3 KC Royals who are no longer worth defending

Hunter Renfroe, OF

Imagine watching a terrible movie that cost a little bit of money. Not too much, but it was a movie that hopefully would have lived up to the hype and provided some entertainment. It hasn't. It is awful. It isn't a movie for the select few, rather a movie that brings little entertainment value to the picture. What is there to do? There are two options: keep watching the movie simply because it cost money, or stop watching as soon as the negative value is realized and move on to something else? For those who choose to continue watching the movie, they have fallen prey to the sunk cost fallacy.

The sunk cost fallacy is our tendency to continue with an endeavor that people have invested money, effort, or time into—even if the current costs outweigh the benefits. In a logical world, sunk costs aren’t relevant to our future decisions. That’s because our decisions should be based purely on estimated future costs and business goals, not old investments that can’t be reversed. That is a crude but accurate description of outfielder Hunter Renfroe's tenure with the Royals.

The hope was he would continue his extra-base hits and home run stretch that has spanned most of his career. That abruptly ended in 2024. The hope was he would return to the form that won him a Gold Glove in 2019 and 2021. The expanse of Kauffman Stadium proved that it was easier said than done. Thanks to his player option, Renfroe stayed on the Royals roster and was Kansas City's Opening Day right fielder. That served as the veteran's peak performance for the season.

Renfroe's salary could be a tougher one for the Royals ownership to swallow, but what do they have to lose? The metrics say he has been a negative presence both at the plate and in the field for Kansas City. His -0.7 fWAR could certainly be replicated or improved upon by another outfielder waiting in Omaha or available on the trade market.

Sure, he has some highlights. Sure, he hits bombs in batting practice. But across an entire season, there is little reason fans should be blindly cheering for Renfroe's Royals tenure to continue.