Quirky Royals mainstay lands with Mets after departure from Kansas City

In what was an overall disappointing year for the Kansas City Royals in 2025 and there were several individual performers who underwhelmed, such as veteran DFA casualties like Hunter Renfroe, Chris Stratton and Mark Canha.

However, all three of those names were older players on the tail-end of their careers and not under longer term commitments.

This wasn't the case for MJ Melendez, who came up through their system as a prospect and underperformed so heavily in 2025 that the team opted to cut-ties early and non-tender him back in November.

Coming off a season where in limited big league run he sported a -14 wRC+, it was hard to determine what opportunities would be available for him on the open market.

However, with spring training just around the corner, not only has Melendez found a new home, but he did so in major league fashion.

On Sunday, the New York Post's Jon Heyman reported that the New York Mets have signed Melendez to a one-year, $1.5 million contract.

Former Royals regular MJ Melendez finds new home in New York with Mets

As disappointing as last season was for Melendez - he slashed just .083/.154/.167 with one homer, one RBI with a 35.4% K-rate and -0.6 fWAR - it was merely just the final straw in what had been an underwhelming big league career after building up such immense expectations while rising through the Royals farm system a few years ago.

Since debuting in 2022, Melendez has always landed under the league-average 100 wRC+ mark and progressively gotten worse each season. In '22 he was a 97 wRC+ bat, in '23 he was a 93 wRC+, in '24 he dipped down to 86 and of course in 2025, he spent much of the year in Triple-A Omaha after his aformentioned -14 wRC+ showing.

However, as gloomy as it might seem for the 27-year-old, he's not without some upside to dream on that the Mets will surely hope to tap into in 2026.

When rising through the Royals' farm system, the year before he got the call to join the major league squad (2021), Melendez had established himself as one of the most lethal power threats and run producers in the upper minors, belting 41 homers and driving in 103 runs between Double-A Northwest Arkansas and Triple-A Omaha.

This resulted in three consecutive seasons of 15+ homers at the major league level between 2022-24.

On top of that, Melendez has been somewhat of a hard-hit merchant, posting above-average hard-hit rates usurping the 43.0% threshold in each big league season as well as eclipsing 90.0 mph in average exit velocity each year as well.

And while his big league statistics weren't great by any means last season, he did manage to save face to a degree in his time in Omaha, slashing .261/.323/.490 with 20 HR, 60 RBI and a 106 wRC+, even hitting for the rare cycle at one point. He even managed to unlock some decent speed, swiping 20 bags while down there.

With a minor league option left, a one-year deal isn't the craziest of gambles for the Mets to take, with an outfield unit led by the likes of Juan Soto, Luis Robert Jr. and potentially No. 16 overall prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, Carson Benge.

Perhaps a change of scenery might be just what Melendez needs to fully unlock that promising power profile the Royals faithful hoped he'd bring to the table during his time in the Kauffman confines.