Veteran outfielder easily the Royals' worst 'bang for their buck' in 2025

One of the things that makes Major League Baseball stand out from most of the other major professional sports leagues is that when a player signs a big league deal, the money is guaranteed. That's a definite plus for the men who sign those deals; it can be a big downside for teams like the Kansas City Royals, who can spend quite a bit of money on sunk costs like they did with outfielder Hunter Renfroe.

While the team DFA'd Renfroe back in May, he's still on their books. And thanks to the fact that he's a veteran player earning lots of money, his cost is not small. In fact, according to Bleacher Report, he's the player that the Royals got the least "bang for their buck" for in 2025.

Why Hunter Renfroe's 2025 salary is still dragging on the Kansas City Royals’ payroll

"Whether it's a high-priced free-agent signing falling short of expectations, an arbitration-eligible player failing to match his previous success or a small-market team not getting maximum value out of one of its highest-paid players, every MLB payroll has at least one player not earning his keep," Joel Reuter wrote.

He then identified Renfroe as the guy who most easily fit that bill for the Kansas City Royals.

Reuter pointed out that Renfroe signed a deal that saw him paid $7.6 million this year. That's about 5% of the team's total payroll. Considering he didn't do much when he was part of the club (slashing .182/.241/.242 this year) and not doing much better last year, that's a haul.

"It looked like a potential steal when the Royals inked perennial 30-homer threat Renfroe to a two-year," Reuter noted. "$13 million deal, but he struggled to an 83 OPS+ and minus-1.5 WAR in 155 games with the team before he was released on May 28. The 33-year-old has not caught on with another team since being cut loose."

That no one else has given a guy who has six seasons of 20 or more homers in 10 years a shot, even though the Kansas Royals would pay the bill, should indicate that most of the major leagues think Hunter Renfroe is past his well past his prime. Instead, the outfielder is sitting at home, taking home millions.