What I’d Have Done

The Royals made six big decisions this winter. Here’s what I’d have done differently.

Hindsight is an incredible thing. It’s very easy for someone like me to look back on pretty much anything, including moves the Royals have made in previous offseasons. For example, when the Royals announced a trade in December 2012 and acquired James Shields and Wade Davis (and can’t forget Elliot Johnson!), I was adamantly against it. When they didn’t make a meaningful move at the 2014 trade deadline, I thought it was a huge mistake. I did like the moves in 2015, if that helps. 

Over the last couple of seasons, I thought the Royals would have been better off in 2018 signing Logan Morrison and going with him and Dozier at the corners than going after Homer. Somehow I was both right and wrong there. I also thought the Royals should sign Travis Shaw over Maikel Franco last season.

I’m not always wrong, though. At least I don’t think so. But either way, I’m going to keep giving my opinions because, well, I can. So today I’m going to review the Royals big offseason moves and give some takes and what I’d have done differently, if anything. We’ll see just how wrong I was this time. 

And hey, I’ll include something good about each deal the Royals made to look at. Probably a lot of gifs.

Michael A. Taylor Signed

The Royals signed Taylor to bring a plus glove to the outfield with the most square footage in the American League. The deal is cheap and only one year, so it can’t be that bad, but the guy really can’t hit. Okay, that’s not fair. He did hit .271/.320/.486 in 2017, but that’s four years ago now and he’s hit .225/.284/.370 since. The issue with signing a defensive wizard who can’t hit is that Taylor hasn’t put up great defensive numbers since 2018. The sample is small enough that we don’t know for sure that his defense has declined that much, but the good news is that his sprint speed has stayed at least above average.

What I’d Have Done

I actually have no issues with signing Taylor, but I don’t particularly like that he was signed and then given a starting job. He’s an upgrade over Bubba Starling, but I’d really have preferred Taylor as a fourth outfielder. In theory, I’d have gone bigger and offered Jackie Bradley, Jr. a nice two-year deal, but even still unsigned today, he seems to be looking for more than that and I don’t think I’d have gone there.

If they really wanted a defensive wizard, I’d have gone with Jake Marisnick for a similar cost. He’s been better defensively over the last few years, signed a similar deal and has consistently shown more power than Taylor with ISOs of at least .178 in each of the last four seasons. I get that they needed someone but I’d at least have gone with the guy who will play the defense and hit the ball out of the park occasionally.

 

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Maikel Franco Non-Tendered

The Royals signed Franco for a cheap one-year prove it deal. As I said, I preferred Shaw, but I was wrong. Franco proved it well, playing in all 60 games, even while hurt for some of it and ended up putting up a season much more like his 2018 than rough 2019 that got him non-tendered the first time. The issue is that he had a good enough season that he was going to ask for more than he would likely get on the open market and one way to improve the team was to upgrade first base and get Hunter Dozier back to third. So far, they seem like they were right in that as Franco is unsigned. 

What I’d Have Done

Honestly, the same thing the team did. At this point, I’d consider bringing him back, shifting Dozier back to the outfield and getting Whit Merrifield to second base to make Nicky Lopez the utility man he probably should be at this point. 

Mike Minor Signed

The Royals were in need of rotation help, and they signed a pitcher who was one of the better ones in the American League just a year ago. He had a down season with some velocity decline that was cause for concern. And then they went and gave up a two-year deal when pitchers similar to him were getting just one year. It’s fair to look past 2020 as we’ve discussed so many times, so maybe they felt they were buying the 2019 version of Minor, but it’s hard to know that for sure. 

What I’d Have Done

Similar to the Taylor deal, I don’t have an issue with signing Minor. I didn’t love the second year, and would have been really hesitant to add that second year. Personally, I’d have probably gone for a pitcher with some more upside, though Minor isn’t without upside entirely. Garrett Richards or Corey Kluber would have been fun, but I don’t think they were really an option for Kluber. I was a big fan of Taijuan Walker as well, but given that he just signed, maybe he wasn’t an option. Again, I have no real issues with Minor, but I probably would have gone one of these other directions.

Carlos Santana Signed

When the offseason began, Dayton Moore said he wanted to add some OBP and patience to the lineup. Santana is now arguably one of the most patient hitters in franchise history, so mission accomplished on that front. They wanted a left-handed bat, and Santana as a switch hitter always has the platoon advantage. Like Minor, he’s coming off a bad 2020 after a great 2019, so the Royals have to be hoping for the same thing here, but even if Santana doesn’t rebound much, he’ll still provide walks and a really solid OBP.

What I’d Have Done

I may have tried to spend a little bit less, but yeah, I’m good with this.

Greg Holland Signed

When Holland signed with the Rockies before the 2017 season, he was a year removed from Tommy John surgery and started off that season looking fantastic. He led the NL in saves, but from August 6th on, he had an ERA of 8.47 with five home runs allowed in 17 innings, including a walkoff to Eric Hosmer in Kansas City. From there, things got weird. He was brutal in 25 innings with the Cardinals to start 2018 and then gave up just nine hits in 21.1 innings with the Nationals. Then he signed with the Diamondbacks and was generally fine, but got DFA’d mid-season. Then he signed the minor league deal with the Royals and was legitimately fantastic. Some of the batted ball numbers left something to be desired, but in general, you can see how good he was.

What I’d Have Done

A cheap one-year deal for a pitcher who is both a fan favorite and was wildly successful last season is a hard one to argue with here. He ended the year on the IL, which is a concern for a 35-year old pitcher, but he threw more sliders than fastballs and found some additional velocity in 2020. If he can carry over those two things, there’s a good chance he’s a good value again. 

Andrew Benintendi Acquired

Like OBP, the Royals had been targeting a left-handed outfield bat for quite some time. They actually got both when they picked up Benintendi in the deal that sent Franchy Cordero to the Red Sox and Khalil Lee to the Mets. In Benintendi, they picked up a player who was on a star trajectory as recently as August of 2019 before he hit some injuries and tough times. Now, he says he’s getting back to what made him successful before he tried to be a hitter he wasn’t and the Royals are hoping he can continue the breakout that stalled with his oblique injury. 

What I’d Have Done

I like the move quite a bit. Benintendi is young and has a track record of success and if he’s utilizing his old approach, he’s a great fit for Kauffman Stadium. I honestly didn’t think they’d be able to work out a deal for him, so I didn’t really consider him much of an option. If you’ve read me for any length of time, though, you’ll know that I was all about Jurickson Profar for the left field opening. Much of what makes Benintendi attractive made Profar attractive, but all he would have cost would have been money rather than assets. Looking at both deals, I can’t say I’m too worked up about the team losing Cordero and Lee, but I have to say it would have been nice to have both and Profar. And maybe the Royals never really had a shot at Profar as it seems like maybe he wanted to stay in San Diego. So this’ll be interesting to me over the next two seasons to see who performs better.

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Personally, I’d have probably added another starter in addition to Minor, so maybe I would have been good with going out and getting him and Walker to get Duffy transitioned to the bullpen. That $3 million the Rays spent on Michael Wacha would have been interesting for the Royals given his peripherals in 2020. And I don’t think I hid the fact that I’d have given Mike Foltynewicz the shot the Rangers did. I also probably would have pushed harder for Trevor Rosenthal, but maybe he wanted a bigger one-year deal to get back on the market when teams might be willing to spend more. If not him, I’d have wanted to throw some more against the wall in addition to Wade Davis and now Brad Brach, which there’s still time for on that.

I also think I would have done more to push Nicky Lopez. I mentioned they could still sign Franco, but they could have gone after someone like Jonathan Schoop to lengthen the lineup or maybe Cesar Hernandez. I liked the Hanser Alberto deal, and maybe he’s enough to push, but I think if they were really looking to build a deep lineup, Schoop was the guy who could have made it work well.

So now we’ll see how it goes. I generally agree with a lot of what the Royals both did and didn’t do in this offseason, but I always like to see how right or wrong I was when the season ends.