Royals Under-The-Radar Reds Trade Acquisition Projected For Key Role In 2025
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The Kansas City Royals are hoping for some surprise breakouts in 2025.
It's the unfortunate reality of a small-market team. Even though the Royals have pushed their payroll considerably higher in each of the past two offseasons, they weren't major factors for big-name free agents this offseason.
Therefore, to support superstar shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. in the lineup and lead Kansas City back to the playoffs, the Royals are hoping that some of their less-heralded role players can step up and have a positive impact in 2025.
To that end, Royals fans could be intrigued to hear one baseball writer's prediction for a semi-breakout from an under-discussed trade acquisition.
On Wednesday, Preston Farr of Farm to Fountains predicted that Joey Wiemer, who came over in the Jonathan India trade with the Cincinnati Reds, would usurp Hunter Renfroe as Kansas City's primary starter in right field this season.
"If you told me that Hunter Renfroe would be a bench platoon bat by midseason, that in itself isn’t an entirely “bold” prediction," Farr wrote. "Renfroe was good at times last season but finished the season with a 92 wRC+ worth -0.1 fWAR. In 21 games, 2024’s iteration of Joey Wiemer was worth even less. He compiled a 7 wRC+ and -0.4 fWAR in that short span between Milwaukee and Cincinnati."
"The Royals do a great job teaching their young hitters to swing at the right pitches, attack the strike zone, and make high levels of contact... It’s a strong match for the player, and the Royals have a good chance to finally unlock the prospect potential that Wiemer showed for a few years with Milwaukee."
Entering the 2023 season with the Milwaukee Brewers, Wiemer was ranked as the 90th-best prospect in all of baseball by MLB Pipeline. Unfortunately, he hasn't yet proven that he can hit enough at the big-league level to consistently crack a starting lineup.
Now 26, Wiemer is going to have to work hard just to make the Opening Day roster out of camp. But if he can find his swing and live up to some of his old prospect pedigree, he might be just the shot in the arm the Royals need to take home the American League Central crown.
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Jackson Roberts is a former Division III All-Region DH who now writes and talks about sports for a living. A Bay Area native and a graduate of Swarthmore College and the Newhouse School at Syracuse University, Jackson makes his home in North Jersey. He grew up rooting for the Red Sox, Patriots, and Warriors, and he recently added the Devils to his sports fandom mosaic. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "Kansas City Royals On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org
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