5 Kansas City Royals players who won’t be on the big-league roster next season

Kansas City Royals who won't be back next season: Matt Duffy

Matt Duffy has been a very versatile player his whole career. This offseason, he signed a one-year $1.5 million contract with the Kansas City Royals. Signing with a rebuilding team like the Royals signals that the end of his career is near. His main attraction to the Royals is that he can play all infield positions, which is the same reason the Tampa Bay Rays and Chicago Cubs liked him.

While Duffy has been productive at times, he also hasn't helped the team much, if at all. In the 2023 season, he has played in 75 games and only brought in 13 RBIs with a single home run and a batting average of .249 to his name after all that time. While his contract is relatively cheap, his roster spot is very valuable for a rebuilding team to use to test the abilities of younger talent.

Instead of having Matt Duffy in the majors, they could instead call up one of their prospects named Devin Mann, who in 123 games slugged 20 home runs and brought in 86 RBIs, while also batting .277. While it's just minor-league games, if they don't add him to the 40-man roster soon, he could be scooped up during the Rule 5 Draft.