Former Kansas City Royals catcher and outfielder MJ Melendez had a polarizing career in Kansas City.
On one end, he showed tremendous promise, both as a prospect and at the MLB level. He led the Minor Leagues in home runs in 2021 with 41 in 123 games with the Northwest Arkansas Naturals and Omaha Storm Chasers. Furthermore, he had a promising start to his MLB career in 2022. In 129 games and 534 plate appearances that season, he hit 18 home runs, scored 57 runs, collected 62 RBI, and posted a 97 wRC+.
Unfortunately, Melendez had his share of flaws as well, unfortunately.
During his rookie season, he posted a -0.6 fWAR, which was mostly due to his poor defense behind the plate and in the outfield. That season, he was worth 19.9 runs below average defensively, according to Fangraphs’ Def. He also had a -18 DRS and -21 FRV at catcher that season and -5 DRS and 0 FRV in the outfield.
Despite those defensive shortcomings, it seemed like Melendez was going to be a core piece of the Royals’ future under new manager Matt Quatraro, along with Bobby Witt Jr. and Vinnie Pasquantino. However, while Witt and Pasquantino have lived up to their billing, and Maikel Garcia has joined the fray as part of the key position player group, Melendez eventually fell out of favor with Kansas City.
Starting in 2023, he accumulated a -0.4 fWAR in 306 games. His defense in the outfield improved, but his wRC+ declined from 93 in 2023 to 86 in 2024 before bottoming out to -14 in 2025. As a result, the Royals not only kept him in Omaha for most of the year, but he was non-tendered this offseason as well.
Melendez’s MLB outlook initially appeared bleak this winter, and it seemed possible that he could return to Kansas City on a Minor League deal. However, on Sunday, MLB Insider Jon Heyman of the celebrity.land announced that the New York Mets agreed to a one-year deal with Melendez worth at least $1.5 million.
Let’s look at why the Mets acquired Melendez, what he could bring to Queens, and if this move has any impact on the Royals as they prepare for Spring Training.
Melendez Brings Upside and Insurance to the Mets
New York has been aggressive since missing out on free-agent outfielder Kyle Tucker this offseason, much to owner Steve Cohen’s chagrin.
After Tucker signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers to a record-setting four-year, $240 million deal, the Mets responded by signing shortstop/third baseman Bo Bichette to a three-year, $126 million deal and acquiring starting pitcher Freddy Peralta from the Mets in a deal that involved them trading away prospects Jett Williams (a utility player) and Brandon Sporat (a right-handed pitcher). They also acquired infielder Jorge Polanco and closer Devin Williams earlier in the offseason.
However, the Mets’ outfield looks thin depth-wise at this moment. According to Roster Resource, prospect Carson Benge is penciled in to be the Mets’ Opening Day left fielder. He certainly merits consideration, as he is rated as the 59th-best prospect in baseball, according to Fangraphs, and is known for his athleticism and impressive batted-ball profile.
However, Benge had an underwhelming sample in Triple-A, posting an OPS under .600 despite some impressive Statcast percentiles, as illustrated in his TJ Stats summary profile from 2025.
Benge hits the ball hard and doesn’t strike out. That said, he doesn’t walk much either (27th percentile), and he also struggled to pull the ball, both in the air (30th percentile) and overall (20th percentile). It’s possible that he may need some time for more seasoning and at-bats in Triple-A before making his MLB debut. Furthermore, he isn’t Rule-5 eligible until 2027, so Mets President of Baseball Operations David Stearns doesn’t have to rush to add Benge to the 40-man roster.
Thus, Melendez could satisfy the Mets’ short-term need in the outfield (especially in left field) until Benge is fully ready.
While his MLB stats last year were poor, he was much better in Triple-A Omaha, posting a 20 HR-20 SB season and an .813 OPS in 480 PA. The 27-year-old sported some solid hard-hit, barrel, and exit velocity metrics, according to TJ Stats.
Melendez certainly has his fair share of issues at the MLB level when it comes to whiffs and strikeouts, and that was again the case in Omaha last year. Despite his solid power profile, he ranked in the 12th percentile in whiff and Z-contact rates, 17th percentile in strikeout and O-Swing rates, and 19th percentile in walk rate. He also wasn’t consistent with launching the ball, as illustrated by his 29th percentile LA Sweet-Spot percentage. That shows some nice progress for him that could be transitioned to the Major League level with the Mets.
In many ways, Melendez’s profile feels similar to Ryan O’Hearn back in 2023, who had questionable production with the Royals and broke out with the Orioles in 2023. After posting 70 or below wRC+ marks from 2019 to 2022 with the Royals, O’Hearn had had three straight seasons of wRC+ marks of 118 or higher with Baltimore and San Diego. O’Hearn was 29 when he had his turnaround, so Melendez is in good shape at 27.
Does that mean Melendez is going to be an O’Hearn 2.0? Not necessarily, as O’Hearn had an excellent rookie year in 2018 when he posted a 153 wRC+ in 170 plate appearances with the Royals. Melendez has never had a season close to that in terms of wRC+.
Still, O’Hearn showed signs of a breakout in 2023 thanks to his strong batted-ball and exit velocity metrics. That is a similar situation for Melendez, so there is potential for the former 2017 second-round pick to experience a breakout in New York, given the similarities in their profiles.
What Does Melendez’s Signing Mean for the Royals?
Melendez inking a deal with the Mets doesn’t necessarily directly impact the Royals, as it was a long shot that Melendez would return to Kansas City anyway (even on a Minor League deal). However, it could signal that more moves from teams are on the way, with two days until pitchers and catchers report to camp.
The Royals could be one of those teams.
One signing that seemed likely earlier in the offseason but hasn’t come to fruition yet is bringing back Adam Frazier. The Mississippi State product was a spark plug for the Royals after returning to Kansas City at last year’s All-Star Break (he was traded for Cam Devanney, who currently is playing in Japan).
In 197 plate appearances with Kansas City last year, Frazier posted a 98 wRC+, a .283 average, and accumulated a 0.6 fWAR. The 34-year-old is not only familiar with the Royals’ clubhouse but also a veteran who can play multiple positions in the infield and outfield.
Frazier doesn’t offer much in the batted-ball and exit-velocity categories. However, he has sported strong plate discipline and contact ability, two areas where the Royals want to improve upon in 2026.
Royals GM JJ Picollo and owner John Sherman have said they are satisfied with where they are with the roster, but are open to adding another piece if they feel it would make them better overall. With the Tigers getting better last week with the addition of pitcher Framber Valdez, the Royals may feel the need to add one more piece to the roster, especially since they could use one more outfielder on the active roster to truly fill out the roster (and be insurance for Jac Caglianone if he struggles out of the gate in 2026).
Melendez’s signing could be the domino that pushes the Royals to make one last move before all players report to Surprise in 12 days.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source royalskeep.com ’
