Royals Should Target Former All-Star Looking For Redemption In 2026

The Kansas City Royals are still alive in the American League Wild Card race. At 60-60, they are four games back, but time is running out for them to make a push towards a Wild Card spot. They won 86 games last year and were the second AL Wild Card team before losing the ALDS to the New York Yankees.

This year, they added a few key bats at the trade deadline. They brought in Adam Frazier and even traded for Randal Grichuk and Mike Yastrzemski. However, all three of those players will be free agents, so the Royals might have to replace them if they want more consistency offensively. That is something they have been lacking for most of 2025.

Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report recently listed several upcoming free agents and whether their stock was up or down. Outfielder Cedric Mullins' stock was listed as down, but that could lower his price. Perhaps the Royals could potentially take a look at adding Mullins to their mix to boost their lineup.

"Mullins has mostly been an OK regular since his 30-30 breakout in 2021, but he's been worth only 0.3 rWAR this year. Poor defensive ratings aren't helping, nor is the fact that he has a .670 OPS since June 19," Rymer wrote.

Mullins is hitting just .227/.307/.426 with 16 home runs, 52 RBI, 16 stolen bases and a .732 OPS this season. He was an All-Star and Silver Slugger back in 2021 and has not quite been the same ever since.

However, a change of scenery could do him some good going forward, and if the Royals hope to reach the playoffs again in 2026, adding Mullins could significantly help them out as they try to bounce back from 2025, assuming this year is a lost cause.

He would bring power to the left side of the plate and veteran leadership to what is a relatively young clubhouse in Kansas City. He still has the potential to be one of the top players in Major League Baseball. He even received AL MVP consideration after his breakout in the 2021 season.

It will certainly be interesting to see where he ends up or which teams will ultimately show interest in the veteran outfielder. He can still be a valuable player as long as he remains healthy.

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