Giants Forgotten $36 Million All-Star Linked To Royals As 'On-Base Option'
How will the Kansas City Royals go about fixing their outfield for the 2025 season?
There's no sugarcoating it--the Royals' outfield was brutal this season. Between struggling young players like Dairon Blanco and MJ Melandez, fringy veterans like Hunter Renfroe and Tommy Pham, and glove-first players like Kyle Isbel, there wasn't much offense coming from a crucial offensive position on the roster.
Bringing in a corner outfielder who can improve the overall makeup of the Royals lineup is a top priority this winter. Specifically, someone with strong on-base skills would be of interest, as stars like Bobby Witt Jr. and Salvador Perez were constantly batting with the bases empty this season.
The Royals could look out west for a forgotten All-Star to fill the void. Max Rieper of Royals Review recently named San Francisco Giants outfielder Michael Conforto as a good fit for the Royals in free agency based on his on-base skills.
Conforto played against the Royals in the 2015 World Series, and was an All-Star outfielder with the Mets, hitting 33 home runs in 2019... He signed a “make good” deal with the Giants and has been a bit above league-average the past two seasons," Rieper said.
"His walk numbers dropped off from 11.3 percent in 2023 to just 8.6 percent this year, while his strikeout rate increased. He still has 15-20 home run power, and while he’s a lefty, he had a reverse platoon split this year. The 31-year-old is probably looking at 1-2 year offers around $10-14 million per year."
Conforto, 31, quietly put up a 106 OPS+ in his two years with the Giants, and his career on-base percentage sits at .348. He's not a great fielder at this stage of his career, but he's also not a liability, and playing next to a rangy center fielder in Isbel could help mitigate his range.
Conforto had a two-year, $36 million deal in San Francisco, and the last two years have likely decreased his price tag. That could help the Royals get great value, especially because as tough as Kauffman Stadium can be for home runs on occasion, it's a much better hitter's park than San Francisco's Oracle Park.
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Jackson Roberts is a former Division III All-Region DH who now writes and talks about sports for a living. A Bay Area native and a graduate of Swarthmore College and the Newhouse School at Syracuse University, Jackson makes his home in North Jersey. He grew up rooting for the Red Sox, Patriots, and Warriors, and he recently added the Devils to his sports fandom mosaic. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "Kansas City Royals On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org