Did the Royals acquire a potential breakout performer in Franchy Cordero?
Outfielder Randy Arozarena went from part of a glut of outfield prospects in St. Louis to an under-the-radar trade acquisition to the star of the MLB playoffs for the Tampa Bay Rays. He’s become the latest and brightest chapter of the Rays’ roster-building folklore.
The Kansas City Royals may have pulled off their own coup this summer with a trade acquisition that took advantage of another organization’s wealth of outfielders and added a potentially electrifying athlete in outfielder Franchy Cordero.
Alex Gordon’s retirement appears to put Cordero in position to inherit the left field job as well as an opportunity to make good on that intriguing potential and elite raw skills he brought with him from the San Diego Padres’ organization. The Royals acquired him in a July trade in exchange for left-handed reliever Tim Hill while teams were still navigating summer camps/spring training 2.0.
“We didn’t get a chance to see Franchy Cordero like we expected and like we hoped,” Royals general manager Dayton Moore said at the end of the season. “... There’s a lot of ability there, always has been. We’ve had our eye on him for really the last three years.
“We tried to work deals to get him here in Kansas City. We were able to make that happen finally. There’s a lot of potential in him for a lot of reasons.”
The 6-foot-3, 226-pound left-handed hitting Cordero played in just 16 games this season, and a broken right hamate bone cost him a large portion of the season and likely have affected his performance in the early weeks of the season.
Injuries played a big part in the intrigue and availability of Cordero, 26, this summer. He’d reached the majors by the summer of 2017. From 2018-19, he played in just 49 major-league games as multiple injuries (forearm, elbow, quad) sidelined him and slowed his development.
Padres general manager A.J. Preller told reporters on a conference call announcing the trade in July, “The injuries Franchy has had, they should not be recurring type things. I think the biggest thing with the injury factor with Franchy is just the loss of the last couple years of development. … Basically, looking at three years where he just hasn’t gotten the at-bats he’s going to need.”
Due to the Padres outfield depth prior to the start of the regular season — they’ve since dealt away several additional outfielders — Cordero appeared slated for a platoon-type role at best in 2020.
“I was really surprised in the beginning,” Cordero said of the trade with Royals assistant strength and conditioning coach/Latin American coordinator Luis Perez translating in September. “The trade was kind of (unexpected). I was there for a really long time. Baseball is a business and I understand there are a lot of teams out there. I realize that this organization opened its arms and welcomed me.”
Rare speed and power combination
Originally signed out of the Dominican Republic as a shortstop in November 2011, he began his minor-league career on the infield before he converted to the outfield.
Cordero showed an elite speed and power combination during his time in the Padres organization. In 2017, the season he made his MLB debut, Cordero recorded the fourth-fastest sprint speed in the majors behind Billy Hamilton, Byron Buxton and Bradley Zimmer.
Cordero’s awe-inspiring power display during an early batting practice session at Kauffman Stadium on September 23 — he’d just become eligible to return from the 45-day injured list — prompted his insertion into the lineup against the St. Louis Cardinals.
“He just put on a show,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said of Cordero’s batting practice. “The ball was jumping. It just looked different. You know, we saw him not healthy [earlier in the season]. He was fighting the thing with his hand.”
Cordero had already left the ballpark for the day when he received a phone call around 2:30 in the afternoon alerting him he’d been activated and penciled into the starting lineup.
Cordero responded with two home runs, each eye-popping blasts that traveled more than 420 feet.
That in-game exhibition of power reinforced what he’d shown previously in his career as well as during his time at the alternate training site after his IL stint.
There was a period of time when Cordero and Jorge Soler were both working out daily at T-Bones Stadium. Royals director of hitting performance/player development Alec Zumwalt quipped, “We lost a lot of baseballs those days. Soler and him could go over the batter’s eye at T-Bones like it was nothing.”
Zumwalt went on to say of Cordero, “This guy has got some power potential that’s just not normal.”
Cordero and the Royals attempted to make at least one adjustment at the plate during this disjointed season of COVID. Cordero went to the club’s facility in Arizona after his hand procedure and started working with Single-A Lexington hitting coach Jesus Azuaje on elevating the ball more consistently.
Cordero posted a top-tier exit velocity (94.1 mph in 2018), but a below average launch angle (7.3 degrees).
“From the beginning of the year I was trying to get the ball in the air a little bit more,” Cordero said in September. “The injury got me to take a step back and work on some stuff.”
A high level of success
Cordero had turned his raw tools into production at the highest level of the minor leagues, something the Royals’ current top position player prospects haven’t yet done.
Cordero earned Triple-A All-Star honors from Baseball America and set a Triple-A record with 18 triples, tied for the most in the minor leagues in 2017. Cordero posted a slash line of .326/.369/.603 with 17 home runs, 21 doubles and 64 RBIs to go along with 18 triples in 93 games that season.
That success combined with his age and raw ability made Cordero a prospect the Royals couldn’t pass up on even as Moore continued to express confidence in their own homegrown outfielders such as Seuly Matias, Khalil Lee and Kyle Isbel.
“He’s a tremendous makeup guy, and he has great tools,” Moore said of Cordero. “He’s still very young.”
Moore specifically has been a big proponent of acquiring Cordero for a long time.
During his July trade call with reporters, Preller said of the trade talks, “Franchy was a guy (the Royals) continued to push on.”
Royals pick-ups
Right-handed pitcher Ronald Bolaños came with Cordero from the Padres as part of the July trade. Likely best-suited for a relief role, he made two starts in an “opener” capacity early in the season.
He tossed two scoreless in his first outing, and he got hit hard for five runs and two homers in less than two innings his second outing. He flashed a 95 mph fastball with a slider and curveball that could lend themselves to a power repertoire out of the bullpen.
Infielder Lucius Fox came over from the Tampa Bay Rays that sent outfielder Brett Phillips to the eventual AL champions. A switch-hitting 23-year-old infielder Fox’s athleticism stands out. He stole 37 bases for Double-A Montgomery last season, and the Royals hoped to work on his approach at the plate. However, a hamstring injury limited his work at the alternate site this summer.
Outfielder Edward Olivares was part of the outfield depth that initially allowed the Padres to deal Cordero. The Royals then acquired Olivares along with a player to be named later in exchange for Trevor Rosenthal, who will be a free agent this offseason.
Olivares needs some polishing, defensively. However, he is another intriguing athlete with above average speed, pop in his bat and an ability to make contact. He got off to a fast start offensively once promoted to the majors with the Royals, though he has a reputation as being a bit of a free swinger.
Right-handed pitcher Stephen Woods Jr. initially came over as a Rule 5 Draft pick from the Tampa Bay Rays last winter. He spent spring training and the hiatus between camps as a member of the Royals organization. However, the Royals eventually traded outfielder Michael Gigliotti for Woods in July.
Woods hadn’t pitched above High-A before this season, but his fastball-curveball combination showed enough potential for the Royals to want to hold onto him.
This story was originally published October 24, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Did the Royals acquire a potential breakout performer in Franchy Cordero?."
