Kansas City Royals should take a chance on CJ Cron and Derek Dietrich
The Kansas City Royals chose to retool their roster instead of opting for a full rebuild. Due to this, the organization should take a chance on two players that were recently DFA’d.
Following the loss of impact players such as Eric Hosmer and Lorenzo Cain to free agency, the front office of the Kansas City Royals has to get creative in order to keep the team competitive. As many teams are currently designating players for assignment to either clear payroll or create room on the 40-man roster to make room for other players ahead of the Rule-V draft, two opportunities are currently available for the Royals to improve.
These two opportunities came after the Tampa Bay Rays recently DFA’d first baseman/designated hitter C.J. Cron and after the Miami Marlins recently DFA’d left fielder/utility man Derek Dietrich. Both of these players are still very productive, but they were unfortunately casualties of payroll limitations by their former clubs.
Through 140 games last season, Cron put together a .253/.323/.493 slash-line alongside a career-high 30 home runs and a career-high 28 doubles. According to Fangraphs, the Royals first basemen combined for a -0.4 WAR last season compared to the 2.0 WAR put together by Cron on his own. As he had a higher WAR than the combined first basemen of 14 major league teams (including the World Series Champion Boston Red Sox), Cron would be a phenomenal addition to the Royals lineup.
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Through 149 games last season, Dietrich put together a .265/.330/.421 slash-line alongside a career-high 16 home runs and a career-high 26 doubles. Although Dietrich spent 97 of these games in left field, he also spent time at first base, second base, third base, and right field. As the Royals are in the midst of a roster shake-up, a versatile defender that bats left-handed would be a very valuable addition.
According to MLB Trade Rumors arbitration estimates, Cron is estimated to earn $5.2 million in arbitration while Dietrich is estimated to earn $4.8 million. If the Royals are unwilling to pay the estimated $10 million for the pair of players, they could attempt to sign each of the players, assuming they each clear waivers. However, as the Royals still intend to compete while they retool their roster, the front office should heavily consider placing a waiver claim on each of these players before they reach the open market.
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The Kansas City Royals currently have roughly $73.0 million in salary committed for next season before factoring in the very modest arbitration raises for eligible players of roughly $5 million. This should give the team a decent amount of flexibility as the team recently had a $130 million payroll last season. If both of these players perform well (and the Royals are out of contention), they could turn into attractive trade pieces. This would be similar to how Mike Moustakas was flipped to the Milwaukee Brewers for two players at the trade deadline after the Royals signed him to a modest $6.5 million guarantee last offseason.