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The Royals have had, by their standards, a moderately successful season. In the last 40 years, they have finished the season over .500 – as they are currently on pace to do – only 10 times, about 25% of the time. More relevant to today’s discussion, however, they have a young core
of players that have led the way for their success over the last two years. If you could only choose one of them to extend, which would you pick?
Here are the candidates and a brief rundown of why they might deserve a shot:
- Maikel Garcia
- Pros: 25 years old, conceivably entering his prime; shows the ability to hit to all fields with pull power; excellent fielder at 3B
- Cons: Might be more valuable as a SS to another team, bringing back a haul in a trade; does not have 30+ home power at corner infield spot, already under team control through age 29 season, probably the most expensive to extend
- Vinnie Pasquantino
- Pros: back-to-back 100 RBI-pace campaigns, On pace to hit ~35 home runs, positive clubhouse leader, likely the least expensive to extend of the three options
- Cons: extremely slow starts, has never played a full season in MLB, can only play 1B or DH, already under team control through age 30 season
- Kris Bubic
- Pros: Flashes ace results when healthy with good advanced numbers to back them up, might be able to get him cheap because of injury concerns
- Cons: Has not pitched a full season since 2022, has never thrown more than 150 innings, does not have elite or even good velocity, already 28
Sound off in the comments if there’s someone else you’d prefer, or if you’d hand out multiple extensions!
