The Kansas City Royals knew that this was coming, of course.
When they acquired Mike Yastrzemski in a trade deadline deal with the San Francisco Giants, he only had a few months remaining on his contract. He was always due to become a free agent.
The Royals did the deal anyway, a chance to inject a spark into their club for the final few months of the season.
In the end, though, Kansas City didn't make the playoffs, and now Yaz is a free agent.
So now what?
ESPN's Jeff Passan offered this brief assessment of Yastrzemski's free agency in a Tuesday article:
"The mediocre outfield market should benefit the 35-year-old, who's as consistent a two-win player as there is."
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It seems likely that Kansas City would at least offer another contract to Yastrzemski. Trading for him in a hoped-for playoff push that never materialized and then just letting him walk would be quite underwhelming.
But with his famous last name and his steady game, Yastrzemski could get a slightly bigger offer from someone else that the Royals don't want to match.
It won't make or break an offseason to end up with Yaz, but it's the type of lowkey move that can keep a team moving in the right direction. The Royals could put themselves in the picture to keep him around.
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