Royals Rumors: Should KC Grab Carlos Gomez?

The KC Royals could use offense help. As much as no one wants to admit it, LF Alex Gordon has had a terrible season at the plate. Could claiming the recently-released Carlos Gomez off waivers help?

Forget about 30-year-old Carlos Gomez‘s awful .210/.272/.322 slash line with the Houston Astros this season. That’s not the guy that interests anyone (including the Kansas City Royals). Instead, what every team in baseball that could use an outfield bat wants to know is: how much of the guy that put up 13.1 fWAR between 2013-14 remains?

Carlos Gomez enjoyed two consecutive all-star seasons in his age 27 and age 28 seasons in that span. Gomez was one of the four best position players in baseball in 2013-14, trailing only Mike Trout (18.5 fWAR), Andrew McCutchen (15.3 fWAR) and Josh Donaldson (14.1 fWAR).

That’s some pretty impressive company, when you consider that all three players have won league MVP awards. In fact, McCutchen won the NL MVP in 2013 and Trout won the AL MVP in 2014 during the period in question.

So, yeah, with Carlos Gomez still only 30 years old, someone is going to hope that he’s just suffering from a four-month career blip. Which brings us back to our original question: should that team be the Kansas City Royals?

Next: The NO To Carlos Gomez Argument

Why Claiming Carlos Gomez Makes Sense For KC

On the other hand, any team picking up Gomez will only have to pay a pro-rated portion of a league-minimum salary for the rest of the 2016 season. The Astros and Brewers will have to pay the rest of the $3 million in guaranteed money remaining on his deal.

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At that price, Gomez is a cheap flier who might suddenly recapture his stroke down the stretch. Certainly, Gomez will be motivated. He hits free-agency this winter and needs to reverse his horrible start to have any hope of a reasonable deal in 2017.

However, a good candidate would be a rebuilding team who would like to get the inside track on a player that might prove a bargain signing in 2017. Such a team wouldn’t care about winning games. The Atlanta Braves might be the perfect fit since they would also allow Carlos Gomez to return to the National League. Maybe part of Gomez’s crash was due to facing unfamiliar pitchers.

Another good candidate would be going home to Milwaukee where he enjoyed his two all-star seasons. At 51-62, the Brewers are out of the NL Central race at 20.5 games behind first place Chicago. Talk about winning! The Brewers would still have the four prospects from their 2015 deal with the Astros AND they’d get their player back.

That doesn’t leave KC Royals as a great landing spot for Gomez. Yet, there is still that upside to consider. Adding Carlos Gomez would give the Kansas City Royals TWO under-performing 30-something outfielders. Common sense would suggest that adding another high-ceiling player will increase the chance that the team can find one useful corner outfielder for the stretch run.

Also consider that the Kansas City Royals would hold waiver priority as a member of the same league as the Astros over those two National League clubs. Of course a rebuilding AL team with a need for offense, and an even worse record than the Royals, could beat KC to the punch.

The KC Royals can use the offense and you certainly can’t beat the price. Gomez could take Billy Burns‘ place on the roster and is certainly more likely to carry an offense over the final two months than Burns. The Royals scouting department is going to need to make the call here.

Next: Kendrys Morales Will Serve Suspension Thursday

The problem is that Gomez probably wouldn’t want to join the Kansas City Royals even if Dayton Moore decided he was interested. What Gomez wants is guaranteed playing time to get the best chance to help himself for next season. With the Royals still believing they can make a run, they’ll sit him if he doesn’t produce.