KC Royals: 3 potential Winter Meetings bombshells

Whether they happen or not, here are a trio of surprises the KC Royals could drop at the 2020 Winter meetings.

Somewhere in the virtual world, separated from their traditional semi-public arena of hotels, conference rooms and suites, baseball’s Winter Meetings are underway. The annual confab, forced by the pandemic to go video, will probably still provide its regular fare of trades, free agent signings, rumors, speculation, surprises and disappointments; while the video environment may dampen the spirit of the meetings, major league clubs, including the KC Royals, will still do business.

Just what kind of business the Royals will conduct remains to be seen. They filled a need last week by signing former Kansas City pitcher Mike Minor, then added outfielder Michael A. Taylor; unless the club makes a move with one of its 2020 starters, it’s probably crossed starting pitching off its wish list, and Taylor’s acquisition obviates the need to look any further for a new center field candidate.

All that doesn’t mean, of course, that the Royals are done trying to improve. A potent bat remains a priority and, after non-tendering third baseman Maikel Franco, General Manager Dayton Moore must find someone to play third or first because Hunter Dozier can’t play two positions at once.

So it is that all Kansas City eyes will be on Moore this week. Will principal owner John Sherman allow him the financial leeway to sign or deal for a couple of players to fill still-existing needs? If so, who will Moore target, and what surprises might the Royals provide before the meetings end with Thursday’s Rule 5 draft? The club isn’t prone to dropping bombshells, but anything is possible.

Convincing a top-flight reliever to return to the KC Royals would indeed be a bombshell acquisition.

The signing last winter of Trevor Rosenthal probably generated more skepticism than excitement. Rosenthal, after all, was a pitcher in search of lost success, a once fearsome closer for the St. Louis Cardinals whose decline followed his best big league season, included a year lost to Tommy John surgery, and continued with a horrible 2019 season.

Rosenthal’s handful of seasons as the Cardinals’ closer are well-chronicled. He saved 121 games, including 45 in 2014 and a team record 48 in 2015.

Hard times followed. His ERA more than doubled to 4.46, his saves dropped to 14, and he averaged more than six walks every nine innings in 2016. The Cards lost confidence in him as a closer in 2017, a season ended by a torn UCL and Tommy John surgery, and he missed all of 2018 recovering. He split 2019 between Washington and Detroit and accumulated an ugly 13.50 ERA.

Undaunted, the KC Royals chose Rosenthal to be another of their many salvage operations when they inked him to a minor league deal last offseason. The effort succeeded—Rosenthal immediately displaced Ian Kennedy as closer and saved seven games and struck out 21 in just 13.2 innings before a trade deadline deal took him to contending San Diego.

Proving he was truly back, Rosenthal pitched 10 times for the Padres, didn’t give up a run, saved four games, and fanned 17 and walked only one in 10 innings.

Although Greg Holland served as an adequate replacement for Rosenthal, don’t think the Royals wouldn’t like to get Rosenthal back. But a reunion would be a big surprise—Rosenthal seems smitten with the Padres, as he suggested via Twitter with this:

…followed by this, with a Padres’ cap adorning his profile pic:

But there’s more substantive evidence that reeling Rosenthal back to the Royal fold will be nearly impossible. The Padres, with whom he’s so obviously comfortable, are much, much closer to a World Series than KC, he probably wants to help them complete unfinished business (the Dodgers swept them in the NLDS), a job with San Diego job is secure, and his surprisingly successful comeback means he’ll be far more expensive than he was in 2020. Just the finances alone probably take him out of the Kansas City picture.

But one never knows and nothing is impossible. Dayton Moore might lure Rosenthal back during this week’s Winter Meetings, but his return would be a bombshell.

The KC Royals need a big bat. Securing the services of one of the top guns would be monumental.

If it’s been written once, it’s been written a thousand times: the KC Royals must find some significant offensive punch for the middle of their lineup. There are plenty of big sticks on the market, but does Kansas City have the wherewithal to put a deal together for one of them?

Where to play a star with a mean bat is the first question, and designated hitter is the wrong answer. The Royals just re-signed Jorge Soler and won’t move him until midsummer trade time at the earliest. The correct response is first or third base: non-tendering Maikel Franco opened up third and a Hunter Dozier return to the hot corner would reopen first base. Looking for a corner infielder makes sense.

Justin Turner, a third baseman most of his career, would be a major surprise. The Dodgers surely want him back, and how much incentive can Turner have to leave an LA club that make the playoffs and contends for the World Series every year? He hit 105 homers from 2015-2019 and, despite hitting only four in 2020, reaffirmed his ability to get on base with a .307 average and .400 OBP in 42 games. He consistently hits for power and average. His defense isn’t stellar, but the Royals are looking for offense more than defense for the middle of their order.

Turner’s pre-proration 2020 salary was $19 million, so the hit to the Royals’ coffers required to sign him would be significant. It could be done, but at what cost to other needs, such as signing Salvador Perez to an extension? And, with Bobby Witt Jr. close to being major league-ready and probably destined for third base, only a one-year deal makes sense. Pursuing Turner would be a surprise; actually signing him could help for a season, and would be a bombshell.