The Kansas Royals’ all-time best players at second base in franchise history.
The Kansas City Royals first took the field in 1969, and in that time, they have had many terrific players, but really, only one star at second base. Early on in franchise history, it was a position of consistent play and steady production.
Since the retirement of Frank White in 1990, second base has been a transient position with little production. Recently, Whit Merrifield has been a stalwart at second but good players at this position have been rare over the years. Sure, there has been a decent player come in to man the position for a few years, but not many.
In fact, only nine players have more than 1,000 plate appearances for the Royals, with a bulk of their time with the team at second base. Nine, and only seven of those since 1995!
A player will have needed at least 1,000 plate appearances with the Royals to qualify to make this list, and they will have needed more appearances at second than any other position to qualify. Those are the parameters for this exercise.
Players will be ranked by how they performed statistically, and in some cases when it is not clear, subjectively. Human nature will bleed though in some cases because we all had players we liked more than others.
It also doesn’t matter what kind of career any of these players may have had elsewhere. For the purposes of this article, only their time with the Royals is taken into consideration.
Some of the names on this list may be a little surprising. Some weren’t really very good but still received enough plate appearances even when maybe they shouldn’t have. Some, you may have just forgotten even played here. Others, you may have wished they did not play for the Royals! Regardless, the list is small.
Have some fun. Mentally compile your list before starting through our rundown of names. Who do you think will be on the list?
Without further ado, let’s get to our list of the nine best second basemen in Kansas City Royals’ history.
Best second baseman in Kansas City Royals history: 9. Omar Infante
After the 2013 season, General Manager Dayton Moore outbid the New York Yankees by offering second baseman Omar Infante a fourth year to his contract. At the time, it seemed like a good idea.
Unfortunately for the KC Royals, it didn’t work out that well.
In 2013, Infante hit .313 for the Detroit Tigers with a respectable .795 OPS. There were warning signs, though, as he had played just 118 games that season.
Infante seemed like a terrific veteran piece to add to a team that was on the verge of finally being a contender. Moore was correct in that his Royals were on the brink, bu their subsequent success was almost in spite of Infante.
His slash numbers for his two-plus seasons in Kansas City is about as bad as any you could imagine – .238/.269/.328/.597.
Infante’s best season, bar far, for the Royals was his first. The argument could be made his veteran presence helped solidify the infield in 2014 and helped the team reach the postseason for the first time in three decades.
Infante did bat .318 in the 2014 World Series loss to the Giants but did not play in the 2015 postseason or the World Series victory.
Still, he will be forever linked to the team as a member of a roster that went to back-to-back Fall Classics.
Infante was released in June 2016, with a year and a half left on his contract.
Best second baseman in Kansas City Royals history: 8. Chris Getz
Pretty sad, huh? Well, somehow Chris Getz found enough playing to become one of nine players with more than 1,000 plate appearances to play second base for the Kansas City Royals.
Getz was known for his grittiness more than his skill set. He played hard, had some good speed, but had no power whatsoever, and struggled with injuries.
He was an easy choice for the worst qualifying second basemen in club history. When compared to the other candidates, the choice for number eight was clear.
Getz was a likable player who always seemed to give it his all, but he just wasn’t a productive player. He played way more games for the Kansas City Royals than his numbers should have allowed.
He actually started and batted lead-off in 71 games, getting in 319 PA in. His slash in the lead-off spot was .202/.274/.255/.529. Can there be a worst slash than that in the history of the game leading off?
One more interesting piece of Chris Getz trivia. He actually made 14 pinch-hit appearances. He had one hit and two walks in those opportunities.
Best second baseman in Kansas City Royals history: 7. Carlos Febles
Did you have Carlos Febles on your list? Did you remember he had six seasons with the Royals? In fact, he has the third most plate appearances for anyone who has played second base for Kansas City.
Febles, for the most part, wasn’t a terrible player. He did some things very nicely. It really was a hard choice between Febles, and the player ranked fifth, as to which should be ranked higher. When compared to another player with similar plate appearances that were will higher on the list, it was easier to place Febles down the list at number seven.
Febles had one really decent year in his career. In 1999, he set his career highs in plate appearances (524), Home Runs (10), RBI (53), Runs Scored (71), Stolen Bases (20), Slugging Percentage (.411), and WAR (1.4). Throw out that season and Febles would probably still rank above Chris Getz, but it would have been much closer.
He was never more than a replacement-level player, at best, after 1999. He never had more than 404 plate appearances, never more than eight home runs, and never more than 29 RBI. He was a shooting star in 1999, and the Kansas City Royals kept him around four more seasons, hoping he would shine again. He never did.
Best second baseman in Kansas City Royals history: 6. Alberto Callaspo
In hindsight, it wasn’t really a good move to trade Alberto Callaspo during the 2010 season so Chris Getz could have the second base job. It wasn’t that Callaspo was so much better than Getz, but more because Getz was so much worse than Callaspo, at least offensively.
Overall, Callaspo’s numbers weren’t far off Febles’ but they were accumulated in less than half the seasons and with 650 fewer plate appearances. The biggest problem the Royals had with Callaspo was his defense. In 2009, his Ultimate Zone Rating at second base for Kansas City was -11.3, which is beyond awful.
His offense just wasn’t good enough to offset his defense at second. Still, he ranks pretty well among the players who qualified at second.
His are not overwhelming numbers as a Royal by any means, but it was his bat that produced that in his short time with Kansas City Royals. He was not necessarily well suited at second, and in the end, the Royals hoped Getz would be the answer at second base.
Best second baseman in Kansas City Royals history: 5. Mark Grudzielanek
There are players in the major leagues that you just don’t appreciate exactly how good of a player they are until they come to your team. Mark Grudzielanek was just a player. He combined grit and hard-nosed play with a talented bat and glove.
It was a shame the Royals were so terrible during Grud’s time in Kansas City. He deserved better than winding down his career on such crappy teams.
Despite spending only three seasons with the Kansas City Royals, he accumulated the fourth-most plate appearances of any second baseman in team history. He was a productive hitter for Kansas City.
His batting average is the third highest in team history, regardless of position, for players with more than 1,000 plate appearances. He was also a very good defender, accumulating a 19.7 UZR in his years with the team. He won a Gold Glove as a Royal in 2006.
Grudzielanek was a fun player to watch, and it would have been nice if he could have been in a Royals uniform more than those three brief seasons.
Despite coming to Kansas City near the end of his career, and despite the teams he played on here, he still was good enough to come in as the fifth-best second baseman in Royals history.
Best second baseman in Kansas City Royals history: 4. Jose Offerman
Who had Jose Offerman in this spot? Like Mark Grudzielanek, Offerman spent just three seasons with the Royals but he made the most of his time here.
He played a number of positions for the Kansas City Royals but did spend most of his time at second base. His plate appearances were just under those of Carlos Febles, but Offerman was much more productive with his At Bats, which is the reason Offerman is third, and Febles, who replaced Offerman, is sixth on this list.
Another year or two with the team and Offerman would probably have moved up a spot on this list.
For players with more than 1,000 plate appearances with the Royals, regardless of position, Offerman has the highest Batting Average and On Base Percentage in team history. He also led the majors in triples in 1998 as a Royal with 13.
Offerman didn’t bring great power to the team, but he had good speed and knew how to get on base. He was gifted enough to be able to fill in at a few positions, and while he as not as good with the glove as Grudzielanek, his bat made up for the difference.
Best second baseman in Kansas City Royals history: 3. Cookie Rojas
Cookie Rojas does not have startlingly great offensive statistics for the Kansas City Royals, but for his era, he was a very good second baseman. He was good enough to represent the Royals in four straight All-Star games, starting in 1971, and solidified this position in the team’s formative years.
Rojas has nearly 1,500 more plate appearances than Carlos Febles, who is third among second basemen in that category, although he played just two more seasons than Febles. Most impressive, Rojas didn’t even become a Kansas City Royal until he was 31 years old.
While there may have been better hitters on this list than Rojas, those four All-Star appearances give you an idea of how good he was for his era. While he may be easy to overlook statistically, his presence was a steadying force on a young team that was developing through the early and mid-1970’s.
Rojas is an important player in Royals’ history and is clearly the third-best two-bagger in franchise history.
Best second baseman in Kansas City Royals history: 2. – Whit Merrifield
It didn’t take long for Whit Merrifield to go from an unheralded over-aged prospect to an unexpected star and fan favorite. In just a season and a half, Merrifield’s play has vaulted him into Royals’ history as the second-best second baseman every to play for the franchise.
In his short stint with the Royals, he has already played six additional positions on top of his primary spot at the keystone.
While his versatility has been a bonus, it has been his bat and his baserunning that has made him such a pleasant surprise. In his first 2,669 plate appearances, he has hit .295, including topping .300 in 2018. He also has led the American League in stolen bases twice, hits twice, and triple once.
It is am amazing that Merrifield has put up such a great WAR in such a short time, accumulating 13.7 WAR in his career.
How much he entrenches himself as the number two Royals’ second baseman all-time depends a lot on if the Royals decide to keep him around for a few more years. He’s under contract through 2023 so he has every chance to become an all-time great Royal. He’s had an impressive start to his career; let’s hope he gets a chance to continue it in Kansas City.
Best second baseman in Kansas City Royals history: 1. Frank White
No surprises here. Frank White is not just the greatest second basemen in Royals’ history, but the second-best player in franchise history.
White, who started out as a utility infielder in his first three seasons, took over as the full-time starter in 1976 and quickly became his era’s greatest fielding second baseman.
He was also one of the most dependable players. From 1976 until his final season in 1990, White played less than 135 games just thrice – 1979 (127), 1984 (129), and 1981 (94, strike-shortened).
The Kansas City Royals uniform is the only one Frank White ever wore in his career, and the numbers he put up over the years are fantastic. As expected, he ranks at the top of all the counting categories by a wide range. He had more than 5,000 more plate appearances than Rojas did.
White won an amazing eight Gold Gloves, went to five All-Star games, and won the Silver Slugger in 1986 as the best offensive second baseman in the American League.
He worked for the Royals for many years as a minor league manager and a commentator. He has been a big part of the organization for over forty years.
The Kansas City Royals and Frank White seem to have had a falling out in recent years, but for most of us, he will always be a Royal, without a doubt.
His wizardry with the glove on the quick AstroTurf of his era was truly exciting to watch, and there is no doubt Frank White will reign as the best second baseman in Royals’ history forever.
It is hard to imagine a quality player at White’s level playing that many years with the team, in this day and age.
Special thanks to Baseball-Reference and Fangraphs for their incredible work with statistics. We appreciate them very much.