The Royals announced Monday that outfielder Randal Grichuk declined his half of a $5MM mutual option. He’ll be paid a $3MM buyout and return to free agency.
Grichuk, 34, was acquired from the Diamondbacks prior to the trade deadline in a deal that sent reliever Andrew Hoffmann back to Arizona. He’d been in the midst of a roughly average year at the plate and came to Kansas City with a strong track record of pummeling left-handed pitching. He didn’t produce in his new surroundings, however, as his .206/.267/.299 slash in 105 plate appearances with K.C. dropped his season-long batting line to a well below average .228/.273/.401.
As recently as 2024, Grichuk mashed at a .291/.348/.528 pace (139 wRC+) with a dozen homers in only 279 plate appearances for the D-backs. The majority of his production that year came versus left-handed pitching, which has been the righty-swinging Grichuk’s bread and butter throughout his big league career. He’s a lifetime .268/.318/.500 hitter when holding the platoon advantage, compared to a .241/.287/.446 hitter in right-on-right situations.
Earlier in his career, Grichuk was a capable center fielder, but his sprint speed has dropped more than a foot per second since its peak levels, per Statcast. He now ranks in the 41st percentile of big leaguers in terms of sprint speed. Grichuk has a strong arm, so he’s a capable corner outfielder even with the diminished speed, but he’s at best an occasional backup in center at this point. He played exactly one inning of center field with the D-backs and one with the Royals.
At 34 and coming off a down season, Grichuk isn’t going to find a robust market. However, he’s an established veteran with a lengthy track record who could hold down the short side of a corner outfield platoon while providing a serviceable backup across all three outfield spots, should his next team incur an injury among its starting group. He’ll probably be capped at a relatively affordable one-year deal once again, though some teams will surely prefer to wait and see if he’ll accept a non-roster invite to spring training later in the offseason.