Royals Projected $105M Free Agency Target Would Fix KC's Biggest 'Roster Hole'
The Kansas City Royals haven't publicly released their New Year's resolutions, but one has to imagine finding a new middle-of-the-order bat ranks high on the list.
Last season, the Royals pulled off a shocking 30-win turnaround, and they did so with one of the thinnest lineups in baseball. They had virtually no production from their corner outfielders, which is usually a disqualifier from making the Major League Baseball playoffs.
Though the Royals have lots of things going for them, they can't afford those two key positions to amount to nothing again if they want to make it back to October.
In a recent column, Eno Sarris of The Athletic broke down the biggest "roster holes" among prospective contenders, pointing out that the Royals' corner outfield had the second-fewest projected WAR of any 2024 playoff team, ahead of only the Philadelphia Phillies.
Sarris also floated ex-Baltimore Orioles All-Star Anthony Santander, who hit 44 home runs in 2024, as a potential free-agent signing for Kansas City.
"Right field is where the upgrade needs to be. With payroll already where it was to end last season, do they have enough to try and lure Santander into the mix?" Sarris wrote.
"He’s the best remaining outfielder by projections, and his switch hitting power with a good strikeout rate attached would be a huge boon to a team that struggled to score runs at times last year."
Santander, 30, isn't exactly a Gold Glover in right field, but the Royals would happily trade that for his offensive production. He's a switch-hitter who slugged .507 last season, and he'd be lethal batting behind Bobby Witt Jr. in. the lineup.
Earlier this offseason, The Athletic projected Santander for a five-year, $105 million contract, which would be a tough fit under the Royals' salary cap situation. They'd likely have to get creative in terms of the structure, pushing some of the financial commitments back until Salvador Perez is off the books.
Is Santander likely to be donning a KC cap on Opening Day? Probably not, even though they could use him as badly as any team in the league. But the longer he remains without a team, the more realistic it might be that his price could drop into the Royals' range.
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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