Kansas City Royals: 3 players who won’t make the 2020 roster

A rebuild is underway for the Kansas City Royals and the organization must begin to evaluate their current players to decide who stays and who gets cut.

In a few short months, players in the Kansas City Royals organization will begin to report and spring training will officially begin. Royals fans will be able to see and get updates on many of their favorite players like Whit Merrifield, Jorge Soler, and Salvador Perez.

For some players currently on the roster, though, spring training may not come, at least not with the Royals. In the midst of their rebuild, the Royals have to begin evaluating the players that they have within their organization to see who will be a part of the future organization, and who will not.

This offseason should be an interesting one for Royals fans, as there are a lot of unknowns. Not only will the Royals be getting a new owner in John Sherman, but they will soon have to find a new manager as well. After a decade of Ned Yost, the Royals will have a new lead in the dugout and with these two changes, there is no telling what other changes might be in store for the Royals.

It’s no secret that the Royals struggled greatly in 2019, and fans of the Royals know that they will start to see differences in all aspects of the organization, especially when shopping for free agents. In the free agency, one can only hope the Royals focus on necessary players, such as pitchers, that can bring some wins to the organization as the 100-loss seasons need to be stopped quickly.

Before some acquisitions can be made, though, it may be in the best interest of the Kansas City Royals to clear some roster and payroll space to see what they can afford and what type of players they really need to focus on. There are a few players in the organization now that may have some future potential for another team, but the Royals would do well to clear them from the roster to make space.

The Royals claimed Jacob Barnes off waivers in August to get a look at the pitcher, but he was unable to produce as the Royals had hoped.

Towards the end of the season, the Kansas City Royals did what any rebuilding team should do, they went shopping for players being released by their teams. While these acquisitions don’t always work out, they are typically inexpensive players a team can test out fo the last part of a season. For a team like the Royals, some of these players could fall through, but some could prove to have just needed a change of scenery.

For the Royals, Jacob Barnes was one of these players. Barnes spent his entire career in Milwaukee, finding time at the major league level for portions of the 2016-2019 seasons. He had his ups and downs but has had years with decent production.

When the Brewers designated Barnes for assignment, the Royals picked him up off of waivers on August 3. In dire need of pitchers, the Royals wanted to take a look at any pitcher that might give them some production, especially one that comes at a cheaper price. Barnes made his debut for the Royals on Augst 13.

Barnes struggled in his time with the Brewers in 2019. Over 19.2 innings pitched, Barnes was able to rack up 22 strikeouts, but also gave up 17 runs, 15 earned. Struggling with walks and holding an ERA of 6.86, Milwaukee decided it was time to move on.

The Royals hoped they could help turn his season around and maybe have a decent bullpen arm for 2020. Barnes continued to struggle though, pitching 13 innings for the Royals, giving up 13 runs and holding an ERA of 8.31.

While a full season with the Royals could allow Barnes to produce as he did in past seasons, at 29 years old, the Royals need to be focused on younger arms that can help for the future.

Though he has been with the Royals for a few years, Cheslor Cuthbert has been unable to make his claim for a full-time spot on the field.

Cheslor Cuthbert is a name that many Kansas City Royals fans will recognize. While he is not known for being one of the top Royals players, he has been able to eat some innings when the Royals needed someone to fill in at first or third base.

Making his major league appearance in 2015, Cuthbert has seen up and down years, his best coming in 2016 where he saw 128 games and held a batting average of .274 with 46 RBI’s. While that doesn’t scream all-star, for the Royals team that was quickly declining, players showing promise were something they wanted to keep around.

Cuthbert continued to see some innings though the 2019 season, but the number greatly declined from that of 2016 as he spent time in the minors every season as well. While Cuthbert was able to produce decent numbers in the minors, he was never fully able to translate those numbers to the major leagues ending 2019 with a .246 batting average and a .294 on-base percentage.

Another area of trouble for Cuthbert comes in his defense. Cuthbert can play both first and third base, but his first base 2019 fielding percentage is a .983, while his first base is an even worse .916. On a Royals team that holds players to a high defensive standard, Cuthbert finds himself in the back of the line.

If Cuthbert could figure out his position and put up even slightly better offensive numbers, he may worth keeping around. In a club with options like Ryan McBroom, Ryan O’Hearn, and Hunter Dozier, plus the many other first and third basemen in the minors, though, Cuthbert looks like a clear candidate to move on from and make some room on the roster.