KC Royals: Grading the team’s offseason additions

Back in May, when the season was still young and the KC Royals were, despite a disastrous 11-game losing streak, just two games under .500, we gave the club’s seven main offseason acquisitions early season, 50-game grades.

The reasons behind those ratings are right here. Leading the way with A’s were first baseman Carlos Santana and left fielder Andrew Benintendi. Michael A. Taylor, Hanser Alberto and Ervin Santana all received B’s, Mike Minor got a C+, and Wade Davis came in with a D. Jarrod Dyson, who’s no longer with the club, received a C+.

Now, Kansas City’s season is over. How should the club’s seven remaining offseason acquisitions grade out?

A veteran KC Royals reliever ends up with the worst grade of the campaign.

As we noted when assigning 50-game grades, someone has to finish at the bottom of the class. Then, it was Wade Davis. The rest of the season changed nothing.

Davis, one of the most effective relievers in Kansas City history, returned to the Royals this season on a one-year deal. He brought back memories with an Opening Day save, then lost any semblance of his Royal past. He was 0-2 with an unacceptable 6.61 ERA when we gave him a D in late May.

He was even worse at the All-Star Break with an 8.06 ERA.

Davis improved for a time after the Break, earning another save and striking out 16 in 17 innings. But he walked too many (eight), and his 4.76 ERA remained excessive for a reliever; he finished with an unsightly 6.75.

Davis gets a final D.