Kansas City Royals: Potential First Base and Center Field Signings

Center Field Options

Cain will most likely not be back in a Kansas City Royals uniform next year. To fill center field, the Royals will have to look elsewhere. Within the organization, the Royals have some options. They tried Alex Gordon out there a few times last year and put Paulo Orlando out there pretty frequently in September. In reality, the Royals should be looking to fill center field by staying in-house. Any free agents should be able to play across the outfield. Here are also some free agency options the Royals can look toward:

Cameron Maybin

This year, Maybin played 57 of his 114 games at center field. The Kansas City Royals could sign him to play there. This would be less than ideal for the Royals, as he hit a slash line of .186/.226/.441 after being traded to the Astros. This wouldn’t be an ideal situation and doesn’t really make sense — except that he could provide flexibility in the outfield.

I imagine IF the Royals signed him, it would be a one-year deal around $1 million. I don’t really see the Royals signing him unless it’s very late in free agency and they don’t feel good about their options in center field.

Jarrod Dyson

The Kansas City Royals traded Dyson last year for starter Nate Karns. The outfield looked pretty full going into 2017, and they needed a starter after losing Edinson Volquez. Going into 2018, the Royals need a center fielder. Last year for the Mariners, Dyson started most of his games in center field. And we have all seen him play out there. Dyson hit .251/.324/.350, which is about what he has done, on average, throughout his career.

Last year, Dyson made $2.8 million and would probably make around the same amount in 2018. He could help the Royals as a cheap fill-in for center field, while the Royals develop in their farm system. He could also provide some flexibility in the outfield.

The free agent pool this offseason doesn’t provide a lot of depth at center field. The Royals should only pursue this option if they don’t feel they can compete without them. Signing Dyson would make sense because of the Royals’ history with him.