3 Kansas City Royals Who Definitely Won't Be Back in 2025

The Kansas City Royals had an unexpected playoff appearance this season, as their rebuild came to fruition.

But their ALDS loss to the New York Yankees still means that there's more work to do. And they'll get at it this winter.

There will be some easy decisions to make as to which players won't be back in 2025. Starting with these 3:

Adam Frazier

The former All-Star completely bottomed out this season after signing a one-year deal in KC, batting just .202 with a 63 OPS+, both career lows. His slash line was 202/.282/.294 with four home runs and 22 RBIs in 104 games. The $4.5 million deal the Royals gave him this year was a big overpay. He will not be back.

Robbie Grossman

The veteran outfielder performed even more poorly than Frazier in his short stay in Kansas City, batting just .125 in 38 plate appearances. It was a deadline add that didn't pay dividends. He wasn't even on the roster for either the Wild Card Series or the ALDS. At age 35, he'll be searching for a new team in 2025.

Will Smith

After being a part of three straight World Series winners with three different clubs over the last three years, the Royals were hoping that Smith could bring that same sort of mojo to their 2024 campaign. It didn't happen. In fact, Smith, 34, had the worst season of his career—by a long shot—with a 6.53 ERA. His gig as the Royals closer lasted precisely one game this season before he was demoted to a low-leverage role.