{"id":514517,"date":"2026-01-11T04:17:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T04:17:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/514517\/"},"modified":"2026-01-11T04:17:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T04:17:12","slug":"royals-latest-signing-shouldnt-stop-them-from-pursuing-this-reunion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/514517\/","title":{"rendered":"Royals’ latest signing shouldn’t stop them from pursuing this reunion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Proving once again the high premium they place on players they can move around the field at will, the Kansas City Royals recently signed utility man Josh Rojas<\/a>, late of American League Central Division rival Chicago, to a minor league deal that comes with an invitation to spring training. <\/p>\n

A veteran of parts of seven big league seasons, he’ll be in the running for a spot on manager Matt Quatraro’s bench, add experience to Triple-A Omaha, or serve as a trade chip sometime down the road.<\/p>\n

But acquiring Rojas shouldn’t keep the Royals from seriously considering a second reunion with another veteran who could be a valuable addition to the club. Free agent Adam Frazier, who played for Kansas City in 2024 and 2025, is still on the market and available for another stint with the Royals.<\/p>\n

And he might be an even better fit than Rojas. <\/p>\n

The Royals should still give Adam Frazier a serious look<\/p>\n

That the Royals chose to sign Rojas to a minor league deal strongly suggests they’re not convinced he’s their top choice for a super-utility role when they open their 2026 season at Atlanta in late March<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Although he’s played seven positions in the majors (if his one inning at first base and four on the mound<\/a> really ought to count, that is), he hasn’t managed big league pitching well since 2023 when he hit .272 in 46 games for Seattle. <\/p>\n

And he struggled to a meager .180\/.252\/.259 line with the White Sox across 69 games in 2025. His career wRC+ is 88<\/a> and career .241\/.317\/.353 line span parts of five campaigns with Arizona (he broke in with the Diamondbacks in 2019), two in Seattle, and one with the White Sox. <\/p>\n

Frazier, on the other hand, is a veteran of 10 big league seasons who’s seen action at every outfield and at second, third, and shortstop (like Rojas, he’s also played first base just once), has a career wRC+ seven points higher than Rojas, and a far better .264\/.326\/.383 slash line. <\/p>\n

Frazier is also a known quantity to the Royals. After his somewhat curious signing with the club<\/a> before the 2024 season began, he disappointed at the plate with a .202 average and .282 OBP. However, he acquitted himself in 2025 when, after returning to Kansas City via a trade deadline deal with Pittsburgh that cost the club promising prospect Cam Devanney<\/a> (who’s now headed for Japan and the NPB<\/a>), he slashed .283\/.320\/.402, appeared at four positions, and made one error in 120 chances.<\/p>\n

He also boasts strong clubhouse credentials, a valuable asset Vinnie Pasquantino and Kyle Isbel confirmed to MLB.com KC beat writer Anne Rogers<\/a> during Kansas City’s 2025 stretch run. Frazier’s brand of veteran influence could serve the team well as it works to return to the playoffs next season.<\/p>\n

And that the Royals have brought him aboard twice before proves they believe in him. They shouldn’t ignore the chance to reunite with him again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Proving once again the high premium they place on players they can move around the field at will,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":514518,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2387],"tags":[5,936,2123,55,2596,2595,4,252],"class_list":{"0":"post-514517","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-kansas-city-royals","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-kansas","10":"tag-kansas-city","11":"tag-kansas-city-royals","12":"tag-kansascity","13":"tag-kansascityroyals","14":"tag-mlb","15":"tag-royals"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115874538681871032","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=514517"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514517\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/514518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=514517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=514517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=514517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}