Kansas City Royals: Issues with current rebuild
By John McCarty
Multiple players appear to be headed for free agency before reinforcements arrive
The KC Royals have a nice set of some players currently at the major league level, but they are all approaching the point where their contracts are set to expire. Jorge Soler, Salvador Perez and Danny Duffy all have contracts set to expire after the 2021 season and Whit Merrifield’s contract expires after the 2022 season (he does have a team option on his contract for the 2023 season).
As we have mentioned, if the players above are unable to make it to the majors quickly (if at all), the group the Royals are hanging on to for the future will be gone before the future actually arrives.
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The other point of concern is age.
Merrifield and Duffy are already in their 30’s, meaning their best ball is either here now as we read this or in past seasons, but unlikely to be at this level when this team is ready to win again.
Salvador Perez, who has caught a gaggle of games during his career and is now recovering from an elbow injury that could impact his ability to control the running game is already 29, which is old for a catcher.
The youngest of the group is Soler, who is 27. By the time the Royals are ready to compete again, is Soler under contract with the Royals or has he moved on?
Complicating matters is the pitching situation.
Current front line starters not named Danny Duffy are Brad Keller and Jakob Junis. Both players are set to be in arbitration when these players contracts expire along with Hunter Dozier. Once players hit arbitration, their cost goes way up.
Dozier, by the way is already 27 and turns 28 later this year, so again, the Royals are pinning their hopes on a player that will likely be on the wrong side of 30 when the Royals are ready to compete again.