Former Phillies slugger Maikel Franco is close to one-year deal with Royals
Kansas City Royals general manager Dayton Moore floated the possibility of adding a third baseman during last week’s MLB Winter Meetings in San Diego, and on Thursday the Royals closed in on signing former Philadelphia Phillies slugger Maikel Franco.
The Royals have yet to announce a signing but are closing in on an agreement. According to MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez, Franco would earn $2.95 million plus up to another $1.05 million in performance bonuses.
The 6-foot-1, 215-pound Franco, a native of the Dominican Republic, has spent his entire career with the Phillies. Last season, he batted .234 with a .297 OBP to go with 17 home runs, 56 RBIs and a .409 slugging percentage.
For his major-league career, Franco has a slash line of .249/.302/.431 with 102 home runs and 343 RBIs in 656 games. He posted 20-homer seasons in three consecutive seasons from 2016-18. In 2018, he was the only player in the majors with 20 home runs or more and 62 or fewer strikeouts.
The addition of Franco likely means last year’s starting third baseman, Hunter Dozier, will move to the outfield on a more permanent basis after he finished the 2019 season splitting time between third base and right field.
“We have two players on our 26-man roster who give us a lot of flexibility in Hunter Dozier and Whit Merrifield,” Moore said last week. “We can move Hunter to right. Hunter can play some first base. We know he can play some third.”
Dozier, who made his major-league debut as an outfielder in 2016, made 17 starts in right field this season, all after July 25. Dozier posted career highs in batting average (.279), OBP (.348), slugging percentage (.522), runs (75), doubles (29) triples (10), home runs (26) and RBIs (84).
A finalist in the fan voting to start at third base for the American League in this year’s All-Star Game, he became the first Royals player with at least 25 doubles, 10 triples and 25 home runs in a season, and he’s just the fifth player in the majors to reach that benchmark since 1990.
The move likely means Jorge Soler will serve as more of a full-time designated hitter, and appears to set up a potential outfield of seven-time Gold Glove winner Alex Gordon in left field, assuming he re-signs and doesn’t retire, reigning back-to-back AL hit king Merrifield in center field and Dozier in right field.
This story was originally published December 19, 2019 at 2:49 PM.
