It's the middle of February and Kansas City Royals fans can't wait for the 2025 MLB season to begin. After all, the 2024 season brought a sense of optimism to Royals fans that they haven't felt in nearly a decade.
The Royals ended the year with an 86-76 record, marking their first playoff appearance since their 2015 World Series victory. Even though Matt Quatraro's club was stopped by the New York Yankees in the Division Series, the Kansas City faithful is confident that the players have learned from that experience and can go on an even deeper run this fall.
It's going to take a full team effort to get the Royals back into the MLB postseason — especially when one underperforming veteran is gearing up to rob the team blind in 2025.
Hunter Renfroe Will Rob the Royals Blind in 2025
While the Royals don't have too many pricy contracts, one player who likely won't be worth his price tag is veteran outfielder Hunter Renfroe.
Renfroe, 33, joined the Royals on a one-year, $5.5 million contract that included a player option last season. He triggered said option nearly immediately after Kansas City's postseason run ended, meaning he'll now be on the books for $7.5 million this season.
Renfroe would easily be worth that amount if he was in his prime. The former Mississippi State was one of the MLB's most dangerous outfield bats early in his career, having racked up 153 home runs, 380 RBIs, and 285 extra-base hits in 690 games from 2017 to 2022.
Unfortunately, the Crystal Springs, MS native's performances have been trending in the wrong direction recently, culminating in last year's uninspiring performance.
In 120 games (385 at-bats) with the Royals in 2024, Renfroe tallied only 15 HRs, 52 RBIs, and 36 walks while slashing .229/.297/.392. If that wasn't bad enough, the former 2013 first-rounder also finished with the second-worst OPS (.689) of his decade-long career. He also recorded negative efforts when it came to runs better than average (minus-14) and wins above average (minus-1.4).
Renfroe's defense is still solid — he led all MLB right fielders with nine assists last season — but it's clear that his bat hurts the Royals more than it helps. Unless he suddenly rediscovers his offensive touch and remains consistent throughout the campaign, there's a good chance that he won't be worth his price tag again.
The Royals will need Renfroe (and the rest of the roster) to step up to reach the playoffs again. FanDuel Sportsbook is currently favoring Kansas City to miss the 2025 MLB postseason at -176 odds — an implied probability of 63.8%.
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