Kansas City Royals: Rotating Designated Hitter Not Preferred

The Kansas City Royals made a big decision this offseason when they allowed Kendrys Morales to walk away from the team and sign elsewhere. They’re now without a designated hitter on an already powerless team.

For the past seven or eight years, the Kansas City Royals have been used to having an every day designated hitter on their lineup card. From 2007-2014, it was Billy Butler and in 2015 and 2016, it was Kendrys Morales.

Well, it’s almost 2017, and neither of those guys are members of the KC Royals. That poses a new problem for the Royals, and it’s that they’re going to have to turn to a rotating designated hitter, as opposed to an every day one.

We saw this a bit this past season, as Morales was struggling early on in the season. Guys like Eric Hosmer, Salvador Perez, and even then-Royal Brett Eibner took on designated hitting duties at time, but once Morales heated up, he was a nice luxury to have.

Morales signed a three-year deal with Toronto not too long ago and general manager Dayton Moore stated that the team planned to give the rotating designated hitter idea a whirl this season. Here was a quote from him, taken from Rustin Dodd of The Kansas City Star.

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"In the offseason (after 2014), I made the statement that we’d really like to use the DH in a way that we could give guys opportunity to rest a little bit."

Moore wanted to use the rotating designated hitter two years ago, but when the team brought on Kendrys Morales and he played so well that first season, it was tough to merit keeping him out of the lineup each day.

With their best hitter heading to Canada, the Kansas City Royals shouldn’t be experimenting with this now. They need a power hitter if they’re going to attempt to make it back to their third World Series in four years, and that’ll be tough to do without a true DH.

If the Royals are hell bent on doing so, however, they have some guys who could fit the mold for sure. Hosmer would be an easy option, though his defense would be sorely missed.

Mike Moustakas is another option to stick at the designated hitter spot, and he’d make the most sense honestly. He’ll be at third base along with Cheslor Cuthbert and possibly Hunter Dozier, and it’d be difficult to have three guys play third base all at once.

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Salvy started at designated hitter in seven games this past season. It was a nice way to get him into the game without him having to catch nine more innings and putting that toll on his body. He got a day to rest yet his bat was still in the lineup.

This idea will likely grow on me as the season goes on, but right now, I just wish the Kansas City Royals had extended the qualifying offer to Kendrys Morales, so that we all knew what to expect for the position.

What do you think, Royals fans? Do you like the idea of a rotating designated hitter?

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