2021 Roster Review: Kansas City Royals

74-88 (4th in Division; 22nd in MLB)

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SP Wins: 41 (18th)

RP Wins: 33 (16th)

Saves: 37 (20th)

1+ Save: 8 (Scott Barlow 16, Greg Holland 8, Josh Staumont 5, Jake Brentz, Kyle Zimmer, Wade Davis 2, Richard Lovelady, Jesse Hahn 1)

100+ Ks: 4 (Mike Minor 149, Brady Singer 131, Brad Keller 120, Kris Bubic 114)

.260+ AVG (min. 350 PA): 4 (Nicky Lopez .300, Whit Merrifield .277, Andrew Benintendi .276, Salvador Perez .273)

65+ Runs: 4 (Merrifield 97, Perez 88, Lopez 78, Carlos Santana 66)

65+ RBI: 4 (Perez 121 [led MLB], Merrifield 74, Benintendi 73, Santana 69)

10+ HRs: 7 (Perez 48 [led MLB], Santana 19, Benintendi 17, Hunter Dozier 16, Jorge Soler 13, Michael A. Taylor 12, Merrifield 10)

5+ SBs: 7 (Merrifield 40 [led AL], Lopez 22, Adalberto Mondesi 15, Taylor 14, Benintendi, Jarrod Dyson 8, Dozier 5)

BEST BUY: Whit Merrifield

Merrifield’s already fragile power fell off the cliff with a .117 ISO (lowest since 2016) and just 10 HR despite playing all 162 games, but he swiped an AL-best 40 bases and scored 97 runs to maintain fantasy value. He maintained dual eligibility at 2B and OF, finishing 5th and 11th at those positions on the Auction Calculator, respectively. There may be a little hot potato effect that drops his draft price a bit as some may be afraid to hang on one year too long with Merrifield. But he still had an 87th percentile Sprint Speed and Whiff% while remaining a premium fielder (92nd percentile Outs Above Average at 2B).

ON THE RISE: Kyle Isbel

It was a big catchup year for Isbel who missed a key development year in 2020 that would’ve been spent primarily at Double-A with a chance at Triple-A if he performed well. He actually broke camp with the Royals, but he was sent out after 12 games and didn’t return until mid-September. He didn’t do much in his 28 games with the Royals, but did well at Triple-A with a .269/.357/.444 line with 15 HR and 22 SB in 451 PA. He could be a nice double-double bat on the strong side of a RF platoon if he brings those Triple-A skills to the big leagues.

OFF THE RADAR: Edward Olivares

OK, Olivares is not off the radar for his superfans that lived and died with his nine call-ups this year, but most fantasy managers likely overlooked him. Hell, the Royals did so you can’t be blamed for doing so, too. He posted a 155 wRC+ with 15 HR and 12 SB in 292 PA (66 games). He has averaged 17 HR/30 SB per 600 PA in the minors (2336 PA). Hopefully he finally gets a legitimate opportunity to display his skills as a major leaguer.

HOT TAKE: Adalberto Mondesi has the first 70 SB season in the league since 2009.

The boldness is predicting health because obviously his pace is off the charts. He has 62 SBs per 600 PA over the last four seasons, but he has only exceeded 75 games once in that time and it was just 102 back in 2019. Sprinkle some magic health dust on Mondesi and his fantasy impact would be bananas!

ICYMI: Carlos Santana had just a .592 OPS in his last 425 PA (103 games). He had an .831 OPS in his first 234 PA (55 games) and appeared to be in line for another standard Santana season (something in the 25 HR-75 RBI to 30 HR-90 RBI range) before the bottom fell out. His K% was steady and batted ball profile actually featured more line drives, but his BB% plummeted 8 points to 10% and it almost felt like all of those new non-walk plate appearances turned into outs.

He had a .213 BABIP and just couldn’t turn the tide on his dreadful season. The 36-year-old will be available at a bargain bin price in 2022 if you can fit .235/25/75 into your CI or UT spot. He will also be affordable in his best league type, OBP leagues.