Kansas City Royals: Ryan Goins Makes the 25-man Roster

The Kansas City Royals signed Ryan Goins to a minor league deal and an invite to Spring Training. After falling short with the Toronto Blue Jays, Goins had to prove his worth. And he did seemed to have done just that for the Royals.

On Thursday, the Kansas City Royals finalized the 25-man roster. Ryan Goins found himself on that list. Being a non-roster invitee to Spring Training meant that he had to be placed on the 40-man roster, which meant someone had to be designated for assignment. Both Kyle Zimmer and Wily Peralta were those lucky winners.

After the type of Spring Training Goins had it should not come as a surprise that he broke camp with the big league team.

He played in 23 games and slashed an impressive .350/.420/.450 while striking out seven times and walking seven times. During this time he showed his versatility by playing third base, shortstop, and second base. This, along with his offensive performances, proved to impress the Royals organization.

How he fits with the team:

It is not difficult to see why the Royals like Goins. They like players who can play multiple positions. The fact that Goins can play three positions appeals to them.

With the Royals rebuilding, having the very inexpensive utility infielder is a nice addition. The only catch is whether he can come remotely close to continuing the offensive production from Spring Training. Seeing is how Goins never finished a season hitting higher than .252, and the year he did that he only played in 34 games, and his best overall season saw him hit .250/.318/.354 over 128 games, I do not see that trend changing.

Due to his lack of offensive consistency, it is safe to say that Goins is going to be a bench player. With Mike Moustakas, Alcides Escobar, and Whit Merrifield playing in his utility positions, the likelihood of Goins playing consistently is very slim. In fact, the only way he would is if they give any of those players a day off or if Merrifield moves to the outfield and Cuthbert stayed as the teams designated hitter.

The next point to watch is how Adalberto Mondesi performs. He is starting the year on the disabled list and was reassigned to Triple-A. If Mondesi goes to Triple-A and consistently hits, Goins might find himself in an interesting situation. As long as Mondesi is in Omaha, Goins will stay on the MLB roster. If Mondesi is called up, Goins most likely will be the odd man out.

Final Thoughts

I am happy for Goins. He can be a very serviceable bench player. I also like the fact that he can play multiple positions. Unfortunately for him, I do not know how he fits within the Royals rebuild. For what the team needs now, Goins is perfect for them. However, when they start the movement of younger guys to the 25-man roster I wonder if Goins will continue with the team.

What do you think Royals fans? How do you see Goins contributing to with the Royals this year? Is he a temporary fix until someone else is ready to be called up? Let us know what you think!