5 Royals Leaving Kansas City in the New Year

4. Yuli Gurriel - 1B

The aforementioned offensive struggles following Vinnie Pasquantino's injury led the Royals to sign Yuli Gurriel, who was good enough to serve as the No. 5 hitter during the playoffs even after Pasquantino returned.

He only hit .241 but added six RBI and nine walks in 18 games, typically providing a quality at-bat thanks to his years of experience. However, he's on the wrong side of 40 years old and feels more likely to retire than sign some sort of long-term deal.

Especially now that the Royals added Jonathan India, they've got too many infielders to make space for Gurriel. India, Bobby Witt Jr., Pasquantino, Maikel Garcia, and Michael Massey are all locked into key roles in the infield, so there's no room to add another guy to the mix. Gurriel was a shrewd signing and his brief stint will be remembered fondly, but he's played his last game with Kansas City.

Despite getting a late start on his MLB career, Gurriel will go down as one of the better postseason hitters to ever play. His best years came with the Astros, who are seemingly in the playoffs every year, yet he still brought valuable veteran savvy to the Royals' clubhouse.

Hopefully, Kansas City's young players learned something from Gurriel. Guys like Witt Jr. and Pasquantino had never tasted playoff baseball and any player will tell you that those at-bats are different than those in the regular season.

Even though Gurriel was ultimately the final out to end the Royals' magical year, he was important in the games that he played. Should Kansas City return to the playoffs in 2025, lessons learned from Gurriel could prove to be a difference-maker.