Kansas City Royals: Bringing back Mike Moustakas makes no sense

The Kansas City Royals are underway with spring training and there have been rumblings about them potentially re-signing Mike Moustakas. This doesn’t make sense for the Royals.

Kansas City Royals fans love Mike Moustakas, but let’s be real here… Is re-signing him a smart move for the organization? No, it’s not.

For one, the Royals already have a third baseman ready to go for 2018 and his name is Cheslor Cuthbert. Cuthbert stepped in nicely when Moose tore his ACL and missed nearly the entire 2016 season. While it’s unlikely that Cuthbert replicate those numbers, he’s out of options and the Royals have to see if this guy is worth keeping around long-term.

The Royals don’t even need to sign Moustakas as a designated hitter, as they have plenty of options there. When it comes down to it, the only reason the KC Royals would opt to bring back Moustakas would be because it’d be sentimental and mean something to the fans. Not exactly a move that needs to be made and certainly not one for a rebuilding club.

The fact that Moustakas is still a free agent is a bit surprising, but this year’s market has been strange for sure. Moose hit 38 home runs last year, which was impressive considering he played 81 games at pitcher-friendly Kauffman Stadium.

Perhaps teams doubt that Moustakas can be that type of home run hitter again. After all, he did look a bit dinged up after being hit by a pitch near the end of the regular season. In fact, at one point it looked like Moose would crush the Royals single-season home run record, but he ended up just squeaking by with weeks to go before the season wrapped up. He definitely fell off a bit and of course teams are going to take that into consideration.

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One has to wonder if Moustakas is kicking himself for not taking the qualifying offer from the Royals now. Sure, at the time it seemed like Moose would be making bank on the open market, but there has been very little buzz surrounding the California native.

Moustakas appeared to be interested in heading back to the west coast, but after the Angels added Zack Cozart and the Giants traded for Evan Longoria, that speculation died off quickly. Now, Moose is left wondering if he’ll be signed anytime soon, and if so, where?

It’s safe to say he didn’t plan to head back to the team that drafted him, but Dayton Moore hasn’t ruled it out. For the sake of the rebuild, I hope the Royals stay away from re-signing Moustakas. I like the guy and appreciate what he did for the organization, but if we’re going to rebuild, then let’s just rebuild.

Let Cuthbert play third. Hell, let Hunter Dozier play third from time to time. Let Adalberto Mondesi spend time at second base and at shortstop. Put those unproven guys wherever and see what this team could look like in what could pretty much be considered a “freebie” year.

Royals fans, what are your thoughts on bringing back Mike Moustakas?

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