Ranking free agent outfielders for KC Royals to target heading into 2025

In 2024, the Kansas City Royals turned the team's trajectory around, earning a playoff campaign just one year after a 106-loss season. It was a historic comeback — but if the Royals want to back it up by playing even deeper into the postseason next year, they need to address their outfield.

At the Royals' end-of-season press conference in October, general managerJ.J. Picollo said that increasing production from the outfield was a priority going into 2025.

“The offense from the outfield positions has to get better,” Picollo told reporters. “Generally speaking, when you’re looking at left field, right field, that’s where you’re thinking about power guys. And we know this ballpark doesn’t lend itself to homers, but it does lend itself to slug. So we’ve got to be more productive there.”

This winter, outfielder Juan Soto is unquestionably the top free agent available on the market. Unfortunately, the superstar slugger is projected to land a 14-year, $513 million contract, according to Sportrac, which puts him well out of the price range for most teams, including the Royals.

With that in mind, let's look at the top free agent outfielders for the Royals to target this winter, ranking them from third to first.

3. Jurickson Profar

After 11 years in MLB, Jurickson Profar is coming off the best offensive season of his career. The 31-year-old slashed .280/.380/.459 with the San Diego Padres in 2024, racking up a career-best 24 home runs and 85 RBI, and earning his first All-Star selection. He appeared in seven games during the Padres' playoff campaign but didn't impress quite as much, batting .200 with 1 RBI in 25 at-bats.

Profar's 134 OPS+ put him 34% above league-average at the plate, but unfortunately, his defensive performance was substantially less stellar. He ranked 242nd out of 274 qualified fielders in Outs Above Average (OAA) at -7, with a success rate of 85% in 285 attempts in left field. Similarly, his arm value was in just the 37th percentile, according to Baseball Savant.

Having substantially built up his value at the plate in 2024, Profar will be looking at a significant pay-rise this winter. Sportrac projects the outfielder will land a 2-year, $25.8 million contract out of free agency, which is a big jump up from the $1 million deal with $1.5 million in incentives that he had with the Padres this year. Still, that sort of contract wouldn't be out to the Royals' budget.

Despite his impressive performance at the plate this season, signing Profar would be a risky move. He batted .280 in 2024, but his career-average is just .245, with multiple seasons below .230. Maybe he's just a slow bloomer and it just took 11 seasons in the majors for Profar to finally have his breakout year — or maybe he's a regression risk who won't be able to replicate the numbers he put up this season.