Royals Add Brandon Moss For Two Years, $12 Million

Power hitting outfielder/first baseman Brandon Moss is heading west across I-70 from St. Louis to Kansas City, where he'll likely take over Kendrys Morales' old spot at DH. The Royals lack one big impact hitter (a Josh Donaldson or a Kris Bryant), but instead have plenty of depth in terms of solid to above average hitting. In addition to Moss, Eric Hosmer, Alex Gordon, Mike Moustakas, Lorenzo Cain, and Salvador Perez all project to fall into that category, and if Cheslor Cuthbert and Jorge Soler can find at bats and perform to what they're capable of, that is one deep lineup. Moss was a bit of a late bloomer as a hitter, but since his breakout season in 2012, he has hit at least 19 home runs and slugged at least .407 in each of the past five seasons, topping out with 30 home runs in 2013 and coming close with 28 home runs last year. Unfortunately, since he slashed .291/.358/.596 in 2012, his batting average and on-base percentage have fallen each year, with the former dropping from .291 to .256, .234, .226, and .225, and the latter falling from .358 to .337, .334, .304, and .300, respectively. Having turned 33 in September, Moss could be on the downswing of his career, but as long as he keeps providing big time power, he still has plenty of value. For his career, the slugger from Loganville, Georgia has 138 home runs, 145 doubles, and a .241 average over 898 games.