Royals front office under microscope for questionable offseason move as offense sputters

To say the Kansas City Royals have been struggling at the plate is an understatement. They've scratched across two or less runs in seven of their last eight games and it's been some of their traditionally more reliable players like Vinnie Pasquantino and Salvador Perez who've been the most jarring. After Wednesday's loss to the Tigers, the Royals offense now sits 29th in baseball in runs per game and tied for 27th in wRC+.

However, while names like Pasquantino and Perez might be the ones catching the brunt of the blame from fans, two other names that haven't carried their weight to start they year is their second base platoon of Jonathan India and Michael Massey. And what makes matters more frustrating is that they didn't have to roll with this duo this year.

Second base was one of the most discussed positions among the Royals sphere this winter after India posted a career-worst 89 wRC+ in his first season as a Royal in 2025 and it took a late season resurgence just to get the injury-ridden Massey to a 57 wRC+. And so far this season, it's been much of the same from these two, offering little to no value to this struggling unit and Massey already landing on the IL.

And as alluded to earlier, with both not guaranteed a deal as non-tendering was a realistic option for both of them last winter, there was an avenue in which the Royals could have started fresh at the position. Instead though they opted to stand pat and the early returns have not been rewarding.

There's alternative options for the Royals at second base

As much as many arguments at this point in the season need to be taken with a grain of salt to certain extent, in the case of second base and these two names in particular, the Royals have seen plenty already to know that there may be an ongoing issue here. This is why it's not egregious for anyone to be upset and potentially thinking about new ways to address this issue moving forward.

It's a little early to know who will be sellers this season, but there are teams that come to mind as ones that have traditionally been sellers in the past and seem likely to be in the position to do so this season.

One is the Washington Nationals who after selling off more assets this winter seem to be one of the league's surefire rebuilding squads come the deadline. This is where someone like CJ Abrams comes into play, especially now that he's in his arbitration years. Abrams has been hitting the lights out start the season, slashing .367/.458/.717 with six homers, 19 RBI and a 220 wRC+.

While he is a shortstop by trade, some lackluster defense in years past at that position have had many wonder whether a move to second could be in order. And there were reports that the Royals did express some degree of interest in him this winter meaning they've potentially toyed with the idea already at least. The two and a half years of control with his current production would cost them a pretty penny, but this is precisely the big splash many were hoping the Royals would make to their lineup this offseason.

And as the season progresses there will likely be more names that come to light as the postseason picture becomes clearer and teams establish themselves as buyers and sellers. In the meantime though, there's plenty of names internally that the Royals could plug in to spice things up at second.

Nick Loftin was an above-average hitter (106 wRC+) when he was demoted earlier this month. Then, there's his current veteran teammates in Omaha in Josh Rojas and Kevin Newman, both of whom hold wRC+ total above 115 in to start the minor league season (116 and 122 respectively). On top of that, when he returns from the IL, there's a prospect option in Peyton Wilson who's only built upon his spring training success in Omaha by sporting a 126 wRC+. Perhaps a call-up could be in order for him when healthy again.

The Royals can't dwell too much over mistakes they've made in the past. They stuck with India and Massey and have yet to be rewarded by it. As much as the organization, along with Royals fans in general, will hope that India and Massey can snap out of it on their own, the fact remains they haven't given anyone much reason of late to think they'll do so.

So, now may be the time to try and make up for there offseason shortcomings, for the sake of improving this floudnering offense.

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