Kansas City Royals: 11 defining moments from past decade
By Cullen Jekel
Best Free Agent Signing of the Decade
This comes down to three players, two of whom are pitchers: Jason Vargas and Edinson Volquez. But I’m going with Door No. 3: Kendrys Morales*.
*Fun fact: in 2012, the Angels traded Morales to the Mariners for Vargy.
The Royals signed Morales, primarily a DH in his time in Kansas City, in the Winter of 2014 worth $17 million. He joined a team fresh off its first pennant in nearly three decades while replacing fan-favorite Billy Butler. Very quickly, Morales made Royals fans miss Butler a little less.
In 2015, Morales finished third on the team in runs (81) and hits (165), first in doubles (41) and RBIs (106) and tied for first in home runs (22). He was also second in walks (58), third in batting average (.290) and OBP (.362), and first in Slugging (.485), OPS (.847) and OPS+ (127).
The following year, while his batting average dropped, he still paced the Royals in home runs (30), Slugging (.468), OPS (.795) and OPS+ (110) while finishing second in runs (65) and RBIs (93) and third in hits (147).
Not a bad two-year stint.
Worst Free Agent Signing of the Decade
At first I considered Alex Gordon, then I considered Ian Kennedy, but then I recalled the most famous reindeer of all: Omar Infante.
Before joining the Royals prior to the 2014 season, Infante had played pretty good baseball in his 13-year career between Detroit, Atlanta, and Miami. For his career, Infante finished with a WAR of 17. But he stunk in his two-years-and-change in Kansas City.
How bad did he stink? I hear you asking from the audience.
Well, the Royals, never known to throw money away, threw away a boatload of cash just so Infante wouldn’t play for them anymore. In the 2013 offseason, he and the Royals agreed to a four-year, $30.25 million deal. They released him after 34 games in 2016, paying him $7.75 million that year, $8 million in 2017, and $2 million in 2018 just to go away.
That’s a mind-boggling $17.75 million paid by the thrifty Kansas City Royals just to get rid of a guy… yet he still almost made the All-Star Game in 2015. Vote Omar!