Kansas City Royals: 10 free agents who would make sense in KC

There are still plenty of available free agents who would make sense for the Kansas City Royals.

So far this offseason, the Kansas City Royals have inked two players in free agency. The first is Mike Minor, a left-handed pitcher who can start but has also pitched very well out of the bullpen. Minor, 32, signed a two-year deal worth $18 million with a team option on a third year that would push the total to value to $30 million.

Next, the Royals signed outfielder Michael A. Taylor, 29. Taylor signed on for a one-year deal worth $1.75 million, after spending the entirety of his seven-year career with the Washington Nationals, helping them win the title in 2019. He hasn’t had more than 99 plate-appearances since 2018.

But the Royals aren’t done this offseason. On Wednesday, when a whopping 56 players across Major League Baseball were non-tendered, Kansas City said goodbye to players like Maikel Franco and Bubba Starling, among others.

With that in mind, here’s a look at 10 available free agents (in five different categories) all of whom would make sense for the Royals. We start in the outfield where the Royals continue their search to find Alex Gordon’s replacement.

Main Target: David Dahl, LF, Colorado Rockies

Somewhat surprisingly, the Rockies did not tender a contract to Dahl, 26, making the former No. 10 overall pick a free agent. Your thoughts on the strange 2020 season will definitely influence how you think about Dahl (as well as several others on this list).

If you think the bizarre, virus-influenced season was more fluke than normal, then you can easily ignore Dahl’s poor results in his 99 plate appearances and instead focus on his All-Star 2019 season in which he posted a 110 OPS+ while slashing .302/.353/.524.

More pros regarding Dahl: he’s young, he’s played all three outfield positions throughout his career, he’s mainly a left-fielder, he gets on base at a decent clip, he’s shown some pop, and there remain years of control for the team that signs him.

Cons include his injury history, his slump in 2020, and his high strikeout rate. Perhaps something else that’s a downfall is that multiple teams will be going after Dahl, so he could start somewhat of a bidding war.

Overall, I see a 26-year-old player who played very well two seasons ago, when baseball was normal, and this left-handed hitter would fill the void left by Gordon’s retirement in left field.

Alternative Target: Kyle Schwarber, LF, Chicago Cubs

Two seasons ago, Schwarber popped 38 homers to go with 29 doubles as he slashed .250/.339/.531 with a 122 OPS+. Scwharber is only one year older than Dahl but is more one-dimensional. Still, if his bat rebounds back to his 2019-form, the Kansas City Royals could live with his glove in left, or even plug him in as a DH.