KC Royals: Making the case, Blue Jays free agents

Can any Toronto free agents help the KC Royals, who’ve already signed two other big league free agents?

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 Toronto Blue Jays’ free agents.

The KC Royals, frequently a team content to adopt a “wait and see” approach to the annual winter rite of baseball free agency, instead moved quickly last week and signed starting pitcher Mike Minor and outfielder Michael A. Taylor. The back-to-back moves—reports of Minor’s return to Kansas City surfaced late Sunday and the Royals announced Taylor’s signing the next day—were clearly designed to fill the club’s starting rotation and add a new center fielder.

The Royals still need a bat with some pop and another starter wouldn’t hurt given the possibility Danny Duffy could move to the bullpen or be traded. And third baseman Maikel Franco’s non-tender may require KC to search for another infielder.

It just so happens that the Toronto Blue Jays, a team that hadn’t been to the postseason since 2016 but squeezed into a 2020 Wild Card, entered the offseason with nine free agents, including some starting pitchers and utility infielders the Royals might want to consider.

One starter, lefty Robbie Ray, reduced the field of Toronto free agents to eight when he re-signed with the Jays just days after hitting the market. And Minor’s signing may have cooled the interest Kansas City reportedly had in starter Matt Shoemaker.

That leaves a couple of infielders and pitchers the Royals might want to peruse.

After Maikel Franco’s departure, two seasoned infielders might catch the KC Royals’ eye.

The Royals probably saved money Wednesday (at least temporarily) when they non-tendered Maikel Franco, but they recreated a problem Franco seemed to have solved in 2020.

Who will play third base?

Hunter Dozier is, of course, the most immediate solution. He won the job in 2019 only to lose it when Franco came aboard last December; he moved to right field and then first base, and appeared to have won the latter job for 2021. Now, however, Franco’s non-tender may force him back to third.

Dozier can stay at first if the Royals find someone to take over third, at least until the infield reshuffle Bobby Witt Jr.’s debut will require occurs. Toronto free agents offer two possibilities.

Jonathan Villar is a speedy eight-year veteran who, entering his age-30 season, likely has a few solid campaigns left. He led the majors in stolen bases with 62 in 2016, stole 40 in 2019 and 35 in 2018, and averages 27.25 per year. He has power, as his 24 homers in 2019, 19 in 2016 and 14 in 2018 prove. (Villar’s combined .232/.301/.292 with Miami and Toronto in 2020 is concerning but, as the product of a short season, not disqualifying).

Villar is also versatile—although he’s primarily a shortstop, he’s played 358 games at second, 54 at third, and has time in left and center fields. The ability to move around the diamond is a commodity Villar has and the Royals don’t like to turn down, but he just doesn’t have enough time at third to play their every day.

The bigger problem with Villar, though, is his defense. He’s a below average defender everywhere but third, where his small sample fielding percentage (1.000 in five games) means little. Especially troublesome is his .877 at third. Defense matters to the Royals, and Villar’s glove in the lineup is probably too much to risk.

Joe Panik, a career .269 hitter with a smattering of power (he’s hit 10 homers twice) also offers versatility, although not nearly as much as Villar. Most of his seven years have been spent at second, but he has limited time at third, short and first, where he’s played a combined 27 games. The Royals already have Nicky Lopez at second and Panik’s inexperience at the other infield positions don’t commend him to a full-time utility role.

So, Villar and Panik aren’t viable options at third base. And Kansas City already has Kelvin Gutierrez to fill in around the infield. The Royals can get by without Villar or Panik.

If the KC Royals aren’t done searching for rotation help, two Toronto free agents could be worth a look.

The KC Royals’ signing of Mike Minor didn’t necessarily take Matt Shoemaker off their radar, but two other Blue Jays are more likely to draw Kansas City’s eye if they want to add insurance in case they find an irresistible offer for Danny Duffy, who’s entering the final year of his contract, or he winds up in the bullpen.

The first is Taijuan Walker who, at only 28, is already an eight-year big league veteran. He’s 35-34 with a 3.84 ERA, and was 2-1 with a 1.37 ERA in 2020, his first campaign back after pitching only once in 2019 following Tommy John surgery the year before.

Walker posted those latest numbers in only six appearances, but they suggest he can still pitch. A first round pick of Seattle in the 2010 amateur draft, Walker made it to the majors in 2013 and his best season was 2015 (11-8, 4.56 ERA). He’s been throwing a four-seamer, curve, splitter, slider and sinker.

Walker has been linked to the Tigers.

Chase Anderson is another righty starter. He was 15-13, 4.18 in two seasons with Arizona and 38-2, 3.83 in four with Milwaukee before joining the Jays in 2020. He started seven of his 10 games and went 1-2 with a 7.22 ERA, but averaged at least 10 strikeouts per nine innings (10.2) for the first time in his seven-year career.

Anderson is a serviceable starting pitcher, but his 2020 ERA, 6.16 FIP and 61 ERA+ are obvious causes for concern.

The Royals should only consider Walker or Anderson if Duffy’s status is doubtful.