Kansas City Royals: Edinson Volquez Contemplating Mutual Option

Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Edinson Volquez seemed like a surefire bet to test free agency this winter. However, comments from the righty may signal otherwise. With a mutual option the only thing standing in the way of free agency, will the veteran starter actually decide to accept his part of the option?

Things have not gone as planned for the Kansas City Royals in 2016. Injuries and inconsistent starting pitching have plagued the reigning World Series champs this year. Now as the season winds down, the club has to start looking toward planning how they are going to reload over the winter.

Many analysts have discussed this Royals championship window that runs through 2017, when core players like Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Lorenzo Cain, Wade Davis and Danny Duffy all will hit free agency. However, the team does have a couple of potential free agents this offseason. Alcides Escobar has a $6.5 million team option after this year. As does Kendrys Morales; he’s got an $11 million mutual option. However, the team’s most controversial potential free agent may be starter Edinson Volquez.

We all know that the Royals have won in spite of their starting pitching for the past three years. However, with multiple injuries to key contributors offensively, and their bullpen not performing to the level it did in 2014 and 2015, the weakness of the club’s starting rotation has never been more evident. Danny Duffy did break out this year, becoming one of the best starting pitchers in the American League. But outside of that, there is much uncertainty.

Yordano Ventura has a tremendous amount of talent, but his attitude is a big problem (see his ordeal with Manny Machado). Ian Kennedy is steady but expensive, and the fifth spot remains open for the taking. This brings a high level of complexity to how the Royals will handle Volquez this offseason.

As of now, Volquez has an $11 million mutual option for the 2017 season. If he were to accept his side of the deal, the Royals would have to spend a hefty $3 million to buy him out. However, Volquez has been expected to decline the option due to the lack of starting pitching on the free agent market.

But to the surprise of many, there were tweets from Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star that suggested Volquez is conflicted because of his love for the team and the city. Nevertheless, he is still expected to opt out and see what he can make on the open market, even though this does make his situation a bit murkier.

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Potentially the more interesting scenario may be whether the Royals will extend Volquez a qualifying offer if he were to decline the mutual option. Under the current system, Volquez would stand to make $16.7 million if he were to accept the QO. This would be a major financial commitment for a pitcher that had an ERA over 5.00 this year. But looking at his track record, Volquez has been a solid starting pitcher for most of his career and his K-BB rate remained relatively similar. Plus, this would allow the team to keep him for one year and still maintain flexibility for the huge offseason of 2017. Royals fans may be thinking that this would be crazy money for the pitcher they saw in 2016, but seriously, where would the club look to fill out the last two spots of their rotation if he were to head out the door?

Their farm system is rather barren of potential major league starting pitchers, and the starters entering free agency leave a lot to be desired. This includes the average ones who will be heavily bid on anyway. We all know that the Royals don’t play in that market most of the time. Especially when they just committed a lot of money to Kennedy last winter.

This leads you to believe that the Royals are hoping that Volquez will opt to stay with the team by accepting his side of the mutual option. If he doesn’t, both parties will have tough decisions to make regarding a possible qualifying offer. At least with the way MLB is defining it as of now.

Yup, things are far from settled in Kansas City.

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How should the Royals approach the Volquez situation this offseason? Let us know in the comment section below.