Newly-acquired Joey Wiemer could shake up the 2025 KC Royals roster

Making the Kansas City Royals' 2025 Opening Day roster is no sure thing for Joey Wiemer, the outfielder the team picked up in the recent deal that more conspicuously sent Brady Singer to the Cincinnati Reds for infielder Jonathan India. Still, chances are good he'll make it to Kauffman Stadium sometime next season, and shake up the Royals' big league roster in the process.

Bringing Wiemer back to the majors, where he's played 153 times and surpassed rookie status in 2023, could mean more than just trimming a player from the roster to accommodate his promotion.

First things first, though — can Wiemer get to Kansas City next season?

Look for Joey Wiemer to play for the KC Royals in 2025

Some might think Wiemer was a "throw-in" to the Singer-for-India deal — a player the Reds wanted to shed and the Royals agreed to accept to pad their minor league outfield depth. After all, Wiemer managed only three homers and hit a concerning .224 in 83 Triple-A games last season, and slashed .154/.214/.154 in the 21 major league appearances he made between the Reds and Milwaukee Brewers.

But despite those numbers, expect the right-handed-hitting Wiemer to crack the Royals' roster, and perhaps sooner rather than later considering the club's pressing need to try almost anything to improve its outfielders' hitting. Kansas City clearly had that offensive soft spot in mind when it sought Wiemer — and he'll deliver if he rediscovers the form that made him so impressive for his first three minor league seasons and at the plate for part of his big league debut campaign in 2023.

Wiemer earned his way to the majors after only two minor league seasons by belting 27 homers and slashing .295/.403/.556 across Single-A and High-A in 2021 and, in a 2022 campaign split between Double and Triple-A, homering 21 times, driving in 77 runs, and slashing .256/.336/.465. Once promoted to The Show, he doubled on the first big league pitch he saw and — after a prolonged slump that lowered his average to .187 by late May — he caught fire and slashed .412/.500/.824 over his next 10 games.

But Wiemer's bat soon refroze and the Brewers sent him back to Triple-A in mid-September. He finished his 132-game rookie season with a .204 average and .283 OBP, but still managed to hit 13 homers. Then, hampered by a knee injury that explains in part his 2024 offensive struggles, Wiemer played only 19 games for the Brewers in 2024 before they dealt him to Cincinnati at the trade deadline.

Fans shouldn't discount Wiemer's chances of returning to the majors in 2025. His minor league numbers — 52 homers, 181 RBI, .359 OBP, and .259 average in 324 games — are decent, and he's played only 131 Triple-A games, which suggests there's more in his tank for the Royals to develop and extract.

But what happens when he makes it to Kansas City?

Joey Wiemer could shake up the KC Royals' roster

Kansas City didn't obtain Wiemer for long-term minor league depth; instead, they clearly see him as a big leaguer. Finding a place for him to play is the trick.

Wiemer is primarily a center fielder, but defensively-gifted Kyle Isbel isn't going anywhere unless he improbably dips so far below his .231 career average that the Royals must try someone else in center. That leaves, at least for the moment and unless general manager J.J. Picollo makes a big offseason outfield move, left and right as possible landing spots for Wiemer.

Given the club's continuing solid commitment to left fielder MJ Melendez, which will pay off only if his hitting improves to at least major league average (he's averaging 17 homers per season but batting only .221), right field is Wiemer's most likely destination. That job appears to be Hunter Renfroe's to lose after he picked up his 2025 contract option, but Picollo must stand ready to move Renfroe out and someone like Wiemer in if he struggles early again.

Replacing Renfroe with Wiemer could — and should — leave last season's KC right fielder on the outside looking in. Renfroe could assume a reserve role, but he doesn't have the versatility the club likes in such players and creating bench space for him would jeopardize valuable speedster Dairon Blanco's job. Since Blanco isn't someone the Royals should be willing to lose, Renfroe should go in such a scenario.

Still, if Picollo and principal owner John Sherman don't want to eat Renfroe's $7.5 million salary, Blanco, who'll be paid millions less, could be the man on his way out.

And just in case Melendez's bat doesn't come around, Wiemer could find himself in left after all while Melendez heads back to Triple-A for additional work.

Just when Wiemer, who's already on Kansas City's 40-man roster, finds his way to Kansas City is anyone's guess. It could be Opening Day, or it could be later. What seems certain, though, is that he will see Kauffman Stadium in 2025, and getting him there will trigger a big league roster shakeup.