Phillies Predicted To Land 44-HR Slugger Over Royals In Expert Free Agency Poll
When it comes to Major League Baseball free agency, competition is usually unwelcome for the Kansas City Royals.
The Royals have been spending more than usual in the past 12 months, and even now, their payroll doesn't crack the top 20 in the league. Kansas City has become more aggressive in signing free agents, particularly pitchers, but that doesn't mean they're ready to hang with the big dogs.
A popular name floated as a free-agent target this winter for the Royals is Baltimore Orioles outfielder Anthony Santander, who hit 44 home runs this season. The Royals lacked even a single outfielder who hit 20 home runs, so Santander would give them an entirely new outlook as a complete lineup.
If the latest round of free agency predictions is accurate, though, the Royals are going to be facing stiff competition to land Santander.
A recent MLB.com expert poll saw the Royals finish second among the favorites to land Santander this winter, with the Philadelphia Phillies coming in first. The Phillies got 17% of the vote, Kansas City got 12%, and the New York Yankees were third at 10%.
"Our voters were all over the place in trying to predict Santander's future landing spot. A whopping 20 teams received at least one vote, and while the Phillies were ultimately mentioned the most, they didn't even crack 20%," said the author who compiled the poll's results.
"Santander, who turned 30 in October, is coming off a huge year for the O's. He set career highs in home runs (44), RBIs (102), runs (91) and OPS (.814) while also earning his first career All-Star nod."
It's hard to imagine the Royals outbidding the Phillies for any free agent strictly by the numbers. The Phillies' 2024 payroll of over $243 million more than doubled Kansas City, at $115 million.
Hopefully, for Royals fans' sake, a new era of Kansas City spending really has dawned. The Royals shocking a handful of big-market teams and landing Santander would be a massive win for a team on the come-up.
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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