Kansas City Royals: Making the case, Diamondbacks free agents

Continuing our series about potential 2020 free agents, we consider the more notable Arizona Diamondback free agents the Kansas City Royals may be (or may not be) interested in.

The Arizona Diamondbacks have some problems. They play in the National League West, a division now won seven straight seasons by the Los Angeles Dodgers. They traded Zack Greinke and must spend the winter searching for a suitable replacement. And free agency may cost them some serviceable players. Should Kansas City Royals General Manager Dayton Moore pursue any of the Diamondback free agents? Let’s find out.

Jarrod Dyson, OF

Here’s a familiar name. Dyson broke in with the Kansas City Royals 10 years ago and soon became a fan and franchise favorite. Fans were miffed when KC traded Dyson, a solid player blessed with blinding speed and serviceable defensive skills, to Seattle in 2017 for Nate Karns. The deal never bore significant fruit for the Royals and fans have longed for a Dyson-KC reunion, talk of which is sure to accompany his free agency.

However, the Dyson Royals fans loved is now, at age 35, a mixed bag. While his .230/.313/.320 2019 slash line was better than 2018’s .189/.282/.257, he is simply not an everyday offensive threat nor an everyday player. Defensively, he’s not as good as he used to be, but he has good range and makes occasional flashy plays.

Dyson, though, is still fast. He’s stolen 46 bases–30 in 2019–in his two Diamondback seasons. When he gets on base, he’s still a serious threat to steal.

So it’s speed and popularity that constitute Dyson’s real value to the Royals. Value, though, is relative and measurable only within context — the Royals outfield is crowded and uncertain, with several players vying for spots. Nothing can begin to be settled until Alex Gordon decides whether to return or retire: left field is his if he returns and wide open if he doesn’t. Brett Phillips, Bubba Starling and Jorge Bonifacio are already set to compete for spots to complement Jorge Soler, Whit Merrifield. Perhaps even Hunter Dozier, who the Royals could rotate in and out of right field.

Phillips and Starling are locks to get long looks–although both are coming off uninspiring seasons, each showed flashes of their known talent and skills and warrant further serious consideration. Bonifacio is a long shot to make the club; although he displayed characteristic power at AAA Omaha with 20 home runs, he has otherwise struggled since returning from 2018’s 80-game PED suspension and appeared in only five big league games in 2019.

Erick Mejia and Ryan McBroom also saw time in the 2019 outfield and may get more looks, at least in spring training. And whether the Royals continue the Dozier outfield experiment remains to be seen. All that leaves little room for Dyson. A reunion is tempting, but the Royals may not be inclined to give much playing time (or money) to an aging veteran at the expense of younger players.

Dyson isn’t a good candidate for the 26th spot once the rosters expand for good on Opening Day. He’s merely an outfielder and the Terrance Gore experiment suggests a light-hitting pinch runner won’t be much use to the Kansas City  Royals.

Pursue Dyson or move on? Move on. Sentimentality and speed aside, Dyson’s age and weak bat,  and the Royals’ need to play youngsters at crucial career crossroads, make signing him unwise.

WILMER FLORES, INFIELD

The Kansas City Royals love versatility and Wilmer Flores has it. He’s played every infield position over seven big league seasons, logging 165 games at second base, 162 at shortstop, 155 at first and 143 at third. His bat is respectable, as he hit .317 in 89 games for Arizona in 2019 and owns a career .268/.310/.432 slash. He’s not an everyday player but averages a handy 96+ games per season.

Flores’ versatility could spark talk of trading Merrifield for prospects, but it’s hard to believe that trading the valuable and popular star and replacing him with a utility infielder would be among Royals owner-in-waiting John Sherman‘s first moves. Without trading Merrifield, Flores could spell Merrifield and Nicky Lopez at second, Adalberto Mondesi and Lopez at short, and whoever the Royals eventually choose to play first and third.

A bit of uncertainty surrounds Flores, however. The Diamondbacks hold a 2020 club option on him for $6 million but can buy him out for $500,000. It’s a wait-and-see situation.

Pursue Flores or move on? The Flores question is moot if the Diamondbacks exercise their option; if they don’t, the Royals should pursue him. His versatility could come in handy, especially if Mondesi remains injury-prone, and he won’t trigger a prolonged bidding war or command the type of mega-salary the Royals rarely pay.

And major league rosters expand to 26 players in 2020. The 26th man is tailor-made for Flores.

ADAM JONES, OF

Arizona outfielder Adam Jones is a five-time All-Star, four-time Gold Glover, a Silver Slugger award winner, and has slashed .277/.317/.454, averaged 20+ home runs and almost 70 RBIs in 14 seasons.

But Jones has his drawbacks. Because he turns 35 in 2020, Jones presents a dilemma similar to Jarrod Dyson: He’s a decent veteran in the late innings of a good career, but his signing would sacrifice the progress of talented young players for a short-term benefit. The Kansas City Royals need to spend 2020 determining, once and for all, which of their young outfielders are in Kansas City to stay.

Pursue Jones or move on? Move on, but leave a bit of wiggle room. Jones could give the Royals a decent season or two, but at the expense of younger players who deserve chances now. Only if Alex Gordon retires should KC consider Jones as a short-term placeholder (and a good one at that) if they decide their youngsters need more work in the minors or aren’t ready to play every day.

T.J. McFARLAND, P

T.J. McFarland is a lefty reliever, so he merits at least a glance. His nifty 2018 performance might draw the Royals’ attention if Arizona doesn’t exercise its 2020 $1.85 million club option and buys the 30-year old out for a mere $50,000. 2018 was truly excellent for McFarland, with some considering him possibly Arizona’s best reliever that year. His 2.00 ERA over 47 games and 72 innings and his 2.25 RA9 (Baseball Reference’s Runs Allowed per 9 Innings) was over 1.5 runs better than RA9 average (Baseball Reference’s estimate of how an average pitcher would fare against the same opponents in the same parks, etc.).

But 2018 looks like an anomaly, sandwiched as it was between McFarland’s 2017 ERA of 5.33 and a 7.09 RA9 that was almost 2.5 runs worse than RA9avg, and 2019’s ERA of 4.82 and 5.63 RA9, almost 1.5 runs worse than the RA9 average. In fact, only twice in his seven seasons has McFarland’s ERA been lower than 4.46, a marginal level for a reliever, and only twice has his RA9 been better than the RA9 average.

McFarland has also bounced back and forth between the majors and minors for seven years. His 18-14 record in 262 big league games is passable, but hardly eye-catching. His career 0.3 WAR doesn’t turn many heads and he’s posted a negative WAR in four of his seven seasons.

Pursue McFarland or move on? Move on. McFarland’s one fine season among seven shouldn’t excite the Royals, who have unfortunately spent much recent time and money on similar relievers only to see them fail. Now, they need to invest time and money in their own relievers: Richard Lovelady, Kyle Zimmer, Scott Barlow, Tim Hill, Josh Staumont, Jake Newberry and Gabe Speier all come to mind.

There’s also talk of Danny Duffy returning to the bullpen and speculation that Jake Diekman liked KC so much that he may want to return if he and Oakland don’t exercise their mutual option. The Kansas City Royals have enough relievers to work with and, if they really want to pursue another, there are better choices on the market than McFarland.

The bottom line: The Kansas City Royals should go after Wilmer Flores if the Diamondbacks buy him out and should give at least some thought to a short-term deal with Adam Jones if Gordon retires. And that’s as far as KC should go with Arizona’s free agents.