3 monster right field solutions for the 2022 KC Royals

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(Mandatory Credit: Scott Taetsch-USA TODAY Sports) /

Unlike the Yankees, Dodgers and Mets, money is, and always has been, an object to the KC Royals. Spending big is not something Kansas City does easily or often.

Sometimes, though, a wise splurge is in order, and that may now be the case for the Royals. Their outfield boasts two Gold Glovers—Andrew Benintendi in left and Michael A. Taylor in center—but right field remains open. Kyle Isbel played decently there in two brief stints last season but might need a bit more seasoning, the club seems unconvinced Edward Olivares is the answer, and his questionable defense means right might not be the best of fits for Hunter Dozier.

Should the right field question remain unanswered for too long after the MLB lockout ends, many will want Whit Merrifield moved there. It’s a position he plays competently, but he’s presently more valuable at second base and really isn’t a long-term outfield solution. He’ll be 33 next month and eligible for free agency after next season (although the club holds a 2023 option), and he had the lowest average (.277) and OBP (.317) of his career last season.

The Royals have another choice: spend some money and land a star right fielder for a few years. The free agent market teems with possibilities, and three are especially good.

A former rival could switch from left to right field for the KC Royals.

For the seven seasons (2015-2021) he called the American League Central home, Eddie Rosario became a good major league outfielder. Although he batted only .254 in 78 games for Cleveland last season (more on that momentarily), he hit .277 with 119 homers in six campaigns with Minnesota and averaged almost 28 homers per season from 2017-2019.

Cleveland traded the somewhat struggling, lefthanded hitting Rosario to Atlanta at last July’s trade deadline. He regained his stroke, hitting .277 with seven homers in 33 games to help the Braves to the World Series. His MVP-winning explosion in the NLCS netted three homers, nine RBIs and a .560/.607/1.040 line in six games.

Rosario, primarily a left fielder but with experience in right, made $8 million last season. Although his NLCS performance is notable, it won’t boost his value significantly (especially considering his homerless .227 World Series), so he’s a right field solution the Royals might find affordable.

(Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports) /

The KC Royals could pick up an established veteran National League right fielder.

The Royals got their first look at Michael Conforto during the 2015 World Series. Conforto, then a rookie, hit .333 with a 1.046 OPS for the Mets, and tagged Danny Duffy and Chris Young for homers in Game 4.

Since then, he’s hit .254 with a .358 OBP and 123 homers in six seasons, and owns a career .255/.356/.468 line with 132 home runs. A hamstring issue limited his playing time last season; he hit only .232 but still clubbed 14 homers in 125 games. He posted a .322 average and .412 OBP in the pandemic-truncated 2020 season, and his nine homers extrapolates to 24.3 for a full campaign.

Conforto may not perennially hit for high average, but he’d add a lefty bat to the Kansas City lineup. And his career .356 OBP proves he finds ways to get on base. A right fielder most of the time, Conforto is above average defensively.

Conforto is still young—he turns 29 in March—and made $12.25 million last season via a one-year contract that enabled him and the Mets to sidestep the final year of his arbitration eligibility. He rejected New York’s $18.4 million Qualifying Offer, but that doesn’t mean he’ll require much more AAV than that to sign with a new club.

It’s a long shot, but wouldn’t Nick Castellanos in a KC uniform be good?

The Royals know Nick Castellanos well. Originally a Detroit Tiger before moving on to the Cubs and then the Reds, Castellanos annoyed Kansas City pitchers for seven years. He was a Tiger force to be reckoned with, always just one swing away from punishing the Royals.

Now, two seasons since he last played for an American League club, Castellanos is one of the most coveted free agents on this winter’s market. And with good reason—he’s coming off a .309/.362/.576 season in which he established full-season career highs in average, OBP, WAR (3.2), and home runs (34), and missed matching his best RBI total (101) by just one. He made an All-Star team for the first time and won his first Silver Slugger. (Although his 20.7 K% wasn’t optimal, it’s still the best of his nine seasons).

His stellar 2021 was predictable, however. Despite batting just .225 in the short 2020 campaign, he still slammed 14 home runs, which extrapolates to almost 38 for a full season, and drove in 34 runs, which extrapolates to nearly 92. Castellanos averages almost 19 homers a year and failed to reach double-digits only in 2013, when he debuted and played 11 games. He’s a career .278 hitter.

The primary knock on Castellanos is his defense—a career .970 fielding percentage across 492 games in right field, 20 in left, and 527 at third base (where he hasn’t played since 2017) is consistent with his nine-year -10 dWAR. But if there’s any saving grace where his glove is concerned, it’s his right field .988 fielding percentage.

Defense, though, isn’t what should interest the Royals when it comes to Castellanos—his play in the field is passable. Instead, it’s his reliable and productive bat the club should think about.

But can Kansas City afford him? Because he opted out of the final two years of his $64 million Cincinnati contract after last season, he’ll surely be looking for far more. Cot’s Baseball Contracts projects the Royals’ Opening Day payroll will be almost $89 million, but that’s a number reduceable by almost $21 million if they can move Hunter Dozier and the final three years of the four-year deal he signed last spring. With Castellanos on board, there wouldn’t be any room for Dozier—the trick, of course, is shedding all Dozier’s contract.

And that won’t be easy. Dozier grossly underperformed his new deal, slashing .216/.285/.394, a hard-to-swallow line even with his 16 home runs. The Royals might have to eat some of his contract to move him.

But even if principal owner John Sherman can (and is willing to) free up the cash required, will Castellanos come to Kansas City? Players tend to gravitate toward large sums of money, and Castellanos, only 29, might find appealing the challenge of helping an up-and-coming team back to relevance and contention.

The Royals might not land him, but they ought to try.

dark. Next. Why the 2011 outfield was so great

The Royals need stability in right field. Any of three big free agents could provide it.

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A former rival could switch from left to right field for the KC Royals.

The KC Royals could pick up an established veteran National League right fielder.

It’s a long shot, but wouldn’t Nick Castellanos in a KC uniform be good?

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