Royals bolster outfield defense with free-agent signing of Michael A. Taylor
Under general manager Dayton Moore, the Kansas City Royals have prioritized having a highly athletic defender patrolling center field at Kauffman Stadium, one of the largest ballparks in the majors. So it’s in that vein that the club announced the signing of free-agent outfielder Michael A. Taylor on Monday.
The deal with Taylor is for one year and $1.75 million, plus up to an additional $1 million in performance bonuses based on plate appearances, a source with knowledge of the contract told The Kansas City Star.
The Royals designated left-handed pitcher Foster Griffin, who underwent Tommy John surgery this summer, for assignment to make room for Taylor on the 40-man roster.
“We’ve talked repeatedly about the importance of having at least two players on your roster that can play center field and play it at an elite level,” Moore said. “Michael Taylor can do that. I think there’s still some untapped potential there. He would be the first to tell you, he hasn’t been as consistent as he’d like. He’s been a part of world championship teams.”
Rated among the top 50 prospects by Baseball America going into the 2015 season, the 6-foot-4, 215-pound right-handed hitter made his big-league debut in a short late-summer stint in 2014.
Taylor, 29, has played the past seven major-league seasons, all with the Washington Nationals, who drafted him in the sixth round in 2009. He set career highs in 2017 with 23 doubles, 19 home runs, a .271 batting average and .806 OPS but only hit .196 this past season in 38 games.
He hit .316 (12-for-38) with four home runs and 10 RBIs in 16 career playoff games, including a home run in Game 2 of the Nationals’ victorious World Series in 2019.
Taylor’s combination of speed and raw power attracted the Royals. Taylor’s high strikeout rate was something both the front office and Taylor acknowledged needs improvement, but defense factors in more prominently at that position.
“We certainly recognize some of the ways that Michael needs to improve offensively,” Moore said. “Michael understands that as well. We believe there’s some upside there. But the ability to play that position is really important and how it factors in throughout 162 games.
“We’re not done with trying to add to our lineup with more guys that can get on base and give us a professional at-bat. We do think Michael will continue to get better. We don’t think he’s reached his ceiling by any means.”
Asked if the Taylor signing makes it more or less likely the Royals make more additions to the outfield, Moore said the versatility of Whit Merrifield and Hunter Dozier “opens up a lot of different opportunities for our team, but we’re focused on a middle of the order bat or continuing to be able to lengthen out our lineup a little bit.”
Taylor joins an outfield that lost franchise cornerstone Alex Gordon to retirement this offseason. He lauded the atmosphere surrounding the organization, particularly after having spoke with manager Mike Matheny and Moore on the phone.
“The culture that they have over there is special,” Taylor said from Florida on a video conference call. “As a player you want to be in a place, one, where the team wants you, and it’s just a good fit for me personally. Obviously, physically, it’s a big outfield and I love playing defense.”
Moore said manager Matheny will have the final say on the lineup, but Taylor will get the chance to win the starting job.
While Taylor said playing time certainly factored into his decision, he did not view the starting job as guaranteed and he wants to “earn it.”
Taylor said he’s made changes to his swing — he eliminated a leg kick — and approach at the plate in recent seasons in efforts to put the ball in play more regularly and cut down his strikeouts. He does hope steady playing time will spark more consistent production.
“I think when you can have consistent at-bats, it’s easier to get up to game speed,” Taylor said. “When you’re playing every few days or sporadically, it can be tough to be on time at the plate. That’s kind of what brought on this swing change. It was out of necessity when I wasn’t getting everyday at-bats. …
“I’m definitely looking forward to it. I think it allows me to do a lot of things on the field outside of hitting, just getting a rhythm on the bases also, getting comfortable stealing bags or playing defense. When you have limited opportunities, you kind of sometimes fall in that trap of trying to do everything every day.”
This story was originally published November 30, 2020 at 1:34 PM.
