3 remaining free agents who could address Royals’ lingering outfield needs

Next week will mark the beginning of February, which means spring training is just around the corner, with the Royals’ first Cactus League game set for Feb. 20 against the Texas Rangers.

While the offseason hasn’t been unproductive by any means for Kansas City, with several new additions entering the fold to address some key areas of need on this roster, there’s still a growing feeling amongst the Royals sphere that more could still be done.

This is especially felt in the outfield, as while Isaac Collins and Lane Thomas certainly have certainly provided a breath of fresh air to the mix, neither really brings that outright splash many fans would have hoped for from say a Jarren Duran.

Names of this maginitude may very well be unattainable for Kansas City at this late stage of the offseason, however, that doesn’t mean their aren’t any names remaining that make feasible sense.

Perhaps J.J. Picollo and the front office could take a Moneyball approach and instead of finding one name to transcend this outfield, they could bring in another name similar to Collins and Thomas and build their outfield solution in the aggregate.

There are three remaining names on the open market in particular that could acheive such a vision.

3 remaining free agents who could address Royals’ persistent outfield needs

Austin Hays

The Austin Hays fit in Kansas City has been floated for much of the offseason so far and there’s a reason for that…his bat makes a lot of sense for an outfield that collectively achieved the worst wRC+ ranking in baseball in 2025.

Hays isn’t anything flashy by any means but he’s consistently an average to above-average hitter who would add another right-handed option to quite lefty heavy outfield unit.

Hays is coming off a season in which he slashed .266/.315/.453 with 15 HR, 64 RBI and a 105 wRC+ in 103 games with the Cincinnati Reds.

And for his big league career, since really getting more of a regular MLB run post-COVID, Hays has been an above-average hitter in the eyes of wRC+ in four of the past five seasons, launching 15 or more home runs with a .719 OPS or higher in four of five years and hitting above .250 every season in that span.

As nice as it would be, the Royals don’t need to re-invent the wheel in their lineup. At the end of the day, they simply need to find better pieces to complement their strong quartet in the middle of lineup. Hays feels like he could do just that.

Mike Tauchman

Then, there’s a familiar former AL Central foe in Tauchman, who may not fit the more desirable right-handed profile that other names on this list do, however, he’s been just as consistent.

In 93 games with the Chicago White Sox last season, Tauchman slashed .263/.356/.400 with nine homers, 40 RBI and a 115 wRC+.

What also can’t be lost on fans is the fact that this is now three straight seasons where Tauchman has played between 90 and 110 games and managed to maintain above-average wRC+ totals.

He’s also a picture-perfect name to help boost this team’s plate discipline that looked extremely skeptical last season, with the second-lowest walk rates in all of baseball. Tauchman and his 11.7% walk rate ranked in the 84th percentile of qualified hitters and 2025 marked his eighth straight big league season with a walk rate above 10.0%.

When you also consider, on top of his vast experience in the corner outfield, he has semi-recent experience in center field – should that need happen to arise for Kansas City like it did in the late stages of 2025 – this touch of versatility only sweetens the deal.

Miguel Andujar

Lastly we have Andujar, who if we’re talking versatility from an outfielder, why not one who can play both the corner outfield and corner infield? After all, in today’s game, versatility can carry so much value, especially in a flexible Matt Quatraro lineup.

Now, is Andujar the same name that posted a near-4.0 fWAR season in his rookie year with the Yankess and finished runner-up in AL ROY voting? No.

That being said, 2025 was a bit of a career resurgence for him, as it was his first time eclipsing 1.0 fWAR since that aforementioned 2018 rookie season.

In 341 plate appearances across 94 games between the Athletics and the Reds last season, the 30-year-old slashed .318/.352/.470 with 10 HR, 44 RBI, just a 14.4% K-rate and a 125 wRC+.

While truly more of a utility man last year, his most prominent spot in the outfield was in left, making him a decent candidate for a platoon role with Jac Caglianone, as the prized youngster continues to get acclimated to life in the majors.

At the very least though, he could provide a utility boost to this bench over their current options headlined by Nick Loftin and Tyler Tolbert.