Utility Futility
The World Champion Dodgers' roster in 2024 was the envy of many teams. One of their utility infielders in 2024 was Miguel Rojas. On the season, Rojas had a .337 on base percentage and 113 OPS+. He was worth 3.5 WAR in only 337 plate appearances (by comparison, Adam Frazier had only 43 fewer plate appearances than Rojas, but was worth 3.2 WAR less). The Royals, on the other hand, often fail to find adequate utility players. Here are some telling statistics from the Royals 2024 utility players:
For example, Nick Loftin was given some playing time early in the season before being relegated to Omaha. He accumulated 171 plate appearances, but hit a meager .189 and slugged .236. He is probably a better major league hitter than what the 2024 stats indicate (in 2023 he hit .323 and slugged .425). He would probably be about a .250/.300/.350 hitter, given enough big league at bats. Even in his short time in 2024, he was worth 0.2 WAR and his OBP was the exact same as Adam Frazier. In Omaha he had a .409 on base percentage over 254 plate appearances. He has the ability to play multiple positions. Had he been on the big league team for the season instead of Hampson or Frazier, he would probably have been as productive as either of them and would've been a more developed major league hitter heading into 2025.
Even Drew Waters would’ve probably been an improvement over Frazier and Hampson. He had a .379 OBP in Omaha over 457 plate appearances. He was only given 19 big league plate appearances in 2024. Still, he had an OPS+ of 63, matching Hampson and Frazier, and his OBP was .316. If Loftin and Waters had been given an opportunity to be role players in 2024 instead of Frazier (who was 32 years-old) and Hampson (who was 29 years-old), they would’ve likely combined to be more productive than the older duo, and the Royals would’ve saved several millions of dollars.
Signing veteran utility players has been a weakness of Royals’ general managers. In 2023, they signed Matt Duffy during the offseason to be a utility player. The veteran’s triple slash line was .251/.306/.325 with an OPS+ of 73 – meh. This offseason, it would behoove the front office to either sign veteran utility players who have a career OBP north of .300 or pull up some AAA minor leaguers and give them a shot (it’s probably now or never for guys like Loftin and Waters, who will be both be 26 years-old when the new season rolls around).