KC Royals: Making the case, Mariners free agents

Almost half of Seattle’s free agents have already signed, but there might be some left who could help the KC Royals.

Welcome back to Kings of Kauffman’s continuing series analyzing the major league free agent market and projecting who might, or might not, fit the KC Royals’ needs. Today we take a look at the Seattle Mariners’ free agents.

If history has taught us anything about the KC Royals’ pursuits of free agents, it’s that they’ve suffered some serious burns and rarely splurge. Because the financially conservative Royals are coming off a season that produced no gate receipts, there’s no reason to truly believe they’ll spend more liberally this winter unless they find perfect, irresistible fits for their starting rotation and outfield.

The best starting pitchers will be, of course, the most expensive, so the cost-conscious Royals won’t be making serious, if any, overtures to the likes of Trevor Bauer, Masahiro Tanaka or Marcus Stroman. Middle of the road or back-end rotation pieces will be the best Kansas City will do.

The situation is the same in the outfield, where the leadership void left by Alex Gordon’s retirement needs to be filled. The Royals may not be able to find a glove equal to Gordon’s, but an outfielder who can get on base and provide some pop would be an ideal addition to the group of young, but largely inexperienced, outfielders who’ll compete to play alongside Whit Merrifield in 2021.

Could Seattle’s free agents be a source of reasonably-priced help? Although five quick signings (Tim Beckham with the White Sox, Arodys Vizcaino and Mallex Smith with the Mets, and Matt Magill and Kendall Graveman with the Mariners) have reduced the field to six, there are some M’s left to think about.