For every gamble that works out when the KC Royals are able to sign a player for a low dollar contract, there are several that do not. In recent memory, Homer Bailey turned out to be a decent signing that returned some value. I do not include Mike Moustakas as a brilliant maneuver by KC since the rest of the league blew the chance to sign him and he fell back into the team’s lap by pure luck.
On the negative side, there are many more examples including just last year’s signings of Jason Duda (again), Chris Owings, and Billy Hamilton that return little to no value in trades or are flat-out released.