Kansas City Royals: Kendrys Morales Vs Billy Butler

General Manager Dayton Moore and the Kansas City Royals made a tough decision at the end of the 2014 season when they chose not to re-sign Billy Butler.

Letting long-time hometown favorite Billy Butler move on must have been a tough decision for the Kansas City Royals after the 2014 season. The team had just come off their first World Series appearance in 29 years, and the franchise was enjoying successes not experienced for a long time.

Billy Butler was a homegrown star for the Royals, who drafted him in the first round in 2004. Butler lived through some horrific seasons before the team turned it around in 2013 and 2014.

For many of those years, Butler was the best hitter the Royals had. He is ranked high in several hitting categories for the franchise.

Hits – 1,273 – seventh
Doubles – 276 – sixth
Home Runs – 127 – eighth
Runs – 502 – eleventh
Runs Batted In – 628 sixth
Batting Average – .295 – fifth

There can be no doubt Billy Butler is one of the best hitters in Royals’ history. Despite his relative youth, though, there were signs that maybe Butler had already reached his peak.

He was only 28 years old after the 2014 season, which should be in the prime of his hitting career. However, after having a magnificent season in 2012, in which he hit 29 home runs, and 107 RBI, with a .313 average, and an OPS of .882, he dropped off significantly in the following two seasons.

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In 2013 and 2014, he hit just 24 total home runs, 148 RBI, with an average of .280, and an OPS of .746. He also grounded into 49 double plays and struck out 198 times.

Moore and the Royals decided that as much as they probably wanted to keep Butler for sentimental reasons, they couldn’t afford to pay what he was going to cost in the open market.

It turns out; they were right. Butler signed a three-year, $30 million deal with the Oakland Athletics before the 2015 season, and last year, his numbers were incredibly similar to what he produced in each of his last two seasons with the Royals.

The Royals decided to take a chance on a veteran designated hitter coming off a terrible 2014 in Kendrys Morales. Injuries had derailed his progress over the years, but Moore and Company saw something there. Again they were right.

Morales slugged 22 home runs and drove in 106 on his way to the Silver Slugger Award for designated hitters, an award Butler won with the Royals in 2012.

Both Morales and Butler have started slowly in 2016. Still, it was startling to see Butler barely play in the just completed three-game series between the Royals and the Athletics. Butler did not see action in the first two games and was lifted for a pinch hitter (pinch hitter, not pinch runner) late in Sunday’s game.

Butler has pretty much turned into a platoon player, batting mostly against left-handed pitchers. So far this season, Butler has only seven plate appearances against right-handers and has no hits.

Here is a look at the numbers for the two players since the beginning of the 2015 season:

Kendrys Morales – 688 PA, 44 doubles, 24 HR, 113 RBI, 84 RS, and a slash of .285/.355/.481/.836
Billy Butler – 622 PA, 30 doubles, 15 HR, 65 RBI, 63 RS, and a slash of .247/.318/.385./.704

It isn’t even close. Morales was the one the Royals’ offensive leaders in their title run last year.

He was a clutch hitter all year. According to Baseball-Reference, in 2015 Morales hit .335 with runners in scoring position, with an OPS of 1.012. For the record, Butler hit .255 with an OPS of .730 with runners in scoring position with Oakland.

…in 2015 Morales hit .335 with runners in scoring position, with an OPS of 1.012

The Athletics will pay Butler $30 million through 2017. The Royals will pay Morales $15.5 million through 2016, with an $11 million mutual option for 2017.

If the Royals had kept Butler, and paid him $10 million a year for three years, and his production was the same as it is for the Athletics, Kansas City probably would not have won the World Series last year, and would still be saddled with that contract.

Moore and the Royals were right with their evaluations of these two players, and it paid off with a championship. Billy Butler will forever hold a place in the hearts of Royals’ fans for being a very good hitter on some terrible teams.

Next: Royals All-Time Home Run Leaders

The Royals may not be able to retain Morales for 2017 but even if they don’t, there is little doubt Kansas City made the right moves here. Butler’s skills were starting to slip, and Morales had upside. The move worked out great for the Kansas City Royals.Hopefully, Butler can rediscover the skills that made him saSilver Slugger,

Hopefully, Butler can rediscover the skills that made him aSilver Slugger. He turned 30 years old just today, so there is time for him to become a good hitter once more. We wish him luck!

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