3 KC Royals players who survived the non-tender deadline but could still get traded before Opening Day

November's non-tender deadline marked the last day for MLB teams to decide whether or not to tender contracts to any salary arbitration-eligible players on their roster, and for the Kansas City Royals, the date came and went without fans paying it too much attention. The Royals tendered contracts to all eight of their arbitration-eligible players — Kris Bubic, Hunter Harvey, Carlos Hernández, Kyle Isbel, Daniel Lynch IV, MJ Melendez, John Schreiber, and Kyle Wright — and now the team has until January 9 to work out a deal with each of them or move forward to arbitration hearings.

While these players don't yet have confirmed salaries for 2025, the fact that they were tendered contracts, rather than cut loose to free agency, means that the Royals want to keep them on the roster — at least for now. The non-tender deadline is the first hurdle, but a lot can still happen between now and Opening Day.

After their remarkable comeback season in 2024, the Royals are going into next season with the goal of securing another playoff berth. As they continue to fight their way into contention conversations, Kansas City still needs to make roster additions, and with limited flexibility in the budget, the team is almost certain to turn to the trade market to acquire any missing pieces.

With that in mind, here are three players who survived the non-tender deadline but could still get traded — or cut to make space on the 40-man roster — before Opening Day.

Carlos Hernández

There were a number of issues with Kansas City's bullpen in 2024, and unfortunately, Hernández was one of them. In 27 appearances this year, the right-hander went 0-1 with a career-best 3.30 ERA and 1.33 WHIP in 30 innings, but despite some bright moments, injury issues and unreliability plagued Hernández's season, and he spent almost as much time optioned to Triple-A as he did in the majors.

Hernández joined the Royals as an international free agent in 2016, and after almost four years in the minors, he made his major league debut in September 2020. In 150 appearances over the last five seasons, he's posted a disappointing 7-19 record, 4.95 ERA, and 1.95 WHIP in Kansas City, firmly establishing himself as a below-average reliever.

While Hernández's ERA this season was the best of his career, that didn't appear to be a sign of any marked improvement, so much as simply due to the limited amount of time he spent on the mound. In fact, the bullpen seemed to perform significantly better without him — they posted some of their best stats of the season in September, even contributing to a franchise-record 26 consecutive scoreless innings, when the 27-year-old was left on the bench.

Going into his second season of arbitration eligibility, MLB Trade Rumors projects Hernández will secure a $1.2 million salary for 2025, while Spotrac predicts it'll be higher at $1.88 million. Regardless, it's cheap enough that another team may be interested in adding the reliever to their bullpen as a development project, which could help as the Royals look to continue bolstering their own relief corps.

Kansas City has already agreed to tender Hernández a contract for 2025, which was a curious — if not entirely bizarre — decision. Still, if the Royals get the opportunity to move him as part of a trade package, they're unlikely to think twice.

MJ Melendez

It's hardly a secret that the Royals' outfield was a mess at the plate in 2024, and Melendez was certainly no exception. This season, the 26-year-old posted a .206/.273/.400 line with 17 home runs and 44 RBI, ranking in just the 10th percentile of all qualified batters with an abysmal Batting Run Value (BRV) of -13. His 25.1% strikeout rate and 29.5% whiff rate both placed him well below average, and his defense simply wasn't reliable enough to even start to make up for it.

Melendez recorded -6 Outs Above Average (OAA) to rank in the ninth percentile of all qualified fielders, and his Fielding Run Value (FRV) of -6 put him in just the 12th percentile. His only redeeming quality came in his impressive arm strength, which clocked in at 91.5 mph to see him ranked in the 93rd percentile of all qualified fielders.

Despite Melendez never showing a huge amount of promise at the plate — after three seasons in the majors, his career batting average is just .221 — the Royals seem determined to keep him on the roster, but how long can that last? Kansas City is actively working to secure another playoff campaign next season, but the team needs to lock in a reliable outfield before they can be considered a serious threat in contention conversations. Melendez just isn't ready to be a part of that, and trading him now as part of a larger package would be the best way for the Royals to get a valuable return.

The 2025 season will be Melendez's first year of arbitration eligibility. MLB Trade Rumors projects his salary will land at $2.5 million in 2025, while Spotrac estimates he'll earn slightly less at $2.36 million. Either way, it's a big increase from the one-year, $755K pre-arb contract he had in 2024, but still very affordable if a team is looking to add a developing player for the future.

With the right development, Melendez might eventually break out as a strong player — but the Royals aren't in a position to baby yet another underperforming outfielder while they're trying to pry open their contention window. It's time to move on.

Hunter Harvey

In a move to bolster their pitching down the stretch, the Royals acquired Harvey from the Washington Nationals at the 2024 trade deadline, but unfortunately, he wasn't able to have much of an impact. Harvey only managed six appearances for Kansas City before being sidelined with mid-back tightness, and he didn't return for the rest of the season.

In the very brief time he pitched for the Royals, Harvey posted a 6.35 ERA and 2.12 WHIP, allowing 8 hits and 4 earned runs in 5.2 innings. Prior to the trade, he accumulated a 2-4 record, 4.20 ERA, and 1.22 WHIP in 45 innings of work for the Nationals, and while his ERA was the worst of his career, he managed a career-high 26 holds. Harvey put up stronger overall numbers in his first two seasons in Washington, posting a 2.52 ERA in 2022 and a 2.52 ERA in 2023, but it's still very easy to argue that he wasn't worth what Kansas City gave up to acquire him.

When the Nationals traded Harvey to the Royals, they received third base prospect Cayden Wallace and a Competitive Balance A pick (No. 39 overall) in the 2024 MLB Draft in return. Wallace was the No. 2 prospect in the Royals organization, and at the time of the trade, he'd accumulated a career .265/.342/.420 line with 18 home runs in three minor league seasons. The 23-year-old had spent the majority of the 2024 season with the Double-A Northwest Arkansas Naturals, and although he was still a while away from making his debut in the majors, Wallace's strong defense and power bat made his potential extremely clear.

Instead of continuing to develop Wallace, the Royals are now left with Harvey, and while he's unlikely to be a major liability, he's also unlikely to be the game-changing reliever that general manager J.J. Picollo wants him to be.

Going into 2025, the Royals still have roster holes they need to fill. While Harvey's hold rate was strong this season, his other stats showed regression, which isn't something Kansas City can afford to risk moving forward. Especially considering they arguably gave up far too much to secure Harvey in the first place, trading him now would be a smart move — his value is relatively high, and he still has one more season of arbitration eligibility before he becomes a free agent at the end of 2025.

MLB Trade Rumors projects Harvey will earn a $3.9 million salary next season, which is a lot higher than Spotrac's estimate at $2.98 million (the same amount he made in 2024). Either way, the Royals would be far better trading him for an experienced reliever than paying to keep Harvey in the bullpen.