Royals' Offseason Trade Acquisition Projected To Miss 2025 Opening Day Roster

The month of March may not count for the Major League Baseball standings, but it's a crucial time for hundreds of players across the sport.

Every team currently has a handful of players fighting for inclusion on the Opening Day roster, and the Kansas City Royals are no exception. After a relatively quiet winter on the position player front, the Royals have some serious battles ongoing for the last couple bench spots.

One contestant is outfielder Joey Wiemer, a former top prospect with the Milwaukee Brewers who was included in the trade that brought Jonathan India to Kansas City. Wiemer is fast and an excellent defender in center field, but he hasn't shown yet that he's able to handle major league pitching.

So far this spring, Wiemer is 1-for-11, though he does have four walks. One Royals writer recently predicted that the slow start to the spring could derail Wiemer's chances to make the team out of camp.

On Monday, SB Nation's Jeremy Greco projected the Royals' Opening Day roster, and left Wiemer off the bench in favor of fellow outfielder John Rave and utility men Nick Loftin and Cavan Biggio.

"Joey Wiemer has been bad, and Dairon Blanco has been hurt. Rave and Loftin, on the other hand, have torn the cover off the ball for a week," Greco wrote. "Can either of them maintain that, much less both of them? I’d guess not, but also there isn’t anyone who looks any better."

Wiemer, 26, played 132 games as a rookie for the Brewers in 2023, posting a paltry .645 OPS. He spent most of last season in Triple-A and struggled there as well, with a .653 OPS and only three home runs in 84 games.

Though there are certainly still intriguing tools present, Wiemer is running out of chances. He has just one minor-league option left, so if he's sent to Triple-A to start the season, he'll only get one shot in the majors at any point before the Royals would have to designate him for assignment.

Hitting matters above all else in baseball, and Wiemer will have to show soon that he can do so against top-tier pitching to keep his career in Kansas City alive.

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