Kansas City Royals: Chris Owings brings versatility and upside

The Kansas City Royals signed utility player Chris Owings on Wednesday in what could be a bargain for the rebuilding ball club.

Versatility has always been valued by Dayton Moore and the Kansas City Royals, and on Wednesday they signed Chris Owings, a player capable of playing just about anywhere on the field.

According to Fangraphs, Owings has played in 168 games at second base, 233 games at shortstop, 65 games in center field, 68 in right field, four in left, and 15 at third base in his six-year career.

MLB.com writer Jeffrey Flanagan reported via Twitter the deal with the Royals was an affordable one-year deal.

Royals are in agreement with utility man Chris Owings for one-year deal for $3 million plus $500K of performance bonuses, per source.
— Jeffrey Flanagan (@FlannyMLB) December 5, 2018

Owings, still just 27, carries a career slash of .250/.291/.378/.669. This was pulled down by an atrocious 2018 season when he slashed just .206/.272/.302/.574, which is why he was non-tendered by the Diamondbacks and why the Royals signed him so cheaply.

His Batting Average on Balls in Play last season was a bleak .265, far below his career average of .312, which indicates he suffered from some horrific luck in 2018.

In addition to his versatility, he does bring some speed to the table. He swiped double-digit bases in each of the last four years, including 21 in 2016. He’s been caught stealing just 13 times in 83 attempts.

He seldom walks (never more than 26 times in a season) and he strikes out too much (whiffed a whopping 144 times in 2015) so he should fit right in with the Royals.

In his best seasons, 2016 and 2017, he averaged 24 doubles, six triples, eight home runs, 16 stolen bases, and 50 RBI. He slashed an acceptable .273/.308/.428/.736.

The question to ask is this: is he better than Rosell Hererra? The MLB sample size for Herrera is much smaller, considering last season was his first major league action, despite being only a year younger than Owings.

Little in Hererra’s history indicates he will ever be more than a light-hitting utility player. Other than an outlier in 2103 where he hit .343 and slugged .419 in A-ball for the Rockies, he never hit more than .292 in the minors. He can play the same positions Owings can, minus shortstop. Herrera’s Ultimate Zone Rankings for year one were pretty decent and probably a little better overall than Owings’ defensive metrics.

The only place on the field where Owings is not very good is the one where Hererra didn’t play last year – shortstop. Owings for his career has a UZR of -11.7 in 1900.1 innings played. Still, he can man the position to give Adalberto Mondesi a day off now and then.

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Hererra did seem to give the Royals an enthusiastic energy boost last season at times, but when you consider the better bat and base stealing Owings offers, Herrera’s defense isn’t going to be enough to move him past Owings as the primary super utility player for the Royals.

Of course, there may be a chance Owings ends up playing some third base for Kansas City as well, as the options there are slim unless the Royals surprise everyone and re-sign Mike Moustakas.

Matthew LeMar from Royals Review did a great job breaking down who might play third for the Royals before the Owings signing and how Kansas City might just bring back the fan favorite Moustakas.

If Owings can return to the level of play he showed in 2016 and 2017, he will be a valuable, versatile piece for Ned Yost to use around the diamond. If he bats like he did last season, it won’t have cost the Royals much.

This was a good move by the Royals, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see Owings playing three or four times a week in 2019, more if there are injuries around the diamond.

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The Kansas City Royals most likely won’t compete in 2019, but Owings might provide a placeholder as the organization develops its next generation of major leaguers for 2020 and beyond.

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