5 Royals Leaving Kansas City in the New Year

4. Matt Duffy - 3B

Duffy served a valuable role as a platoon player capable of covering multiple positions on the infield, so he's still got a role for a team in the league.

However, there's no reason for that team to be the Royals. Duffy is 32 without much pop in his bat and Kansas City needs to develop young talent around Bobby Witt Jr.

Players like Maikel Garcia, Michael Massey and Samaad Taylor deserve that playing time. After all, you want the timelines of your developing players to line up with Bobby's and Duffy's simply does not.

He hit .251 in 191 at-bats for the Royals last season with occasional flashes of power, though he's more of a utility player than anything at this point.

Perhaps a team like the Braves or Dodgers needing to bolster their depth on the cheap will look Duffy's way. He's still a pending free agent, but I'd be stunned if he doesn't catch on somewhere over the next several months.