MLB Franchise Four – Biggest Snubs for Each Team
Kansas City Royals – Amos Otis
Franchise Four: George Brett, Dan Quisenberry, Brett Saberhagen, Frank White
Coming off a World Series appearance in 2014, I honestly expected to see a little bit more love from Royals fans toward their current crop of players. With Alex Gordon on the ballot, and concurrently ranked fifth in career WAR for the Royals, it was almost expected that he would make the team. Alas, he did not.
However, I’m not here to advocate for Alex Gordon. Instead, I’m retroactively campaigning for another Royals’ outfielder that wasn’t part of the team’s Franchise Four; Amos Otis.
A five-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove winner, Otis was a fixture in center field for the Royals from 1970 through 1983. To this day, he ranks second to only George Brett in career WAR at 42.0, whereas he also ranks third in home runs with 193, third with 992 RBI, and second in runs scored with 1,074. Over the course of 1,891 games in Kansas City, Otis was a career .280/.347/.433 hitter with an OPS+ of 118.
Some consideration certainly could have been thrown to Kevin Appier or Mark Gubicza, but Otis stands out as the guy that likely should be standing up there instead of Frank White.
Next: Tigers - Mickey Lolich