4 free agent former KC Royals the club shouldn't pursue

The KC Royals, a bad team in search of something far better than the 106-loss season they completed last month, partnered up with Atlanta this past Friday and got busy on the trade market trying to improve themselves.

First, they acquired Braves reliever Nick Anderson in a cash-for-player deal, then sent Jackson Kowar to Atlanta for starter Kyle Wright. Boosting their fortune via trades, as the Royals hope they did Friday, is probably their preferred path back to relevance, but general manager J.J. Picollo should still sign a significant free agent or two to before this baseball winter ends.

Picollo might even dip into the pool of former Royals currently shopping their services on the open market. We recently suggested a low-risk check-in on Danny Duffy might bear fruit, for example, and others like Jakob Junis and Sean Manaea could hear from Picollo.

Some ex-Royals, though, shouldn't be on the Picollo's list of players to call. Here are just a few.

The KC Royals still don't need to consider Whit Merrifield or Jorge Soler

Former Kansas City stars Whit Merrifield and Jorge Soler became free agents not long ago — Soler didn't exercise his Miami player option for 2024, while Merrifield and Toronto declined their mutual option. As we said then, two things — Michael Massey's presence at second base and Nick Loftin's versatility — make pursuing Merrifield unnecessary, and although Soler's power would be nice, KC has outfielders with far better gloves and the club is loaded with players who can DH. Nothing has happened to change our opinions.

On what other former Royals should Kansas City pass?

The Royals could use another outfielder, but not this former top prospect

Struggling Kansas City drafted Wil Myers in the third round of the 2009 amateur draft. He debuted in rookie ball that summer and soon became a force at the plate and a prospect clearly destined for the Kauffman Stadium outfield.

Progressing nicely through the Royals' farm system, Myers was little match for Double-A and Triple-A pitching in 2012 — between Northwest Arkansas and Omaha, he homered 37 times, drove in 109 runs, and slashed .314/.388/.600. That he'd see Kansas City in 2013 seemed beyond dispute.

But the Royals, believing a return to contention was imminent and needing pitching to move them closer to it, packaged Myers and others up in a postseason bombshell deal with Tampa Bay that brought them James Shields and Wade Davis and helped drive the club's 2014 and 2015 World Series trips.

Myers, however, hit only 19 homers and batted .252 in two seasons for the Rays before they traded him to San Diego, where in eight seasons he hit .254 with 134 homers. He signed a one-year free agent deal with Cincinnati last winter and hit .189 before the Reds released him in late June.

Myers' glove, adequate but not stellar, could be of some use in the corner outfields for the Royals, and some might welcome his return to the organization with which he started and showed so much promise. But he'll be 33 in December, the club has good younger outfielders who shouldn't be blocked, and he hasn't hit at least 20 homers since 2017. The Royals don't need to pursue Myers.

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