Why Royals Need To Replace This 5-Year Veteran In Next Year's Starting Lineup
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The Kansas City Royals have a lot of issues to sort out this offseason if they want to achieve contender status in 2026.
Even as they desperately try to stay relevant in the playoff picture, we can acknowledge that the Royals' season has been a disappointment to this point. They'd have to go 12-4 the rest of the way to match their record from last season, and they lost virtually no impact players from their playoff roster.
That's why Kansas City has to look itself in the mirror and recognize that there are players that simply aren't doing enough to keep their jobs next year. And although he's not at the bottom of the heap in terms of wins above replacement, center fielder Kyle Isbel has to be one of the top names on the chopping block.
Royals must find a more reliable offensive center fielder
Isbel has 1.8 bWAR this season, which is actually the third-best total of any position player. He's ahead of Vinnie Pasquantino and Salvador Perez, neither of whom are in any sort of danger of being supplanted.
This is why WAR is a somewhat misleading statistic. Isbel's defense is spectacular, and it undoubtedly helps the Royals win some games. He's in the 95th percentile of all players in terms of fielding run value. But his batting run value is in the ninth percentile, and he's been allowed 396 plate appearances -- far more than anyone with an 85 OPS+ ever should.
Isbel is just a handful of plate appearances short of qualifying for league-wide offensive leaderboards, and it's a good thing for him that he's left off. His .662 OPS would be tied for eighth-worst in all of baseball, just one point ahead of much-maligned New York Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe.
On some teams, it would be reasonable to trade offense from the center field position for excellent defense. But the Royals aren't one of those teams. They've got one star on offense, a couple more good to great supporting cast members, and a whole bunch of ankle weights.
If the Royals aren't going to replace Isbel outright, they should at least look into a permanent platoon solution. Isbel only has 10 starts against left-handed pitchers this year, but he's managed to rack up 74 plate appearances against them. He should be aggressively replaced midgame whenever a lefty reliever takes the mound and the Royals are tied or behind on the scoreboard.
It's not going to be an easy task to find someone, whether it's via free agency or trade, who can step in and start over Isbel from day one. But it would be even harder to upgrade at other positions, given the Royals' lack of spending power in a top-heavy free-agent class.
More MLB: Vinnie Pasquantino All But Confirms Royals Are In Desperation Mode
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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