The Royals already knocked out one key bit of offseason business, re-signing Michael Wacha to a $51MM deal just before the veteran starter could discuss contracts with other teams. It seems they’ll now turn their attention to deepening a top-heavy lineup.
Will Sammon and Katie Woo of the Athletic write that the Royals are looking for ways to improve their on-base skills, particularly out of the leadoff spot. To that end, Sammon and Woo report that Kansas City may entertain trade offers on Kris Bubic or Alec Marsh if they can net lineup help.
The Kansas City offense was almost entirely dependent on Bobby Witt Jr. and Salvador Perez this year. They were the only Royals players to reach 20 homers. Of the nine K.C. hitters with 300+ plate appearances, four had better than average seasons by measure of wRC+. First baseman Vinnie Pasquantino and second baseman Michael Massey only narrowly checked in above average, hitting for power but with middling on-base marks.
Finding a reliable table-setter in front of Witt and Perez was a huge challenge. Kansas City gave Maikel Garcia the majority of the playing time atop the lineup. Garcia stole 27 bases but provided very little at the plate. Royals leadoff men had a putrid .228/.270/.334 batting line overall. No team had a lower OBP out of the top spot, while only the White Sox got less slugging output. That left Witt to take a lot of at-bats with the bases empty. K.C.’s franchise shortstop ranked eighth in MLB in plate appearances with no one on base. The seven players ahead of him were all primarily leadoff hitters (thereby guaranteed to take at least one at-bat with the bases empty every game).
While a free agent pursuit of someone like Jurickson Profar or Gleyber Torres would address the leadoff spot, the Royals could do so more affordably by dealing from their pitching depth. Kansas City has an excellent front four in their rotation. Cole Ragans and Seth Lugo project as an elite 1-2 tandem. Wacha is back to resume his role as a quality third starter, while righty Brady Singer is a mid-rotation arm in his own right. The fifth spot is a little less established.
Marsh held that role for the bulk of the ’24 season. The Arizona State product started 25 times and tossed 129 innings of 4.53 ERA ball. He struck out 22.4% of opponents against a solid 7.1% walk rate. While it wasn’t a dominant showing, Marsh had serviceable numbers for a fifth starter. The Royals nudged him out of the rotation when they acquired Michael Lorenzen at the deadline. With Lorenzen returning to free agency, Marsh could be the in-house favorite for that job again.
He’ll have competition from former Brave Kyle Wright. Kansas City acquired the right-hander last offseason, weeks after Atlanta announced that the former fifth overall pick underwent shoulder surgery. The Royals stashed him on the injured list all year with an eye towards a 2025 return. While it’s difficult to bank on a pitcher who has missed the majority of the last two seasons to injury, Wright posted a 3.19 ERA over 30 starts in 2022. The Royals are surely interested to see how his stuff looks in Spring Training. That could increase their willingness to deal Marsh.
Bubic could be in the mix for the fifth starter role as well, but he spent this past season in the bullpen. The Stanford product underwent Tommy John surgery in April ’23. He was sidelined into the beginning of July this year. The Royals used him in relief when he returned. That helped an underperforming bullpen while limiting his workload in his first season back.
The move was a success. Bubic posted excellent numbers over 30 1/3 innings, turning in a 2.67 earned run average while punching out more than 32% of opponents. He got swinging strikes at a huge 14.8% clip while averaging a personal-high 93 MPH on his fastball in short stints. That’s much better than the 4.99 ERA he owns across 60 career starts, although he flashed better velocity and swing-and-miss acumen in a small sample in ’23 before going under the knife.
Kansas City’s bullpen remains a weak point. The Royals could prefer to keep Bubic as a potential leverage piece. There’d be plenty of teams interested in plugging him into their bullpens, while there are presumably clubs that still view him as a rotation target.
Bubic is under arbitration control for two more seasons. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him for a $2.8MM salary. Marsh doesn’t have the same upside but comes with a much longer contractual window. He just surpassed one year of service and is controllable through 2029. He won’t get to arbitration for another two seasons and should have appeal for teams seeking an affordable fifth or sixth starter.
Rather keep bubic than marsh
Don’t think you’ll get much in return for either.
I was going to say the same. Maybe Bubic has enough value to get something mildly interesting in return, but why would anyone trade anything meaningful for Marsh? He improved from year one, but was still below average. He’d most likely slot in as a number 5 in most rotations. A lot of teams will fill those back end slots with spring training invites. No need to expend trade assets for him.
Bubic should be held and kept in the bullpen. Marsh has some value just because he’s a cheap #5 and those guys go for $8MM+ on the open market.
Won’t get a real impact player though. Reds? If they want to clear out an infielder and deal India? might need to throw something else in with Marsh from the farm though.
Happy for the Royals and their fans in 2024.
However, they went 12-1 against the White Sox that fielded a poor AAA team. Can’t believe the Sox will be that bad next year.
Think the Royals will need more upgrades than one on-base guy at the top of the line-up to be a playoff team in 2025.
You’re right the White Sox might even be worse if they trading everyone away.
Give me a break buddy. Every division has a team that gets beat up on. Did you miss the playoffs?
LOL
The White Sox set a record for the most losses in a season in modern MLB history….buddy
It wouldn’t surprise me to see Max Kepler in a Royals uniform next year. I expect he’ll be pretty cheap coming off a down year where he might be available on a 1 year contract. Kepler comes with league average offense and OBP, and a pretty solid floor as he’s a good defender, though he’s losing speed. There are other options on the market, but a chasm between players who are going to be very expensive, and the floor of players who may be cheap, but don’t deliver as much floor value.
I really expect they might trade Singer instead . He would draw more interest and moving him while his stock is back up would probably be a shrewd move .
This is equally as likely but just depends on who’s interested and what’s offered. I’d rather trade high on Singer now and keep Bubic and Marsh around to see if they can stick in the rotation
Cronenworth and Wandy Peralta for Singer. Padres chip in 10m. Who says no?
Royals
Are you high? Sarcastic? this can’t be a serious post
The forgotten by Daniel Lynch IV is a prime candidate for the fifth spot. He had a solid year and was lights out when he returned from the minors.
And where would Cronenworth play? Already have Vinny at 1st with Salvy as a backup. Massey at 2nd and Witt at SS.
He’s an awful starter and was a very good reliever this season so I don’t see that changing