History suggests it will be a quiet and unproductive Christmas for KC Royals

Christmas Eve: The Royals pick up a future key team executive

The day and night before Christmas has been only slightly better than Christmas Day for Kansas City. Of the three players who signed Christmas Eve contracts with the club — pitcher Jimmy Myers in 1993, pitcher Jeff D'Amico in 2000, and outfielder Mitch Maier in 2014 — only Maier spent much time with the organization.

Myers never threw a big league pitch for the Royals, who released him and his 4-4, 4.90 ERA Double-A record before the '94 season reached August. D'Amico pitched the only seven games of his major league career in 2000 and gave up 14 runs and 19 hits in 13.2 innings.

Maier fared much better. He spent his entire six-season career in the Royals' outfield, and in 369 games, he slashed .248/.327/.344 with 10 homers and 93 RBI. He later served on the Royals' major league coaching staff, became the club's Director of Baseball Operations in 2020, and has been its Director of Player Development since 2022.

December 22: A day Kansas City released some familiar names

December 22 will be best known in KC transaction history for what the Royals did in 1986. After failing to qualify for postseason play a year after winning the '85 World Series, they released pitcher Dennis Leonard, a Royals Hall of Famer whose 144 career wins trail only Splittorff's 166; slugging first baseman Steve Balboni, whose 36 homers in 1985 held up as the club record for over 30 years; Jorge Orta, the runner Don Denkinger infamously called safe at first base during Game 6 of the '85 series; and pitcher Al Hargesheimer, who pitched five times for the club in '86.

The Royals' best December 22 move came in 1997 when they signed veteran free agent Hal Morris. His one year in Kansas City was excellent — in 127 games, he hit .309 with a .350 OBP, and provided good first base and left field defense. He moved on to the Reds and Detroit Tigers before bowing out after the 2000 season with a career .304/.361/.433 line.

A couple of December 22 signees stuck around longer. Infielder Keith Miller (1993) gave the Royals parts of four seasons and hit .258 in 157 games, while starter Brian Anderson signed on in 2009 and went 12-15 with a 5.44 in three KC seasons.

Other December 22 transactions drew less attention. Mike Mayers signed as a free agent in 2022, then pitched the last six of his 204 big league games for KC in 2023. He was 1-2 with a 6.15 ERA in 26.1 innings when the Royals shipped him to the Chicago White Sox for cash in mid-July. The club also signed free agents Román Colón (2014), and Danny Ardoin (2001). In 1975, the Royals traded minor league pitcher Kenzie Davis to Milwaukee for Pat Osburn and swapped a player to be named later (infielder Rodney Scott) to the Montreal Expos for catcher Bob Stinson, who went on to play two years in KC.