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The Kansas City Royals have two World Series titles that help form the list of the greatest players in franchise history. Their 1985 title was led by George Brett, and their ragtag 2015 group featured Salvador Perez, who will certainly be on the list. Plus, a recent MVP runner-up is making a case to join them. But who else joins them in Royals history? Check out the gallery for the greatest Kansas City baseball players ever.
#1: George Brett (1973-93)
There is no debate about who the greatest Royals player of all time is. George Brett leads the franchise in many categories, including hits, doubles, triples, homers, RBIs, and walks. He won the 1980 American League MVP and the 1985 American League Championship Series MVP. In 21 seasons with the Royals, Brett made 13 All-Star Games, won three batting titles, and is in the Hall of Fame.
The Royals retired Brett's number five, one of two players with their number in the rafters. Brett was the superstar for the 1985 championship team and was a leader for them for many years before and after. The former second-round pick became the greatest player in Kansas City's history.
#2: Bret Saberhagen (1984-91)
Bret Saberhagen is the greatest pitcher in Royals history despite a short stint in Kansas City. He came up in 1984 as a 20-year-old and split time between the rotation and the bullpen. But over the next five years, he was a mainstay in their rotation as one of the best pitchers in baseball. Saberhagen won the 1985 and 1989 American League Cy Young Awards and won the 1985 World Series MVP.
In the 1985 postseason, Saberhagen made four starts, pitched 25.1 innings, posted a 2.13 ERA, and won the World Series MVP. In Game 7 of the World Series, he threw a five-hit, complete-game shutout in the 11-0 win over the St Louis Cardinals. Combine the regular season and postseason greatness, and the greatest pitcher in Royals history is no debate.
#3: Amos Otis (1970-83)
Next on the list of greatest Royals players ever is one of the few without a championship. Amos Otis joined the Royals in 1970, just their second season in the major leagues. They weren't very good that year, winning just 65 games, but Otis made the All-Star Game and led the American League in doubles. He continued to be a team leader, with five total All-Star nods and four top-ten MVP finishes.
Otis was vital to the 1980 Royals team that made the World Series and lost to the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series. He hit .429 with a 1.245 OPS in the nine games of that postseason. That includes multiple hits in each of the first five games of the World Series before going hitless in the deciding Game 6.
#4: Salvador Perez (2011-present)
The first current Royals player on the list is Salvador Perez. Since 2011, he has been the catcher in Kansas City, winning five Gold Gloves and five Silver Sluggers. He is now the captain of the team, leading a young group despite some diminishing returns offensively. He has the second-highest defensive bWAR in franchise history is sixth in overall bWAR among position players.
Perez won the 2015 World Series MVP thanks to a .364 batting average and .846 OPS during the series against the Mets. He had the game-winning RBI in Game 4, which gave Kansas City a 3-1 series lead. Plus, he led the way for a historically great bullpen and the second title in franchise history.
#5: Alex Gordon (2007-20)
Alex Gordon was another key member of the 2014 and 2015 Kansas City Royals clubs. He won eight Gold Gloves and two Platinum Gloves in his career, all in left field. His .748 career regular-season OPS made him a two-way menace for other teams in the American League. And both of those skills carried into the postseason, where he posted a .731 career OPS.
Gordon was the second-overall pick and came up at 23 years old in 2007. But he struggled both offensively and defensively, prompting a move to left field. He became one of the best defensive left fielders in the game for his entire career. While he won't be in Cooperstown consideration, Gordon is certainly one of the top players in Royals history.
#6: Willie Wilson (1976-90)
Willie Wilson is one of two players in Royals history to hit over 100 triples, joining Brett in that group. He also led all of baseball with 83 steals in 1979, the franchise record for a single season. Wilson's 612 stolen bases mark one of the few franchise records Brett does not have. A traditional speed demon, he lasted 19 years in the bigs playing mostly centerfield.
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Wilson's improvements from the 1980 postseason to 1985 were a key reason the Royals won the title that year. He hit .205 with only two steals in October 1980. Five years later, he hit .339 with three steals, helping Kansas City win the title. The 1982 batting champion comes in sixth on our list.
#7: Kevin Appier (1989-99, 2003-04)
Another pitcher comes here at seven, as Kevin Appier lands on the greatest Royals of all-time list. He is another player who did not make any World Series appearances but had an excellent career with Kansas City. In his first run with KC, he made just one All-Star game and received Cy Young votes just once. But his 1993 season was a highlight in a dark era, winning the ERA title and finishing third in Cy Young voting.
Appier left after the 1999 season and bounced around for a few years. He landed with the Angels, where he won the 2002 World Series. He made six starts in the two seasons during his second run with the Royals before retiring.
#8: Frank White (1973-90)
Frank White is one of two Royals players with his number retired. He went to high school in Kansas City, spent his entire Major League career with the Royals, and was the Jefferson County Executive in retirement. While he is deep on the list of greatest players in franchise history, White is nothing short of a fan favorite. He racked up eight Gold Gloves at second base and posted the best defensive bWAR in franchise history.
White won the 1980 ALCS MVP, going 6-11 in a three-game sweep of the Yankees. His offense disappeared in the World Series, hitting just .080 with a .195 OPS against the Phillies. He put together a serious World Series MVP case with a .787 OPS and six RBIs in the seven games, but Saberhagen snagged it.
#9: Zach Greinke (2004-10, 2022-23)
Zach Greinke, who spent nine seasons in Kansas City across two stints, comes in ninth on the Royals' all-time list. He won the 2009 American League Cy Young Award, leading baseball with a 2.16 ERA that season. While he did not snag a ring with the 2015 squad, his career between Kansas City stints made him a Hall of Fame candidate. If he goes in, he should be donning a KC cap due to his great seasons with the team.
Greinke came back to the Royals for the 2022 and 2023 campaigns. He struggled, posting a 4.38 ERA in 56 appearances, pitching in front of a dreadful squad. He is 21st in career strikeouts with 2,979, recently passed by his former teammate Clayton Kershaw. Even though there were a lot of years with more playoff success, there were no better years in Greinke's career than the ones in Kansas City.
#10: Bobby Witt Jr (2022-present)
The Royals had not made the playoffs since their World Series win entering the 2024 campaign. But shortstop Bobby Witt Jr presented their best chance to do so last season. He had an incredible third season, posting a 9.4 bWAR, tied for the highest single-season total in Royals history. Even though he finished second to Aaron Judge in MVP voting, that season is enough to put him on this list, with some projection involved as well.
There is a great deal of conversation surrounding small-market teams versus big-market teams in modern baseball. Small-market teams develop stars, but they often cannot afford to pay them, and they leave for a select few clubs. But Witt bucked that trend, signing a deal that could keep him with the Royals through 2037.
