3 biggest bargains currently on the KC Royals

One of the perils of being a small market team is that the KC Royals are always searching for low-risk, high-reward contracts.

For every gamble that works out when the KC Royals are able to sign a player for a low dollar contract, there are several that do not. In recent memory, Homer Bailey turned out to be a decent signing that returned some value.  I do not include Mike Moustakas as a brilliant maneuver by KC since the rest of the league blew the chance to sign him and he fell back into the team’s lap by pure luck.

On the negative side, there are many more examples including just last year’s signings of Jason Duda (again), Chris Owings, and Billy Hamilton that return little to no value in trades or are flat-out released. They also take a roster spot that could have been given to a younger player who would gain valuable experience against big-league competition.

More often than not the best value on Kansas City’s roster are players who come up through the minor league system and the Royals have control at a smaller salary until they are eligible for free agency.  Sadly, many of those players are dealt before they reach that point in hopes another group of prospects can take their place.

Occasionally money is spent on mid-range free agents with multiple year contracts, but there is often a reason those players are not gobbled up by teams with more money to spend.  In the last decade veterans like Omar Infante, Jason Hammel, and Alex Rios signed contracts for several million and did not put together good seasons for Kansas City.

What we will focus on in this article are the players who are putting in excellent returns for what they are paid and most likely will be on their way to large contracts in the future.  It would behoove the Royals to work on locking these players up before they reach their free agent years in hopes they can get them for a below-market rate.

It seems like every season Whit is moved to another position and yet he continues to produce on the field and at the plate regardless.

For a guy whose career minor league batting average was .274, his debut on the KC Royals at the age of 27 in 2016 was not expected to lead to big things.  Whit Merrifield was a nice addition putting up decent, but not spectacular numbers.

In a full year in 2017, however, Whit exploded with his still career-high 19 home runs and 34 stolen bases (which led the league).  His versatility, which is still on display, was huge as he played every infield position but short and every outfield spot except center…which is ironically where he is projected to fill most days in Kansas City for 2020.

His stats really took off in 2018 as he batted over .300 for the first time and stole another league-leading 45 stolen bases.  Merrifield also had more hits than anyone in baseball, a feat which he duplicated in 2019.  Pulling that off is a rare occurrence, especially for a right-handed batter.

How much has this cost the Royals?  For 2019 he earned a whopping $1 million.  In the offseason, Whit did sign an extension for four years for just over $16 million and for 2020 his salary will be $5 million.  Still, one heck of a bargain for a guy who plays every day, hits for average, has speed and can play almost anywhere in the field.

Another avenue the KC Royals have tried to acquire cheap talent is from the Rule 5 draft.  In 2018 they hit on a player who has turned in two decent seasons.

I do not know how many people expected Brad Keller to make the team out of spring training in 2018 but if he was not kept on the big league roster the entire year he had to be offered back to his former team.  He easily was the best pitcher on the pitching staff instead of just hanging on to the team.

A mix of relief and starting appearances led to a 3.08 ERA and 3.5 WAR.  In 2019 Keller was anointed with starting opening day.  Although a full-time starting role last year did not result in nearly as pretty stats he still was a workhorse putting in 28 starts, a respectable 4.19 ERA and still produced a WAR of 2.5.

Keller still has three years of arbitration left before he hits free agency in 2024.  What that means, for now, is that the Royals are able to pay him just above the league minimum at $583,500.  This is obviously a tremendous steal considering other players with far worse stats are making millions.

As we see with the Merrifield and Soler deals, the KC Royals are putting value in locking up their young players before they enter full-blown free agency.  The one year deal with Soler is hopefully a building block to lock him before he can be wooed away by a team with deeper pockets.  Others to look at raising their salaries soon would-be stars like Adalberto Mondesi, Hunter Dozier and any other young stars who start to make an impact in the big leagues.