4 player moves KC Royals likely wish they could undo

KC Royals would likely undo designating Brent Rooker for assignment in 2022

Add Brent Rooker, who played only 14 games for the Royals after the San Diego Padres traded him to Kansas City for Cam Gallagher at the 2022 trade deadline, to the list of players the club would probably like to have back. The Oakland Athletics claimed him off the waiver wire that winter after the Royals designated him for assignment to create roster space before the Rule 5 Draft.

What Rooker has done since that time is nothing short of remarkable. Not much of a big league hitter before Oakland grabbed him two days after the Royals DFA'd him, Rooker exploded in 2023 by smashing 30 home runs and earning an All-Star berth in his first full major-league season. Rooker didn't repeat as an All-Star this year, but his numbers suggest that could have been a mistake — he homered 39 times, drove in 112 runs, slashed .293/.365/.562, and had a 164 wRC+ and 5.0 fWAR.

And, as we pointed out early this season, he's absolutely punished the Royals since they let him go.

Like O'Hearn, and perhaps even more so, Rooker could help transform the offensive side of Kansas City's outfield. Maybe general manager J.J. Picollo, the master of last offseason's successful KC roster overhaul, will make a pitch to the A's for his services this winter.

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