Royals decline qualifying offers for Kendrys Morales, Edinson Volquez

Royals general manager Dayton Moore and top lieutenant J.J. Picollo sauntered into the outdoor lobby of the Omni Scottsdale Resort & Spa at just past 2:15 p.m. on Monday afternoon, heading to the front desk on the first day of the annual general managers meetings, the unofficial start of baseball’s offseason.

For the next four days, as the sport convenes in Scottsdale, the Royals will continue to sketch out their blueprint for the offseason. But as Moore and Picollo checked, the club quietly finished another piece of housekeeping that could shape their decision-making this winter.

The Royals on Monday opted against offering $17.2 million qualifying offers to two pending free agents — designated hitter Kendrys Morales and right-handed pitcher Edinson Volquez — before the 4 p.m. deadline, a source familiar with the situation confirmed to The Star.

Morales and Volquez are now free to sign with any team starting on Tuesday. The Royals will not receive draft-pick compensation if they sign elsewhere.

The decisions were not a surprise, though the Royals thought hard about extending a qualifying offer to Morales, a 33-year-old switch hitter coming off two productive seasons. If Morales would have been likely to decline, the Royals would have delivered an offer to recoup a draft pick.

But in the end, the Royals were not willing to risk paying more than $17 million for Morales, a designated hitter with an OPS (on-base-plus-slugging percentage) just 8 percent better than league average in 2016. The same logic existed for Volquez, a right-hander who helped the Royals win the World Series championship in 2015 before imploding last season.

In 34 starts, the 32-year-old Volquez posted a 5.37 ERA in 189  1/3 innings. His WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) ballooned above 1.54 for the first time since 2013. By September, he had become one of baseball's worst starters.

In the weeks after the regular season, Moore indicated that the Royals’ 2017 payroll could “regress a bit” from the $140 million they spent in 2016. From that sense, it made little fiscal sense to risk splurging on Morales or Volquez.

Morales and Volquez had previously opted to decline mutual options in their contracts for next season. Volquez walked away from a $10 million mutual option, while Morales said no to an $11 million option, each electing to enter free agency. That set up Monday’s decision.

If either player would have declined a qualifying offer and signed elsewhere, the Royals would have received an extra draft pick in the first or second rounds. But neither Morales nor Volquez were in position to pass on a qualifying offer without giving it serious consideration.

In 2013, a 30-year-old Morales declined a qualifying offer from the Seattle Mariners. But with teams forced to surrender a draft pick to sign him, his value flatlined. Morales waited until June to sign with the Minnesota Twins. And when the season was over, with his stock still depressed, he signed a two-year deal with the Royals, filling a DH role vacated by the departure of Billy Butler.

For two seasons, Morales offered solid return on the investment. In 2015, he posted an .847 OPS, helping solidify an offense that helped the Royals claim their first world championship in 30 years. In 2016, he shook off an abysmal start and clubbed 30 homers, becoming the first Royal since Jermaine Dye in 2000 to finish with at least 30.

The Royals could attempt to bring back Morales or Volquez on more team-friendly deals, with the guaranteed money stretched out over multiple seasons. The market for starting pitchers is considerably thin, and even someone like Volquez will likely command a one-year deal worth $8 to $10 million.

In the case of Morales, the club has also mulled using an internal rotation at the DH spot, using the position to give at-bats to Cheslor Cuthbert — who is set to lose his starting job at third base to a healthy Mike Moustakas — as well as a way to give more rest to catcher Salvador Perez and outfielders Alex Gordon and Lorenzo Cain.

In addition to Morales and Volquez, the Royals’ other pending free agents, including reserve catcher Drew Butera, right-handed pitcher Kris Medlen and right-handed reliever Peter Moylan, are free to sign with other teams beginning on Tuesday.

This story was originally published November 7, 2016 at 3:47 PM with the headline "Royals decline qualifying offers for Kendrys Morales, Edinson Volquez."