The Kansas City Royals took a swing at the trade market last offseason, and so far, that swing has backfired in a big way.
Because they badly needed a leadoff hitter to maximize the talents of shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. in the two-hole, Kansas City traded for former National League Rookie of the Year Jonathan India, sending starting pitcher Brady Singer to the Cincinnati Reds.
India’s first year in Kansas City was an unmitigated disaster, while Singer was quite solid in Cincinnati. In fact, India’s year was so bad that he might not even get a second, despite remaining under team control for one more season.
On Friday, Anne Rogers of MLB.com named India as a non-tender candidate, as he’s slated to enter his final year of arbitration and will command a salary the Royals might not be comfortable paying.
“An interesting decision lies with India,” Rogers wrote. “The Royals acquired him last winter to be their leadoff hitter, but he vastly underperformed while making just over $7 million. India wouldn’t be due for a massive raise, but the Royals must decide if that fits into their payroll plans, especially if they don’t see him as an everyday player.
“The 28-year-old did play through injuries this year, and he talked openly about the difficulty of trying to learn new positions while learning a new team. The Royals could bank on India returning to form as he settles into his second year with Kansas City.”
India slashed .233/.323/.346 this year, with nine home runs, 45 RBIs, and 0.4 wins above replacement. He also recorded zero stolen bases for the first time in his career and was caught stealing four times. All that came while he was playing very poor defense, regardless of whether it came at second base, third base, or in left field.
Non-tendering India would not preclude the Royals from signing him at a lower price point, but one would have to imagine the infielder would be looking for a fresh start if the team that once believed in him told him to kick rocks over a few million bucks.
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‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.si.com ’
