KC Royals Free Agent Hunt: 3 Tampa Bay pitchers

Over the last four years, beginning with an ugly 103-loss 2019 campaign and ending with 97 defeats last season, the KC Royals won almost 100 games fewer than they lost.

Partially responsible for that unsightly performance are the Tampa Bay Rays, who beat Kansas City 12 out of 20 times in that span (the clubs didn’t play each other in 2020) and whose four-season 322-224 record is precisely the opposite of Kansas City’s. And while the Royals didn’t come close to postseason play, Tampa Bay made the playoffs each year and won the American League pennant in 2020 before losing the World Series to the Dodgers.

Next season, even in the tough AL East, the Rays have a good shot at reaching the playoffs for the fifth straight time, but it may be a road the club travels without seven players who became free agents last month.

Will any of those seven interest the Royals? Four might, but shouldn’t; three others, all pitchers, are worth thinking about.

The KC Royals should pass on four of Tampa Bay’s current free agents.

Despite scattered media speculation that Kansas City is seeking a backup catcher, don’t expect the club to look Tampa Bay’s way for one. Mike Zunino and Kevin Kiermaier are both good, but it’s difficult to see the Royals actually going outside the organization when they already have MJ Melendez, Freddy Fermin, and perhaps Logan Porter, to back up Salvador Perez.

Two other Tampa Bay free agents won’t fulfill KC general manager J.J. Picollo’s well-reported desire to add a righthanded bat to his club’s lineup. Outfielder David Peralta can hit, but he’s a lefty, and after curiously acquiring him in June, the Royals’ release of switch hitter Roman Quinn from Triple-A Omaha later in the summer makes him an unlikely candidate.

Now, on to those three pitchers.

Corey Kluber could be a nice addition to the KC Royals’ starting rotation.

Corey Kluber has pitched in the American Leaguer for his entire 12-year big league career and, judging from his numbers, it’s fair to say he enjoys pitching against Kansas City, against whom he’s 12-7 with a 3.38 ERA in 26 starts.

His ability to beat the Royals reflects the kind of success he’s had against the rest of the league. After helping spearhead Tampa Bay’s run to the 2022 postseason, Kluber boasts a nice 113-71, 3.31 record, two Cy Young awards, three All-Star berths, and a 20-win season and two 18-victory campaigns. He’s also led the majors in complete games three times and shutouts twice.

And now, Kluber is a free agent, available to any club needing a solid veteran starter.

Like Kansas City. Thanks to Brady Singer and to a lesser extent Zack Greinke, the Royals’ rotation didn’t completely humiliate itself last season, but it came close. Starters Daniel Lynch and Kris Bubic both lost 13 games. So did Brad Keller before he moved to the bullpen (and lost one more). As a group, the starters were largely ineffective, which means new pitching coach Brian Sweeney has a lot of work to do.

Kluber could help. Although injuries, including a broken arm, teres tear, and shoulder strain, limited him to 24 big league games from 2019-2021, he can still pitch—his 10 wins last season gave him double-digit victories for the first time since 2018, he led the majors in BB/9 (1.15) and BB% (3.0) (not surprising achievements considering his career 1.97 BB/9), and he gave the Rays 164 innings in 31 starts.

Picollo makes no secret of his desire to add a veteran starter to the rotation. Kluber could be it. He’ll be 37 in April, but a one or two-year deal could give the Royals some stability pending further development of their younger hurlers, especially if Greinke doesn’t return.

Tampa Bay has a righthanded reliever the KC Royals might be able to use.

Righthander Matt Wisler spent most of his first four major league seasons with Atlanta, where his transition from rotation to bullpen turned him into the reliever he remains today.

Wisler, 30 and a veteran of eight big league years, still starts occasionally but he’s primarily a bullpen piece, and a good one for Tampa Bay in 2021 and 2022.

The Rays acquired him in a June 2021 trade with San Francisco, where he’d been knocked around for 13 runs in 19.1 innings. But his 2.15 ERA in 27 relief appearances for the Rays tended to prove the wisdom of the deal, and he erased any lingering doubts about it with his 3-3, 2.25 record last season.

Wisler also opened five games; although he didn’t earn any decisions, he struck out six and gave up just two runs in 7.2 innings.

He’ll enter the 2023 campaign with a 25-36, 4.59 234-game career record, including 16-23 as a starter and 9-13 out of the bullpen. His 4.68 ERA as a reliever needs improvement, but Wisler’s two years in the Rays’ pen strongly suggest he’s making it.

Kansas City’s bullpen needs almost as much help as it’s rotation. Perhaps Picollo should give Wisler some thought.