Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas sat on the bench in Sunday afternoon’s series finale against the Mariners. He watched as his team scored nine runs without him. His replacement, Danny Valencia, went 2-for-4 out of the cleanup spot.
That could become a more frequent occurrence. Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star reports that the Royals will decide on Tuesday if they will demote Moustakas to Triple-A Omaha. It’s one of several scenarios in which the club would get another reliever onto the roster.
Moustakas, 25, was once a can’t-miss prospect taken in the first round (second overall) in the 2007 draft -- immediately after the Rays selected David Price -- but this is now his fourth season without any progress made at the plate. He sits with a .147/.215/.321 slash line and has very little projectability left. In fact, Moustakas could be a change-of-scenery candidate as he becomes eligible for arbitration for the first time after the season and will become progressively more expensive through the 2017 season before he is eligible for free agency.
