KC Royals: Making the case, Miami Marlins free agents

While the KC Royals have addressed many areas with free agent signings already, there still are options from Miami to consider.

After a decade of poor baseball results, Miami team owner Derek Jeter and manager Don Mattingly finally produced a winning record and playoff berth for the Marlins in 2020. A handful of free agents from that squad, made up of pitchers and utility players, are available for the KC Royals.

While there are no probable game-changers in the bunch, there might be some players who could help shore up the Kansas City roster. We will take a look at who some of those players could be.

Not only was he originally drafted by the Royals in 2006—he chose to go to college instead—Royals fans will remember, or perhaps not want to remember, the half-season Brad Boxberger spent with the team in 2019. Posting a career-worst ERA (5.40) and second-worst WHIP (1.575) as a major leaguer led to his July release.

He did rebound with the Marlins in 2020, cutting down on walks and producing a near career-high 152 ERA+. He allowed no runs or hits in three postseason innings, but did walk two.

With the recent re-signing of reliever Greg Holland, and the multitude of other good arms in the KC Royals’ bullpen, there does not appear to be enough room for Boxberger on the roster. Additionally, he has a tendency to walk batters at a high rate and the Royals certainly do not need help in that area.

Adding a veteran outfielder who has experience in a limited role could be a nice piece of the puzzle.

While the KC Royals still need a solid bat to add to the outfield, there is a Miami free agent who could slide into a reserve role very nicely. Matt Joyce may not have the power he used to, but in four of the last five years he’s produced an OBP of .335 or higher, including two seasons over .400.

In 2016 and 2019 while with Pittsburgh and Atlanta, respectively, he played in a large number of games with limited at-bats filling a pinch-hitting and late-inning outfield role. He hit 20 home runs and 20 doubles in 431 trips to the plate and those are the years he had the two tremendous OBPs.

He could bring veteran leadership to the dugout and would be a good lefthanded bat late in games and an occasional start. I would not be mad if Kansas City made a reasonable deal with him for one or two years.

Infield options

Logan Forsythe has struggled mightily the last two years and the Royals have plenty of options for an infield utility role.  He has not come close to matching his ’15 and ’16 seasons with the Rays and offers no value to the franchise.

This same argument can be made for Sean Rodriguez. After a coming out party with the Pirates in 2016 when he hit 18 dingers in just 300 at bats, he has only hit above .200 once in the last four years with a combined 19 home runs.

That is a wrap on the free agents from the Miami Marlins club. A couple of possibilities could help the Royals contend in 2021, but there aren’t any players that the team could not afford to miss out on.