Kansas City Royals: Three intriguing left-handed bat options
The Kansas City Royals are looking for a versatile left-handed bat. These three options fit the mold.
The Kansas City Royals aren’t done yet. In what has been a slow offseason thus far, the Royals are bucking numerous winter trends by spending money and signing free agents, with at least one more notable addition yet to come.
Kansas City has added veteran starter Mike Minor to help solidify a good, but young starting rotation, first baseman Carlos Santana to provide some thump in the middle of their order, and even outfielder Michael A. Taylor to add some experienced depth.
The Royals also re-signed relief pitcher Greg Holland, with the expectation being that they bring in one more veteran arm to strengthen the backend of the bullpen.
General manager Dayton Moore isn’t done addressing the hitting side of things, stating recently on MLB Network Radio that he is interested in bringing in a left-handed bat who can, ideally, play third base and left field.
While the Kansas City Royals haven’t been afraid to spend money this winter, if they do bring in this left-handed bat it likely won’t be someone on a multi-year deal or another large contract, but there are a handful of cheaper, valuable options on the market.
Here are three intriguing names the Royals could target.
Brad Miller would bring a few different valuable traits to the Kansas City Royals.
Brad Miller is a decent option for the Kansas City Royals for a few different reasons. The 31-year-old has played all around the infield throughout his career and did see some time in the outfield as recently as 2019 with the Philadelphia Phillies.
There is a bit of swing and miss in his game, but Miller has some surprise pop in his bat and has posted the two highest on-base percentages of his career over the last two seasons, something the Royals could use a bit of in 2021.
In 48 games with the Cardinals in 2020, Miller hit just .232, but he posted a .357 OBP, a 14.6% walk rate, and 16 extra-base hits, including seven home runs with a 121 wRC+.
He hit 30 home runs back in 2016 with Tampa Bay, but his 2019 numbers are more in line with his career marks and would be a welcomed addition to Kansas City’s lineup- .260/.329/.565 line with 13 home runs and a 126 wRC+.
A one-year deal at $5-6 should be enough to bring him in.
Marwin Gonzalez would provide the versatility that the Kansas City Royals are looking for.
The list of available free agents who can play third base and the outfield isn’t very deep and while there are a few better left-handed fits who are primarily third basemen, Marwin Gonzalez can play multiple infield positions and has spent a significant amount of time in the outfield during his career.
After a solid seven-year run with the Houston Astros, Gonzalez has been less than impressive in his two seasons with the Minnesota Twins and is coming off one of the worst seasons of his career.
But it doesn’t serve anyone good to focus too much on 2020 numbers, in which Gonzalez hit .211 with a .286 OBP and five home runs in 53 games. He’s a switch-hitter but all of his home runs came against right-handed pitchers last season and his OPS was nearly 140 points higher against RHP compared to his production against LHP.
Despite the dip in recent production at the plate, Gonzalez has shown the ability to be a decent defender at multiple positions and he can very likely be signed to a cheap one-year deal if the Kansas City Royals believe there’s potential for him to bounce-back in 2021.
Other potential third base options to keep an eye on include Travis Shaw, Jake Lamb, and Brock Holt.
The Kansas City Royals could reunite with outfielder Brian Goodwin.
The list of left-handed hitting outfielders is a bit more impressive, but don’t expect to see the Kansas City Royals bringing in a Kyle Schwarber, Joc Pederson, or even Jurickson Profar this winter, although either one of those three options would certainly be fun to watch.
More realistic options include veterans like a Nick Markakis, Robbie Grossman, or maybe even Eddie Rosario, but re-uniting with Brian Goodwin may not be a bad idea.
Goodwin was with the Kansas City Royals briefly in 2018, going on to have a good 2019 season with the Los Angeles Angels and a solid start to 2020 before being traded to Cincinnati and struggling over his final 20 games of the season.
After recently being non-tendered by the Reds, Goodwin won’t cost much to bring in on a one-year deal and he can play all three outfield positions for Kansas City.
Since leaving the Royals, Goodwin has slashed .258/.327/.469 with 23 home runs, 38 doubles, and a near 10% walk rate. He hits the ball hard, ranking among the upper-half of major league hitters in terms of average exit velocity and barrel percentage, and ranks in the 80th percentile in sprint speed.
While an option like Grossman would provide the OBP skills the Royals want to add, Brian Goodwin is versatile and brings impressive extra-base numbers with him. Splitting time with younger outfielders like Franchy Cordero would help keep both hitters fresh, along with the rest of the starting outfield thanks to Goodwin’s ability to slot in at all three spots.
Next. Kansas City Royals continue commitment to competing. dark
The Kansas City Royals may not be challenging for a World Series bid in 2021, but they are one of the more intriguing young and up-and-coming teams in baseball, thanks to a formidable group of pitching prospects. Next year may not bring a very high number of wins, but the Royals will put out a much more interesting team to watch.