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Trade Idea has Royals Landing Power-Hitting Outfielder

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Henry Edgeller | Last updated May 1, 2025 4:18 PM ET

Coming off their first postseason appearance in nine years, the Kansas City Royals have struggled to show that their offense is worthy of a repeat. The hole that sparks questions for this avenging team is the outfield.

The Royals outfield ranked last in MLB with a combined -1.1 fWAR through April. This number includes MJ Melendez, who the Royals optioned to AAA on April 19. The current outfield of Drew Waters, Kyle Isbel, and Hunter Renfroe has combined for a -0.6 fWAR thus far.

A recent story from Newsweek's Andrew Wright mentioned the Royals as a potential suitor for Baltimore Orioles veteran outfielder Cedric Mullins.

The Orioles are off to a rough 12-18 start through the first 30 games of the season, last in the American League East. If the cold spell continues, and Mullins keeps playing the way he has, Baltimore Sun reporter Jacob Calvin Meyer suggested they may look to dump their veteran slugger.

The 30-year-old power hitter has had an efficient start to the season, boasting a 173 wRC+, the sixth-best in the major leagues. He leads Baltimore in a plethora of categories: hits, doubles, home runs, runs scored, runs batted in, walks, batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage.

This could be a great replacement for someone like Hunter Renfroe, playing a career-worst season primarily in right field. The Royals signed Renfroe as a free agent prior to the 2024 season, with hopes that he would keep his form as a once top-notch power bat in MLB.

Renfroe had a sub-par 2024 season but still was seen as the highlight of the Royals outfield. In 2025, he is under contract for $7.57 million, holding the lowest fWAR among MLB outfielders (-0.8).

The Royals (17-15) have been hot as of late, having won nine of their last 10 games. Entering Thursday, however, their offense had averaged 3.13 runs per game, the fewest in MLB. Even with Bobby Witt Jr. slugging a home run in Thursday's 8-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays, the Royals rank dead last in the majors with 15 round-trippers.

In the hopes of another playoff run, Mullins has some experience under his belt there as well. He collected three hits in the wild card series versus the Royals last year, including a home run off Seth Lugo in game two.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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