All Royals team, position players

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For a team without a long history, the Royals have had more than their share of outstanding players. Foremost in that group of excellent players is George Brett. George might have been the best player in baseball in the 1980s. The Royals also had some other pretty good guys to go with him. And here we go.

Catcher: Darrell Porter Darrell gets the nod over Salvador Perez in a two man race. Porter spent only four seasons with the Royals, but they were an effective four seasons. Darrell coupled a good left-handed bat with surprisingly good defensive metrics to put up a WAR of 16.7 during his time in Kansas City. A lot of that is due to a massive 1979 season when Porter put up a WAR of 7.6. Porter's .809 OPS was enhanced by a good batting eye. In 1979 Porter led the AL in walks with 121. The Royals made the playoffs in three of the four seasons Porter was there and made it to one world series. Salvador Perez has a WAR of 19.7 in his seven seasons with the Royals. Perez swings a decent bat, but his value is more defensive driven than Porter's. Porter barely edges out Perez.

First base: John Mayberry In another two man race, John Mayberry prevails over Eric Hosmer. Mayberry, like Darrell Porter, was a good on base guy. Mayberry twice led the AL in walks, collecting 122 in 1973 and 119 in 1975. Mayberry led the AL in OBP in 1973 with a mark of .417. In something that is almost unheard of in today's game among guys with power, Mayberry had more walks than strikeouts in his 6 seasons with the Royals. His walk total was 561, while he struck out only 457 times. Mayberry supplied the Royals of the 1970s with power, hitting 143 home runs with the Royals. His high was 34 in 1975. Eric Hosmer had a WAR of 14.2 in seven seasons in Kansas City. That number is depressed by poor defensive metrics. He didn't look that bad defensively to me. Steve 'Bye Bye” Balboni gets a mention here by virtue of a 36 home run season in 1985 and a cool nickname.

Second base: Frank White White had an OPS of only .675 during his 18 seasons with the Royals, but his glove provided a lot of value. Frank won 8 gold gloves and appeared in 5 all star games while with the Royals. Overall, White's WAR was 34.7. While White wasn't a huge contributor on offense, he did have some decent power numbers late in his career. From 1982-87 Frank hit double digits in dingers. He topped out at 22 in 1985 and 1986. I was surprised to see how well Mark Grudzielanek played for the Royals during his three season with the Royals. Mark put up a WAR of 8.2 during that time and won a gold glove in 2006. He might have prevailed if he had spent more time with the Royals. Current second baseman, Whit Merrifield could well enter the discussion in a couple of years.

Shortstop: Freddie Patek Beyond the notoriety of being one of the shortest men in baseball at 5'5”, Freddie was a pretty good ballplayer. Patek was another longtime Royal, playing 9 seasons in Kansas City, putting up a WAR of 20.4. While Freddie had an OPS of only .630, he supplemented that with speed on the bases, stealing 336 during his time with the Royals. Freddie was a three time all star and put up an amazing defensive WAR of 3.2 in 1972. While Patek's offensive numbers look paltry by today's standards, he played in a different era, on a team that emphasized small ball, no pun intended (okay, maybe a little bit intended). U. L. Washington gets a mention here because he spent 9 seasons with the Royals, and played with a toothpick in his mouth. Greg Gagne also spent three seasons with the Royals and put up some pretty good numbers, compiling a WAR of 6.5.

Third base: George Brett I'm a Chicago baseball fan, but George Brett is one of my favorite non-Chicago ballplayers of all time. George was a great ballplayer who played the game with flair. In 21 seasons with the Royals, George put up a WAR of 88.4, but that doesn't tell the whole story. He was great in post season play, putting up an OPS of 1.023. He hit, he hit when it mattered most, and hit off tough pitchers. For me, the most memorable George Brett at bat was his three run homer off Goose Gossage in game 3 of the 1980 ALCS. I believe that's the most memorable moment in Royals history and it's appropriate that Brett was responsible for it. Three times George led the AL in OPS. In 1980 he made a run a hitting .400 for a season, coming in at .390. George Brett, a great ballplayer and a gamer.

Left field: Alex Gordon While Bo Jackson was the most spectacular left fielder in Royals history, Alex Gordon has been the best. Gordon combined a good bat with gold glove defense and excellent base running skills to be a valuable ballplayer. Gordon is a three time all star and 5 time gold glove winner. He seems to be in decline now, but has a total WAR of 32.7. He recorded a WAR of 7.2 in 2011 and has two other seasons with a WAR over six. Early on, he was thought to be George Brett lite. While that hasn't proven to be the case, Gordon has been a very good ballplayer for the Royals. Alex is yet another guy who has had a long run with the Royals, having played there for 11 years thus far.

Center field: Amos Otis Amos was yet another guy who was fast, good defensively and productive with the bat. As seems to be true with the Royals more than most teams, Amos spent a lot of time with the team, playing 14 seasons in Kansas City. Amos' WAR was 44.6 in his tenure with the Royals. Amos won three gold gloves and was a five time all star. Otis had 5 seasons with a WAR of 4 or more. His best season was 1978 when his WAR was 7.4. That was also his best season with the bat. Amos had an OPS of .905 that season. He did that while making Olive Oyl look fat. Johnny Damon had a couple of outstanding seasons with the Royals before moving on in free agency. In 1999 he had a WAR of 5.4. In 200 he upped that to 6.1. He scored 100+ runs three times. In 2000 in he led the AL in runs scored with 136.  Lorenzo Cain also deserves some recognition.  If he had more time with the Royals he might be the choice.  He's a lot like Amos Otis in that he has an all around game.  In 7 years he's put up a WAR of 27.7 with a peak of 7.2 in 2015.  

Right field: Danny Tartabull Danny gets the position over Jermaine Dye and David DeJesus. Tartabull had three seasons with 100 or more RBIs in his five years with the Royals. Basically, Danny was able to outhit his glove. Jermaine Dye was similar to Tartabull in that he was a bat first guy who was a run producer. Dye drove in 119 runs in 1999 and 118 in 2000. He would probably have been the choice in right field if he had spent a little more time with the Royals. David DeJesus was a solid player for the Royals for Royals who played all three outfield positions but was a little too light with the bat to get a position on this team.

DH: Hal McRae One of the reasons the Royals were successful despite not having big sticks in some positions was because they had Hal McRae as DH. Hal spent 15 productive season with the Royals, but exploded for a 133 RBI season in 1982. Hal ran the bases very aggressively. If he ran them that way today, he would be suspended half the time. In 1976, Hal led the AL in OBP with a mark of .406 and OBP at .868. For his time with the Royals, Hal finished with an OPS of .814, which is good, but even better considering the era he played in.

So there are my picks for the Royals. What do you think? Agree? Disagree? Let me know.

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