Royals Must Sign Former Red Sox Slugger To Save Drowning Lineup

The Kansas City Royals have the second-worst team OPS in Major League Baseball, and a trade needs to happen soon to address the issue.

Kansas City’s .583 team OPS is the worst in the bigs outside of the Chicago White Sox’s .578. The Royals’ lack of plate production is the primary reason for their awful stretch recently, losing eight of their last 10, including six in a row.

Kansas City isn’t getting any plate production from their outfield, and the team demoted MJ Melendez over the weekend. But merely sending down slumping players won’t be enough to help the Royals stay afloat with the Cleveland Guardians and Detroit Tigers in the American League Central.

The Royals have a good starting rotation, which makes it a shame that their lineup can’t hold its weight. Bobby Witt Jr. and Maikel García are the only qualifying Kansas City hitters with batting averages above .215 at the moment. The situation is dire, and the Royals need to make a move to add more hitting (particularly slug), even if it's not an outfielder they bring in.

Kansas City has no reason not to sign former Boston Red Sox World Series champion J.D. Martinez. At 37 years old, Martinez is restricted to a DH role at this point in his career, but the Royals would benefit from his presence in the lineup right away.

Martinez has been talked about this month by both New York Post’s Jon Heyman and Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller as a player both writers are surprised is still available. Here is what Heyman and Miller recently wrote about Martinez.

Heyman: “JD Martinez is hitting and staying ready while waiting for a job. No good reason he doesn’t have one yet.”

Miller: “It is most surprising that J.D. Martinez is still available. … Teams are seemingly concerned that Father Time has caught up with the slugger, who turns 38 in a few months.”

Martinez slashed .235/.320/.406 to go along with 16 home runs and 69 RBI last season for the New York Mets. He’s a career 283/.348/.516 hitter with 331 home runs and 1,071 RBI.

Given the state of the Royals’ lineup right now, it’s surprising that Kansas City hasn’t already gone all-in on a Martinez signing.

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