Royals Rumors: Eric Hosmer cannot be replaced by Mark Reynolds
By Joel Wagler
One of the more incredulous Royals rumors flying around is that the Kansas City Royals may be interested in Mark Reynolds.
Sometimes Royals rumors can get out of hand. One of those that qualify as a true head-scratcher is that the Kansas City Royals may be looking at free-swinging first baseman ark Reynolds.
Of course, the Royals are still hoping to re-sign Eric Hosmer to return as a franchise cornerstone but that is seemingly more and more of a pipe dream.
It’s not as if there isn’t validity in this Royals rumor. It comes from a very good source. Chris Cotillo for the MLB Daily Dish tweeted it.
Rockies are seen as strong contender to re-sign Mark Reynolds but other teams are involved. Royals looking at him as Hosmer fallback plan. Others also with interest.
— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) December 13, 2017
The question is why would the Royals be interested in Mark Reynolds? He has few skills the Royals value other than he likes to swing at anything that flies anywhere near the same zip code of home plate. Unlike many Royals, however, Reynolds misses with those swings with astounding frequency.
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MLB Trade Rumors painted a bleak picture of just how often Reynolds avoids contact.
"…his whopping 1,806 career strikeouts already rank 18th-most all-time among MLB players. He’s got a 15.6% swinging strike rate for his career; for reference, that’s the number a 2017 league-average hitter would have posted if he faced Cy Young-winner Corey Kluber in every at-bat of the season."
The Royals already have a similar all or nothing first baseman / designated hitter in Brandon Moss. If the Royals fail to bring back Eric Hosmer, why sign someone who offers no value other than some home runs to an organization?
If the Royals don’t like Moss in the field every day, why not give Hunter Dozier a chance (if healthy)? What does the organization have to lose?
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Dozier is 26 years old so if he isn’t a candidate to replace Hosmer (or possibly Mike Moustakas), why is he still in the organization? He was a former first-round draft pick and has five minor league seasons under his belt.
In 127 AAA games, he has performed at a nice level with a slash line of .282/.349/.499/.848 with 19 home runs. He did get a cup of coffee with the club in 2016 but had just 21 plate appearances.
It would make more sense to give Dozier a chance to play every day than signing a hacker like Reynolds. If Dozier fails, then so be it. At least he had a chance. Reynolds won’t help the team, short term or long term, in any way, shape, or form.
Sure, Reynolds hits some home runs, and the Royals are recently enamored with the long ball. He averages 30 round trippers every 162 games, but he also whiffs 192 times every 162 games.
The Royals already have some players who struggle to make contact with Moss, Alex Gordon, and Jorge Soler. They don’t need another.
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Let’s hope the Kansas City Royals can find a way to re-sign Hosmer and avoid more Royals rumors such as this one involving Mark Reynolds. Signing free agent strikeout kings is not the direction this franchise needs to be heading.