Blanco spent the past four seasons as a deep outfielder in Kansas City. He played in nearly half of the team’s games from 2023 to 2024, but wasn’t much of a factor last year. Blanco appeared in nine games and had just eight at-bats at the Major League level. He went 1-6 with a double, while stealing three bases in five attempts.
The 32-year-old (33 in April) missed the first six weeks of the season as he battled Achilles tendonitis in his right foot. He was nursed back to health in mid-May and spent most of the year on an optional assignment. The Cuban hit .253/.332/.405 with eight homeruns over 294 at-bats in Triple-A. He stole 32 bags while being finished just three times in 77 games.
Blanco is a right-handed hitter and has league averages (.257/.312/.416) over 285 MLB plate appearances. The Royals were apparently skeptical that this would remain the case with a larger sample size. Kansas City’s outfielders had an MLB-worst batting line of .225/.285/.348 last season. While the outfield has been an issue for well over a decade, the Royals have never really given Blanco a starting opportunity.
They had him kept as a bench player on the big league roster for the second half of 2023 and all of ’24. Blanco’s top-notch wheels made him an asset as a pinch runner. He went 55-67 in stolen base attempts during that season and a half. Blanco appeared in 48 games as a pinch runner. No one else in the MLB even reached 20 pinch-running appearances in those two full seasons.
Kansas City has five days to trade Blanco or put him on waivers. He still has a few minor league options left. He’s on the older side for a player whose game is built so much around his legs, as he didn’t leave his home country until age 23 and made his MLB debut at age 29.
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