KC Royals: Old friends abound across the major leagues

The Padres have the best group of ex-Royals. Where are other current stars?

The 2017 season began with hope for the KC Royals, but ended with the daunting probability that much of the club’s 2014-15 championship nucleus would be gone before the 2018 campaign began.

Probability soon became fact. Eric Hosmer left for the greater riches of San Diego and Lorenzo Cain returned to Milwaukee, where he began his career. And although Mike Moustakas and Alcides Escobar couldn’t find free agent deals to their liking and returned to KC, a midseason trade sent Moose to the Brewers and a reunion with Cain.

Today, Cain is still a Brewer. He opted out most of last season (he played five games), but hit .284 with 21 homers, 88 RBIs and 48 steals in his first three years after leaving Kansas City. Next season will be the last of his five-year, $80 million Milwaukee contract; he’ll be 36 when the deal wraps, so it will be interesting to see what he does.

Mike Moustakas became the Reds’ second baseman, but is now back at third.

Unlike Cain’s, Moustakas’ career has taken turns since 2017. After his stints with the Royals and Brewers, he signed a four-year, $64 million contract with Cincinnati, where he’s beginning his second season.

Joining the Reds meant more for Moose than changing teams. He also switched positions—a career third baseman, he played second most of last year. Now, it appears he’s back at third.

Zack Greinke won the Cy Young with the KC Royals. Now he’s an Astro.

One of the KC Royals’ biggest losses ever is Zack Greinke who, at 37, is entering his third campaign with Houston and 19th in the majors. Greinke won a Cy Young and became an All-Star in his seven KC seasons, and his 209-126 career record gets him mentioned in some Hall of Fame conversations.

A reliever who spent little time with the KC Royals is now a top closer.

Liam Hendriks spent only part of a season with Kansas City before becoming a top big league reliever. He went 0-2 in six games with the 2014 Royals, but saved 25 games with a 1.80 ERA for Oakland in 2019 and 14 with a 1.78 ERA in the short 2020 season. He’s with the White Sox now on a three-year, $54 million deal.

A few former favorite KC Royals are working for other major league teams.

Johnny Cueto’s Kansas City stay was short, beginning with the late July trade that brought him to town for the memorable 2015 stretch run, and ending when he signed a free agent contract with San Francisco before the calendar year was out. Cueto’s regular season with KC was unremarkable (4-7, 4.76 ERA), but he came through in the postseason.

Cueto masterfully shut down Houston in the deciding game of the American League Division Series. He two-hit the Astros for eight innings and retired the last 19 batters he faced before Wade Davis took the ninth. Then, Cueto retired 15 in a row while throwing a two-hit, one-run complete game against the Mets in Game Two of the World Series.

Despite leaving the club after only a few months, Cueto was a KC favorite. His multi-dimensional pitching style, outgoing demeanor, and ability to come through in big games endeared him to Kansas City fans.

This is the final season of his $130 million Giants contract. It’s been a mixed-bag Bay Area run for Cueto—he won 18 games in his first year but, plagued by injuries, only 14 since.

One of the KC Royals’ best closers now pitches in the National League West.

Joakim Soria was another Kansas City pitching favorite. A two-time Royal (2007-11, 2016-17), his 162 KC saves trail only Jeff Montgomery’s 304 and Dan Quisenberry’s 238 on the club’s all-time list. He signed with Arizona in February after pitching for the White Sox, Brewers and A’s since leaving Kansas City.

He became a favorite, but lasted only a short season with the KC Royals.

Some wondered why the Royals signed free agent third baseman Maikel Franco two winters ago. Franco had power, but Kansas City already had a good hitting third sacker in Hunter Dozier. But because Dozier possessed a glove that made the club nervous, KC seemed convinced a change was necessary. And despite his own defensive shortcomings, Franco was the Royals’ choice.

He worked out well in 2020’s pandemic-shortened season, playing every game and hitting .278 with eight homers and 38 RBIs. Franco endeared himself to teammates and fans alike with his attitude, hard work and play, and good performance.

But the Royals non-tendered him in December, a foreseeable move considering the money he was likely to make in arbitration. Franco is with Baltimore now, where he appears set at third.

Several other ex-KC Royals are playing for different teams this season.

Although Jorge Lopez flirted seriously with a perfect game in 2018 (he lost it in the ninth), and despite his occasionally excellent stuff, he never found his way in Kansas City. Whether he pitched out of the rotation or the bullpen, he was good for a game or two, then bad for a few, then good again, creating a dilemma he and the club couldn’t solve. Lopez finished 6-13 with a 6.42 ERA in parts of three seasons.

KC traded him to Baltimore after just one appearance last season; he went 2-2 with a 6.34 ERA in 38.1 innings, but is expected to be in the Orioles’ rotation this year.

Two pitchers with disappointing stays in Kansas City have found other work.

Ian Kennedy never lived up to the $70 million the Royals decided he was worth for five seasons. He signed the deal in 2016 and had his best KC campaign (11-11, 3.68) that year before going 11-26 over the next four seasons. Kansas City made him a reliever in 2019 and he saved 30 games, but he pitched badly last season, immediately lost his closer’s job, and finished 0-2 with an unacceptable 9.00 ERA.

A free agent when the campaign ended, Kennedy now pitches for Texas.

The Matt Harvey Experiment failed in Kansas City last season. He lost three of the seven games he appeared in and gave up 15 runs and walked five in 11.2 innings. If the Royals made any effort to sign him in the offseason, they kept it quiet.

Harvey caught on with the Orioles and seems to have made their rotation. He started Saturday against Boston, giving up two runs on six hits with four strikeouts in 4.2 no-decision innings.

A pair of position players never quite panned out for the KC Royals.

The Royals hoped Billy Hamilton would solve their center field problem (the same one they now hope Michael A. Taylor will solve) when Hamilton signed a one-year deal with the club in December 2018. But Hamilton wasn’t the solution—his paltry .211 average moved the Royals to waive him in August.

Hamilton now plays for the White Sox.

Like Hamilton, KC signed Chris Owings for the 2019 campaign hoping he could help avoid a second straight 100-loss season. And like Hamilton, Owings didn’t last the year—the Royals released him and his .133 average in June.

Owings may have found a more permanent home in Colorado, where he’s starting his second season.

A number of other former Kansas City players are now playing elsewhere.

Rounding out other notable ex-Royals now playing for other major league teams are Franchy Cordero (Boston), Martin Maldonado (Houston), Sean Manaea (who played in the organization but didn’t make it to Kansas City) and Jake Diekman (Oakland), Trevor Cahill (Pittsburgh), and Scott Alexander (Dodgers).

Several Royals have left Kansas City under various circumstances in the last few years. Today, many are playing for other big league clubs.