The Kansas City Royals’ improvements at the plate started at the heart of the team with Bobby Witt Jr. breaking out in his superstar season. Their star and other key contributors like Vinnie Pasquantino and Salvador Perez were RBI machines. The major league roster also had a lot of young hitters who had huge ups and downs. Guys like MJ Melendez, Maikel Garcia, and Freddy Fermin flashed signs of being great hitters, but also had long cold streaks that raised concern. In the 2025 offseason, they will look to add talent at the plate and have already added Jonathan India and Joey Wiemer. More is likely to come as well.
The bats in the farm system are thin for the Royals. Outside of catcher, they have struggled with developing top-tier offensive talent. There are a lot of examples of young players in the Royals farm that are raw and show a lot of athletic upside but have a ways to go. In the past, the team was very active in the international market but has struggled to develop those players. The Royals have had success developing catchers and have fielders with elite defense. It has shown that while the Royals can find athletes well, they have struggled to improve the approach of some of their prospects and improve their skills at the plate.
In this series, we will examine the organization’s depth, from the Major Leagues to the bottom of the farm system.
A closer look at the Royals’ organizational depth in the outfield
Corner Outfielders
Major League guys: MJ Melendez, Hunter Renfroe, Dairon Blanco, Nelson Velázquez, Tyler Gentry
Top prospects: Gavin Cross, Spencer Nivens, Derlin Figueroa
Corner outfield may be the biggest weakness in the Royals organization with many questions in both the Majors and the minor leagues. Last year, Melendez and Renfroe got the most play time of anyone still on the roster. Melendez was a catcher in the minors who just played a full season in left field and had a lot of ups and downs. Those ups and downs came both at the plate and with the glove. Renfroe had a down year at the plate and never has been a great fielder making the corner OF spots a primary need.
The other players on the 40-man roster include Dairon Blanco — the primary pinch runner for the Royals and one of the best base stealers in baseball. Blanco isn’t great at the plate and struggled in the field despite his speed. Nelson Velázquez started hot with the Royals and was on the Opening Day roster but struggled and was optioned midseason. Tyler Gentry never really got an extended stay in Kansas City despite many thinking he deserved one. Expect him to get more of a shot at some point in 2025 but Gentry alone isn’t going to completely flip the script.
In the minors, the story isn’t much different. The team’s top corner outfield prospect is Gavin Cross, taken in the first round of the 2022 MLB Draft. Cross had a bounce-back year in 2024 but has struggled with consistency in the minor leagues and stayed at Double-A all of 2024. He has flashed signs of being a great player but needs more time to prove what he can be. Behind him is Nivens who was in the 2023 class and hit 20 home runs last year (13 in one month). He will have to prove his consistency next year but if he can repeat that success, could be a top prospect. Lastly, Derlin Figueroa was part of a trade with the Dodgers that hasn’t quite panned out. He flashed signs of power and a good bat but struggled in 2024. With some improvement, Figueroa could be a quality bat in the majors.
It’s clear that the Royals need corner outfield help, and they have discussed several ways of addressing it. They don’t have a lot of minor leaguers and none that are very close to the majors outside of Gentry. Talks of Massey, India, or Garcia moving to the outfield could help some if they can provide quality defense. The option that I have seen proposed a few times is the idea of a trade and there are several options. Outfielders for the Royals need to have quality defensive ability with the size of Kauffman Stadium. That can make finding a fit hard at the end of the day. The Royals need some help in the outfield and it is going to be interesting to see what they do to address it.
Center Field
Major League options: Kyle Isbel, Drew Waters, Joey Wiemer
Top prospects: Asbel Gonzalez, Carson Roccaforte, Erick Torres, Corey Cousin Jr,
I separate center field because the Royals have a lot of them in the system who could make an impact down the line. Right now, the Royals center fielder is Kyle Isbel, one of the best defensive center fielders in all of baseball. He will reliably fill the nine-hole and is not the best hitter, but his defense is incredibly valuable in Kauffman and will allow him to maintain his spot for some time to come.
Behind Isbel on the 40-man roster, the team has Drew Waters and Joey Wiemer. Both players were acquired via trade and were once top prospects for their respective teams. Neither has been able to put it together at the plate and both have struggled with their approach at the plate. They are both young players who have the potential to figure it out and are both quality athletes. If the Royals can work with these guys and improve their approach at the plate, they could be very good players.
Kansas City’s farm is flooded with athletes who are more than capable of playing defense in center field. Roccaforte is the closest and has had hot streaks at the plate as well to suggest he’s more than capable of being an everyday major league center fielder with more consistency. Asbel Gonzalez is my favorite of the Royals’ young international prospects. He is an elite athlete and has all the tools to be a major leaguer, finished in Double-A in 2024, and could move quickly if his bat keeps up. Torres is a soft-contact hitter who gets on base at a high clip and can be a quality fielder. Cousin was lured away from college late in the draft and the Royals have hopes they can develop him into a quality big leaguer.
Centerfield is a true strength for the Royals, and they have several players both in the bigs and on their way up that could be quality players for them in the future.