KC Royals could market these 4 as NL DH candidates

Like it or not, extension of the designated hitter to the National League is no longer a matter of “if,” but of “when.” The notion that the DH is a meaningful bargaining chip in baseball’s current labor negotiations is illusory only—little serious belief remains that the owners, including the KC Royals, or the players will resist making the DH universal.

Timing, however, might be an issue. Nothing prevents implementing the DH in 2022, but some clubs might prefer waiting until 2023 because time to acquire new players will be short when the MLB lockout ends. But the deal deadtime doesn’t prevent NL teams from planning, so most will be ready to chase DH candidates the minute the transaction freeze disappears.

Kansas City must split up its DH duties; due primarily to the needs to occasionally DH Salvador Perez to relieve him from the rigors of catching every day, to use Hunter Dozier somewhere, and to give Adalberto Mondesi time in the role next season to protect his health, the Royals have no primary DH. Considering the resulting moderate DH logjam, should the club offer up some Royals as National League DH candidates if 2022 is the implementation year?

Yes, and here are four possibilities.

It’s a long shot, but the KC Royals might be able to move this player.

The argument for keeping Ryan O’Hearn could rage on if there was one, but there isn’t. Kansas City, too often too late to pull plugs on non-performing players, needs to cut ties with O’Hearn, and sooner rather than later.

The once-promising 2014 eighth-round draft pick injected some much-needed excitement into the Royals’ awful 2018 season by hitting 12 homers and driving in 30 runs in 44 games after a late July call-up. But he’s provided little since—he hit .195 in both 2019 and 2020 and .225 last year. His four-season OBP is .294. He strikes out too frequently.

Playing in Triple-A is probably O’Hearn’s best and highest use, but he still has some power an NL team or two might try to develop. He also has two years of team control left (under baseball’s present system, at least), and will come cheap to any club willing to take the risk. The return for the Royals won’t be much—a lower tier prospect at best—but they should try to shop him.

The KC Royals have a good NL DH candidate who should attract attention.

Few things should excite NL teams looking for a DH more than the prospect of landing a proven switch-hitting power hitter with a knack for getting on base. And that’s just what Kansas City has in Carlos Santana.

The Royals signed Santana last winter in a move that seemed as shrewd as it was surprising. The club got the first baseman they’d been searching for since Eric Hosmer left and added a valuable bat. Santana arrived with a reputation for power (240 career home runs), a penchant for reaching base (.366 OBP), and a decent glove. And Kauffman Stadium was where he hit best.

The early returns were good. Santana singled and walked three times in six Opening Day plate appearances, finished April with six homers, 20 RBIs and a .363 OBP, then hit four more home runs and had a .398 OBP in May. He hit the All-Star Break with 15 homers and a .246/.368/.421 line favorably comparable to the .248/.366/.446 career mark he brought to KC.

Unfortunately, a hip injury hampered him in the second half and he ended the season with 19 homers and a .214 average.

Nevertheless, and assuming he’s healthy, Santana is a good NL DH candidate. He hits from both sides, still has power at 35, and hasn’t lost the ability to find his way onto the basepaths. And because he’s entering his contract season, Santana is certain to be shopped at the trade deadline.

But the Royals should delay marketing Santana only if they doubt Nick Pratto’s readiness. Pratto, the organization’s No. 2 prospect per MLB Pipeline, exploded last season with 36 home runs, 98 RBIs and a serviceable .265 average between Double-A and Triple-A, and hit six more homers and drove in 12 more runs at Omaha in only two more games than he played at Northwest Arkansas.

Trying to move Santana to the NL as soon as the lockout ends is the right move.

Is designated hitter the ideal job for this five-tool KC Royals infielder?

Adalberto Mondesi can do it all. He can hit, hit for power, run, throw, and field. He stole 43 bases in 2018, 32 in 2018, and 24 in the short 2020 campaign. He hit 14 homers in 2018 and although he doesn’t yet own a Gold Glove, he someday will.

But the victim of more than his share of injuries has trouble staying on the field. Oblique injuries to both sides and a hamstring issue robbed him of all but 35 games last season. An ailing shoulder triggered so much concern that the club banned him late in the 2019 season from diving on the basepaths or on defense.

What, then, are the Royals to do with Mondesi, an excellent but oft-injured infielder, when shortstop Nicky Lopez blossomed at the plate last season and should have won a Gold Glove, Whit Merrifield had another solid season and received a Gold Glove nomination, and Bobby Witt Jr. will, probably early in the season if not on Opening Day, make his major league debut?

Perhaps they should market him as a potential National League DH.

It makes sense. He’s a formidable threat when he’s on and plays regularly, and serving primary DH duty is less risky than playing every day in the field. And despite his injury history, expect other clubs to be willing to pay handsomely for him.

Don’t look for it to happen, though, and it probably shouldn’t, at least not yet. That the Royals tried him at third base in 20 of his 35 games last year suggests they want to find a role for him, and that role could be moving around the infield, spending time in right field, and taking his turns at DH. The club won’t move Mondesi until it’s convinced it’s the right thing to do.

The National League will soon need designated hitters. The Royals have at least four candidates.