Royals fans should wish MJ Melendez well and hope he follows Ryan O'Hearn's lead

Barring a stunning change of heart, the Kansas City Royals have bid adieu to catcher-turned-outfielder MJ Melendez. The only organization he's ever known pink-slipped Melendez by not tendering him a 2026 contract before Friday's late afternoon deadline to do so.

The non-tender made Melendez a free agent with nothing preventing him from hooking on with another club. Whether he finds a new baseball home remains to be seen, but Kansas City fans should wish him luck and hope he follows in the footsteps of former Royal Ryan O'Hearn, who fell from grace with the Royals but suddenly flourished after the franchise cut him loose.

Their Kansas City careers were, after all, strikingly similar, and while they departed via different routes, Melendez and O'Hearn had their Royal moments.

MJ Melendez and Ryan O'Hearn were once rising Royals stars

O'Hearn wasted no time making his presence known after KC took him in the eighth round of the 2014 amateur draft — he belted 40 homers and drove in 131 runs over his first two minor league seasons. Homering 22 times in each of the next two campaigns helped propel him to the majors in 2018, where in only 44 games he hit 12 homers with 30 RBI and batted .262. His future looked bright.

What followed, though, was the ugly collapse that derailed O'Hearn's Kansas City career. He averaged .211 — and hit .195 twice — while homering only 26 times over the next four seasons. The prolonged slump moved the Royals to trade him to Baltimore before the 2023 season ... and that's where everything changed.

Kansas City received only cash considerations for O'Hearn, but the Orioles hit the jackpot. The KC castoff became a Baltimore lineup fixture and slashed .277/.342/.454 with 42 home runs, and made the 2025 American League All-Star team, before the O's traded him to San Diego at this season's trade deadline. He then helped the Padres to the playoffs by hitting .276 with a .350 OBP. He's now a free agent the Royals might want to consider.

Melendez proved his plate potential, and raised KC fans' expectations in the process, when in 2021 he led the minors with 41 homers, drove in 103 runs, and slashed .288/.386/.625 in a campaign split between Double-A Northwest Arkansas and Triple-A Omaha. Not surprisingly, he found himself in Kansas City the very next May.

But the majors were different and challenging. Because the Royals had Salvador Perez behind the plate and wanted Melendez to play regularly, the rookie backstop began transitioning to the outfield, where he'd played only twice in the minors.

Melendez understandably struggled defensively at times, but his offensive troubles were harder to accept. Yes, his 18 home runs trailed only Perez's 23 and Bobby Witt Jr.'s 20 for those 97-loss Royals, but his .217, 129-game average was more than disappointing.

The next three seasons weren't any more encouraging. The 16 home runs he clubbed in 2023 and 17 he had two years ago weren't bad for a club short on power, but he hit .235 in 2023 and .206 in 2024. And to make matters worse in 2025, the Royals farmed him out to Omaha when he was slashing .083/.154/.167 in mid-April.

Melendez struggled for a time with the Storm Chasers, but finished the Omaha season with 20 homers, a 107 wRC+, and an encouraging .261 average. None of that, though, convinced the Royals to give him a September roster-expansion callup ... or a 2026 contract.

Royals fans should hope MJ Melendez follows in Ryan O'Hearn's footsteps

For all his shortcomings at the plate, Melendez never gave up in Kansas City. He hit for some power, which few Royals did during his short tenure with the club, and by all indications kept his nose to the grindstone offensively and defensively. He overcame his initial struggles in the outfield to become an above-league-average outfielder in 2024.

Like O'Hearn, however, Melendez lost his battle with the bat and that, more than anything else, accounts for the Royals' decision to let him go. Lack of trying, and a clear commitment to his and the team's performances, had nothing to do with it.

And like O'Hearn, Melendez will get a chance with another club. It may not come immediately, but one or more teams will look him up.

Kansas City fans grew understandably impatient with Melendez. Now, they should wish nothing but the best for the player who worked long and hard for the Royals. After all, who knows what the future holds?