Royals approaching critical benchmark with young stars Adalberto Mondesi, Brad Keller
Shortstop Adalberto Mondesi and starting pitcher Brad Keller figure prominently in the Kansas City Royals plans for at least the next three seasons. However, their 2021 salaries remain up in the air for the time being.
Mondesi, a 25-year-old switch-hitter with five-tool potential playing a premium position, and Keller, a 25-year-old right-handed pitcher and budding ace of the pitching staff, head into their first spring as arbitration-eligible players.
The Royals have both Mondesi and Keller, who share a birthday, under team control through the 2023 season. The club and the players have yet to reach agreements on salaries for this coming season, though the front office certainly appears open to long-term agreements.
Friday marks the deadline for MLB clubs and arbitration-eligible players to agree on contract terms. If they fail to reach an agreement, they must exchange salary figures as the first step in the arbitration process.
The exchange or figures sets the stage for a hearing between the club and the player in front of a panel of arbitrators in February. If the sides don’t reach a deal prior to a hearing, the arbitration panel will determine the player’s salary for the upcoming season, selecting either the team’s figure or the player’s figure.
During general manager Dayton Moore’s tenure, the Royals have gone beyond the deadline multiple times before reaching contract agreements, including with former star first baseman Eric Hosmer.
Hosmer and the Royals were within days of a hearing in 2015 when Hosmer signed a two-year deal.
Relief pitcher Kelvin Herrera and Hosmer each surpassed the deadline before the 2017 season. The club ultimately reached agreements on contracts with them before participating in arbitration hearings.
The only case to go through the full arbitration process between the Royals and a player during Moore’s tenure came in 2018, when pitcher Brandon Maurer filed for a $3.5 million salary and the Royals ultimately won the hearing and Maurer made $2.95 million.
Having not yet agreed on salary figures with Mondesi and Keller might also serve as the precursor to multi-year extensions with either or both.
Buying out the remaining years or arbitration would provide a measure of cost certainty for the club as well as guaranteed money for the players.
The Royals bought out all three arbitration-eligible years of Whit Merrifield’s career with a four-year extension prior to the 2019 season.
Moore’s stance has always been that the club prefers to lock up young players developed in their farm system to multi-year deals. He reiterated that last week when asked by The Star about potential long-term extensions for Mondesi and Keller.
“All of our players, especially the homegrown guys that we think are entering the prime of their careers — we want to do our best to keep them here long-term,” Moore said. “You can assume that we’re always having those discussions. … We’ll always do our best to keep our good players here as long as we can.”
If the club and the players don’t agreed to terms on long-term deal this offseason, that doesn’t preclude the sides reaching such a deal in the future. Neither Mondesi nor Keller will reach free agency until after the 2023 season. They’ll both be arbitration eligible again in 2022 and 2023.
“Of course, when we evaluate a player that we think has a chance to be successful over the next four to eight years, we want first crack at them,” Moore said. “Certainly there’s a financial analysis that goes into that. If it matches up with the medical analysis, the statistical analysis, the scouting analysis — if all of those things match up with the financial analysis — we’ll probably get a deal. Sometimes it just doesn’t (match up).”
