the mound – Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports /

The KC Royals would be in great shape if they were to sign any one of these pitchers. They all come with risk, but without risk the Royals wouldn’t have won the World Series.

There are a lot of free agent starting pitchers available. Mark Buehrle, Kyle Lohse, Mike Minor, and Jeremy Guthrie all remain available.

The Royals have had reunions with a lot of former Royals this off-season. Could Jeremy Guthrie continue that trend? I’d love to see Guthrie take some sort of coaching role with the Royals. The players love him, the fans love him, and he’s a smart player. He has all the makings of a successful coach in this league and would be a great candidate to take over for Ned Yost someday.

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Mark Buehrle is a midwest guy. He’s stated that if he continues his baseball career he want’s to pitch somewhere close to home. He’s just not sure if he want’s to pitch this season. If the Royals can sign him, they’d get a player who’s pitched close to 200 innings in each of the past 15 seasons. He missed the 200 mark only one time in that span and only missed by an inning and a third. If you want to see a guy who’s defied logic, read this article.

Kyle Lohse is probably past his better days. He hasn’t really shown flashes of his former self in either of the past two seasons. With the Royals’ defense behind him he may be worth a minor league deal, but he’s also 37 years old. He’s not worth the risk in my opinion.

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Mike Minor has a lot of upside but probably wouldn’t be able to pitch until halfway through the season. He’s only 28 years old and the Royals may be able to get him on a two-year deal similar to the Medlen deal.

Any one of these pitchers would give the Royals rotation a boost, minus Kyle Lohse. As Spring Training gets closer, the Royals odds at signing a player like this get better. If the Royals can find room in the budget, they should take a chance on adding a solid, dependable fourth starter.

Next: What Free Agent Outfielders Remain

What do you think KC Royals’ fans? Should the Royals go out and get a pitcher? Do you prefer they seek out a bat instead? Do you think they’ll find a way to do both. Let’s discuss in the comments’ section below.

All stats provided by www.baseballreference.com