KC Royals Midweek News, Views, Rumors and Takes

Some player news and updates highlight this edition of KC Royals Midweek News, Views, Rumors and Takes.

Some KC Royals Midweek thoughts while wondering what Dayton Moore’s next move might be:

Non-tender updates.

The Royals non-tendered Maikel Franco, Carlos Sanabria, Erick Mejia, Jeison Guzman, Bubba Starling and Foster Griffin earlier this month; as of Tuesday night, only Franco hadn’t returned to the club.

Guzman, a shortstop who can also play third base and in the outfield, re-signed last week, and the similarly versatile Mejia rejoined the organization Monday.

Griffin, Starling and Sanabria previously signed new deals.

KC Royals free agents.

Not counting Alex Gordon, who retired, three players who spent 2020 with the Royals became free agents the day after the World Series ended. Only one has found a home.

Greg Holland re-signed with Kansas City last week and, at least for now, will enter spring training as the club’s probable closer.

Ian Kennedy and Matt Harvey, on the other hand, haven’t found work yet and there is little, if any, chatter about their immediate prospects. That shouldn’t surprise anyone—both hurlers had bad years. Kennedy, who saved 30 games for KC in 2019 but immediately lost his closer job to Trevor Rosenthal last season, was 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA in 15 games, while Harvey was even worse, posting an 0-3, 11.57 record in seven games.

Two other former Kansas City pitchers, Glenn Sparkman and Luke Farrell, found a new home with Minnesota. If you don’t recall Farrell, he pitched once for Kansas City in 2017 and surrendered five runs and seven hits in 2.2 innings against Minnesota. The Royals won the game but Farrell, who started, didn’t figure in the decision.

Interestingly enough, none of the pitchers who followed Farrell in that game—Matt Strahm, Scott Alexander, Mike Minor, Joakim Soria, and Neftali Feliz—pitched for the Royals the following season. Minor, of course, recently inked a two-year contract to return to Kansas City next year.

The Red Sox signed ex-Royal hurler Kevin McCarthy to a minor league contract last month and just made his holiday season brighter. The club invited him to spring training as a non-roster player.

In case you missed it.

When Kings of Kauffman’s writers weren’t busy last week telling you about their respective holiday wishes for the Royals in our ongoing “KC Royals Wish List” series, they wrote about several other subjects.

Shawn Bauman cooked up another of his informative minor league updates, David Scharff analyzed Tampa Bay’s free agents, and I explained why the Royals shouldn’t try to bring Wade Davis back to Kansas City.

Longtime KC Royals beat writer bows out.

News came Wednesday that Jeffrey Flanagan, veteran Kansas City beat writer for mlb.com, is retiring.

Anyone who follows Flanagan knows what a loss this is. He’s one of the best in the business, a talented and trusted journalist who will be sorely missed. We wish him the very best of luck.

That’s all for now. We’ll be back next week with more KC Royals Midweek News, Views, Rumors and Takes. Until then, stay safe and healthy, and have a wonderful holiday season.