Kansas City Royals 2017 Payroll Still Extremely High
By Joel Wagler
ROYALS 2017 PAYROLL: THE OUTFIELD
Kansas City traded a dominating closer for Jorge Soler; now they need him to perform. Having a guy like Paulo Orlando on your team is nice but the Royals need Soler to emerge as a power threat in their lineup.
Regardless, both Orlando and Soler will probably make the Opening Day roster. With utility players like Merrifield and Moss on the team, speedster Billy Burns is probably the outfielder left off the roster. If Colon makes the team instead of Merrifield, then Burns may get the nod.
There is no doubt about who the starting left and center fielders will be, barring injuries. Alex Gordon and Lorenzo Cain are both looking for bounce back seasons. The Royals need these two healthy and in the line-up more often than not.
With the depth of utility players, Ned Yost should be able to give Gordon and Cain more days off throughout the season, hopefully helping them increase their production from a year ago.
- Left Field – Alex Gordon – $16 million
- Center Field – Lorenzo Cain – $11 million
- Right Field – Jorge Soler – $3 million
- Backup Outfielder – Paulo Orlando – $535,000
- TOTAL – $30,535,000
With how this roster appears to be shaking out, Yost should have plenty of flexibility to rotate the designated hitter at-bats by using players like Orlando, Moss, and Merrifield. Those guys should all see plenty of playing time.