Kansas City Royals: Outside free agents to avoid signing this offseason

Yonder Alonso

If the Kansas City Royals fail to retain Hosmer, the obvious replacement would be Logan Morrison. The Kansas City native has expressed interest in joining the franchise. That said, he will still be moderately expensive off a nice bounce-back season.

With Hosmer, in this scenario, seeking a new challenge, the Royals could decide to do a full-blown rebuild. Even in that spot, Moore and Co. could decide to bring in outside help at first base. However, the team would likely look for options cheaper than Morrison. Enter the possibility of the front office pursuing Yonder Alonso.

The left-handed hitter got off a great start in 2017. He earned an All-Star nomination following a stellar first half with the Oakland Athletics. In his 100 games with the A’s, Alonso put up 22 home runs and 49 RBI with an OPS+ of 140.

Then came a complete collapse following a trade to Seattle. Over 42 games, he had six home runs and 18 RBI as his OPS+ fell to 114. While his batting average and on-base percentage didn’t drop off considerably after joining the Mariners, Alonso’s slugging percentage fell almost 100 points from .527 to .439.

Besides the drop off in production following the trade, Alonso should be avoided for the sheer fact he had never hit double-digit home runs until last season. In fact, his 28 dingers were more than his previous four years combined. Not exactly a stellar track record. With Alonso preparing to turn 31 years old in April, he doesn’t seem likely to suddenly hit 30-plus homers at Kauffman Stadium.