KC Royals: David Dahl would be the perfect replacement for Alex Gordon

The KC Royals need a new left fielder and David Dahl makes a lot of sense.

One of the more surprising moves (or non-moves, I guess) earlier this week was the Colorado Rockies non-tendering David Dahl, who is now going to be a coveted free agent. The Kansas City Royals should most definitely look into acquiring Dahl for several reasons.

First and foremost, Dahl is a good player. His numbers didn’t prove that in 2020, but this year has been a weird one and MLB players were no exception to that. Dahl had 99 plate appearances and finished the shortened season with a slash line of .183/.222/.247 with nine RBI. It wasn’t a stellar season.

While we shouldn’t necessarily ignore those numbers, the 2020 season was an odd one. Dahl was an All-Star in 2019 after slashing .302/.353/.524 in 413 plate appearances while blasting 15 home runs and plating 61 RBI, so if the Royals put more stock into the fact that Dahl was better in a full 162 game season, he could be a target that makes a lot of sense for them.

Dahl is also still young, not turning 27 until April. That means he could be a very important part of this team as they look to round the corner and start contending. While he spent most of last season in center field, he played the majority of his games in left field in 2016, 2018, and 2019 (the year where he was an All-Star).

David Dahl could be the next left fielder for the KC Royals.

Alex Gordon retired after the 2020 season and now the Royals need to find a replacement. Franchy Cordero has looked to be the favorite to land the job in 2021 but Dayton Moore has been aggressive already this offseason in trying to add talent. There’s no reason to think he won’t find a proven left fielder rather than go with an unknown player in Cordero.

The Royals aren’t lacking in outfield depth, but Dahl would be an unquestioned starter heading into the 2021 season. If he signed with Kansas City, he’d start in left field, Whit Merrifield would likely be the everyday center fielder (though he’d be moved around occasionally of course), and right field could go to someone like Cordero or Edward Olivares.

Another reason to target Dahl is that he’d have years of club control for whoever signed him. The Royals could benefit greatly from having a proven outfielder like David Dahl on their roster. He’d be the perfect player to bring in for the next wave of contention.

What do you think? Would this signing make sense for the Kansas City Royals?