The Royals acquired Kelvin Gutiérrez from the Nationals in 2018 along with two other prospects for Kelvin Herrera. In my opinion, Gutiérrez is the best of the three players the Royals got in return; in fact, I believe Gutiérrez has a future with the Royals. In 2020, Gutiérrez spent most of the season on the injured list. However he was able to get nine at bats in the big leagues. During his nine at bats, Gutiérrez struggled with only one hit. Despite his offensive struggles in 2019 and 2020, I still believe we could see the pop in his bat increase heading into the 2021 season. I think with the way Gutiérrez is built, 6’2, 220lb’s, he could have potential power heading into next season. According to MLB.com Prospect Watch, they believed Gutierrez was one of the best pure hitters in the Nationals minor league system in 2017, before being traded to the Royals. Not to mention, MLB.com says he has above average power in his bat. Besides his offense, Gutierrez is a top notch defensive player. In my opinion, I believe Gutierrez has gold glove potential with his great glove work, foot work, and great arm. In fact, I think he will be better defensively at third base than Mike Moustakas. However, I don’t think Gutierrez will have as much pop in his bat as Moustakas did, but I still think he could be a power threat. I think Gutierrez’s power potential will be in the middle of the pack when comparing him to other third basemen around the league. I truly think Gutierrez’s offensive numbers will be similar to Jean Segura and Tommy Edman’s offensive numbers last season. I believe Edman has plenty of potential for the Cardinals; and this leads me to my final point. With Gutierrez being only two years younger than Miakel Franco, the Royals are very likely to non-tender Franco due to his possible expensive arbitration numbers. The Royals will have multiple players that are arbitration eligible that are definitely part of KC’s long-term plans. Gutierrez is arbitration eligible as well, but he is going to be more cost efficient for the Royals in 2021 and beyond. I believe we could see Gutierrez take the third base job if he produces in spring training in 2021.
