Whit Merrifield is Being Overlooked

The Kansas City Royals are terrible and there is no sugarcoating it.

At 27-68, the Royals are set for a gigantic rebuild. They want to get back to the point where the Hosmer’s of the world come up from their minor league system to lead them to a championship.

Currently the Royals do not have the best farm system (0 top 100 prospects according to MLB.com), nor the most money, which means they won’t be sniffing the World Series anytime soon. The solution to this problem, like I already said, is to rebuild. Starting a rebuild includes selling off pieces from the current roster to bulk up the farm system for the future. Some of the pieces the Royals could deal include Mike Moustakas, Danny Duffy, Lucas Duda, and Jason Hammel.

Another piece they can part ways with is Whit Merrifield, who is not getting enough recognition across the MLB.

Merrifield should be considered one of the best position players at the deadline, but no one is talking about him. Why? I have no idea. Merrifield can play multiple positions, from second to center field, while hitting .300+. Merrifield also has plenty of speed (17 SB) and a decent amount of pop (30 doubles) to contribute to a contender right away. So when teams talk about mortgaging their future to snatch-up someone like Manny Machado for half a season I scratch my head.

I’m not saying big name players like Machado aren’t worthy of a gigantic prospect package. They are hot commodities for a reason. But with teams like the Houston Astros, Boston Red Sox, and New York Yankees looking destined to be the final three teams in the American League pennant chase, why would someone like the Mariners sell the farm when they can snag someone like Merrifield? Low cost, very effective, and controllable for multiple seasons.

I know that I am no general manager, but it seems to me that Merrifield could be a huge steal for a team looking to make an impact in the 2018 MLB playoffs.

-Jarrod Ribaudo (@Jribs53)