Several 2024 KC Royals having hard time on free agent market

The 2024 Kansas City Royals startled major league baseball by returning to postseason play for the first time since the club won the 2015 World Series. Still, the dramatic turnaround that saw the Royals win 30 more games than they did in their disastrous 106-loss 2023 season didn't immunize the 2024 roster from significant change. In fact, nine Royals became free agents and began looking for new jobs after the campaign ended, and eight are still on the market with just a few weeks remaining before spring training.

So far, none have landed with new clubs, and almost all are rarely rumored to be closing in on new employment. Who are they, and what are their prospects?

Michael Lorenzen, RHP

Starting pitcher Michael Wacha began this offseason as the cream of the then-10-member job-seeking crop. After the Royals swiftly and wisely signed Wacha to a new multi-year deal in early November, fellow hurler Michael Lorenzen moved to the head of the class.

Obtained by the Royals in the trade deadline deal that sent highly-touted minor league reliever Walter Pennington to the Texas Rangers, Lorenzen went 2-0 for KC and allowed only five earned runs in 28.2 innings. A late-August hamstring injury wiped out all but the last few days of his season, and he only saw postseason action out of the bullpen. Still, Lorenzen is the Royal free agent mentioned most often in the never-ending swirl of Hot Stove rumors, and his ability to start and relieve means a reunion with the Royals is certainly possible.