Ever since their World Series title in 2015, the Kansas City Royals franchise has gone downhill. The club has not experienced a winning season since then and has seemingly been in a full rebuild for the last half-decade.

The Royals have been especially quiet in free agency over the last few years. When the franchise has spent on players, they rarely last a full season before being traded away. Last winter, the club brought in Aroldis Chapman, Ryan Yarbrough, and Jordan Lyles. Chapman and Yarbrough were dealt away before the deadline, while Lyles has been so bad (4-15, 6.29 ERA) that no MLB team would want him on their roster. In fact, Kansas City has been something of a rebound stop for players coming off disappointing years, where players are allowed to flourish in a low-pressure scenario before departing for another team with a renewed sense of confidence.

Despite the team's recent struggles, the franchise has a number of talented young players to build around: Bobby Witt, Vinnie Pasquantino, Cole Ragans, and Maikel Garcia just to name a few. All it could take is a few key signings to reignite baseball in KC. Here are a few targets for the Royals this offseason.

Joey Gallo (1B/DH), Minnesota Twins

There was a point early in the 2023 season where Joey Gallo had seemingly rediscovered the the prowess at the plate that made him a two-time All-Star with the Texas Rangers. In the month of April, the lefty had an OPS of 1.063 with seven home runs. Since then, Gallo has struck out in more than half of his at-bats while batting just .164. After this year, Gallo will likely searching for his fifth club in four seasons, and Kansas City would be an excellent setting for him to rediscover his rhythm at the plate.

Martin Perez (SP), Texas Rangers

Looking back now, Perez's phenomenal 2022 season seems like something of a fluke. The lefty posted career bests in ERA (2.89) and strikeouts (169) en route to his first All-Star Game nomination. This season, Perez's ERA is back up (4.88) and he is barely striking out five batters per nine innings. In fact, 2022 was just the second time in his 12-year career that Perez had a season with a sub-4.00 ERA. Perez will turn 34 just after opening day in 2024, and with the Rangers likely moving on from the struggling lefty, Kansas would be a prime spot for Martin Perez to toil for a year or two.

Yasmani Grandal (C/1B), Chicago White Sox

Grandal's career has gone downhill ever since he signed for the Chicago White Sox. He is batting just .226 in his four years on the South Side with a miserable .378 slugging percentage and his defense has also been on the decline. It might be time for the 34-year-old to make a permanent move to first base, and the Royals do need more depth at that position.

Joc Pederson (OF/DH), San Francisco Giants

Pederson's 2022 basic stats so far are not all that impressive: a .239 batting average to go with 12 home runs and 44 RBI in 99 games. But his advanced metrics show a player that has drastically underperformed this year. Pederson's Expected Weighted On-base Average (xwOBA) — a stat that looks at the expected outcomes of a player's balls in play and walks based on run value — ranks in the 92nd percentile among MLB players. His xwOBA of .374 vastly exceeds his wOBA of .333, a sure sign of bad luck. The lefty also ranks in the 93rd percentile in hard-hit percentage and his expected batting average currently sits 27 points higher than his actual BA.

The Royals badly need an upgrade in their outfield, and Joc Pederson could be an affordable option this winter.