KC Royals still looking for Frank White’s replacement

Frank White played his last game for the KC Royals 30 years ago, but the club is still searching for his replacement.

There’s a reason they called Frank White “Smooth.” The nickname fit like a glove, and it’s his glove that made the fit so perfect. White could hit, but defense was the first name of his game and why he’s the KC Royals’ best second baseman ever.

White, a five-time All-Star who played every one of his 18 big league seasons with Kansas City, played his last game 30 years ago, but the club’s search to replace him continues. The many who’ve tried to fill his shoes haven’t. The jury is still out on Nicky Lopez, whose glove work may someday warrant calling him “Smooth II,” but he probably won’t stick unless he learns to hit big league pitching.

White wasn’t perfect; no one is. While his defense (eight Gold Gloves) warrants Hall of Fame consideration, it’s his offensive numbers that probably keep him out of Cooperstown. He could hit in the clutch, and was the team’s choice to hit cleanup in the 1985 World Series (primarily because the American League team lost the DH in the National League’s park), but he exceeded .270 only four times in 18 seasons. (Whether that theory squares with the fact White’s offensive and defensive stats are so comparable to Hall of Famer Bill Mazeroski‘s is a debate for another time).

What isn’t debatable is just how good White was, which helps explain why he’s been so hard to replace. The search has been long. When and with whom it might end is the question.

It looked like Carlos Febles might fit the KC Royals’ second base bill, but he didn’t last.

First there was Terry Shumpert. Then Keith Miller. Then Jose Lind, Keith Lockhart and Jose Offerman for a couple seasons each. Try as they might, though, none managed to stick at second base after Frank White played his last KC Royals game in 1990.

Carlos Febles’ late 1998 debut impressed the Royals—he slashed .400/.483/.600, and didn’t make an error at second in 11 games as a September call-up. Then, in 2019, he was justifying the club’s decision to give him second base by blistering AL pitching for 11 extra-base hits and a .364 average in May. But his bat disappeared in June and, although his glove remained fairly solid, he managed only a .219 average over the campaign’s final four months and finished at .256.

He exceeded that .256 by a point in 1999, but it was the best he’d ever do in the majors; his weak bat finally did him in (he hit .236, .245 and .235 the next three seasons) and the club released him after the 2003 campaign. He never played in the big leagues again.

Desi Relaford actually played more at second than Febles in that last season, Tony Graffanino played there more than Relaford in 2004, and Ruben Gotay saw more action at second than anyone in 2005. None turned out to be the solution.

The KC Royals went back to the drawing board.

A trio of KC Royals were the most prominent candidates to fill the second base job in the 10 years before Whit Merrifield took over.

The Royals’ efforts to replace Frank White that spanned the seven year Carlos Febles-Ruben Gotay era ended with the December 2005 signing of free agent Mark Grudzielanek, a serviceable second-sacker who’d played for the Expos, Dodgers, Cubs and Cardinals before casting his lot with Kansas City.

“Grudz” was an accomplished hitter with occasional power, and hit .297, .302 and .299 (a cumulative .300) in his three Royal seasons. His defense met the club’s needs: he won his only career Gold Glove in his first season with the Royals. He split time at second with Alberto Callaspo in 2008 and departed for free agency after that campaign.

Callaspo took over second in 2009 and hit .300, but didn’t equal Grudzielanek as a fielder and was traded to the Angels in a 2010 midseason deal. Mike Aviles succeeded him until the club dealt him to Boston at the 2011 trade deadline.

Then it was Chris Getz’s turn. He was baseball savvy with heart and a good work ethic, but he wasn’t Frank White.

Getz played 110 games at second in 2011, then split time with Yuniesky Betancourt and Johnny Giavotella in 2012, and Betancourt, Giavotella and Elliot Johnson in 2013. Getz was adequate defensively but had no power and was, except for 2012 when he hit .275 in 64 games, questionable at the plate.

The Royals tried to end the revolving door that had become second base with the December 2013 signing of Omar Infante, an appealing free agent acquisition at the time as the club readied itself to contend in 2014. Infante was an established big league veteran coming off a sold season with Detroit (.318, 10 homers and 51 RBIs in 118 games), but the $30.25 million, four-year deal turned out to be a lot of money not well spent. Infante just couldn’t get it right in Kansas City. His defense was acceptable; his .238 average and .269 OBP over three seasons wasn’t.

With well over a season remaining on his overpriced contract, the KC Royals let him go before the 2016 campaign reached its midpoint.

By then, rookie Whit Merrifield was staking his claim to second.