KC Royals: Free Agent Market Opens On Election Day

The KC Royals front office, and the rest of major-league baseball, will be considering early offers for free-agents when the rest of the country is awaiting election results.

The Kansas City Royals front office team is in Scottsdale, Arizona for the major league baseball GM meetings which began on Monday. With free-agency set to begin on Tuesday, the free-agent store will open while the rest of America is focused on the 2016 presidential election between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

Despite the distraction, there’s certain to be a FEW players that land early deals. Business is business, no matter what’s going on in the rest of the world.

That being said, I’d be very surprised if the KC Royals make an offer on any player on Tuesday. With general manager Dayton Moore wanting to cut payroll, he simply doesn’t have the bullets to joust with teams looking to make an early splash in free-agency.

Instead, look for the Kansas City Royals to play a waiting game. Moore is in the position where he has to shop for bargains. He’s going to have to wait for the market to come to him before picking off over-looked players. He can’t afford to participate in a feeding frenzy.

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That doesn’t mean that the early market developments don’t matter to the KC Royals. I believe that Moore is looking to move a core piece or two on the trade market this winter. Consequently, where the biggest pieces land will mean quite a bit in terms of setting his early strategy.

In particular, Moore will watch where relievers Aroldis Chapman, Kenley Jansen, and Mark Melancon land. If there’s an early run on the relief arms right out of the gate, Moore might find himself the Queen of May at the GM meetings in Scottsdale if he puts Wade Davis on the market.

I wouldn’t expect any serious talks to come out of Scottsdale. Instead, Moore might gauge preliminary interest for later discussion at the Winter Meetings in December.

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The best result might be if the Washington Nationals get left out of the reliever party, because they have a prospect rich farm system with the pitching depth that might attract the Royals.