When the Royals are bad—which has been most of the time over an almost 40-year stretch, if we’re being honest—it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between the many players who appear on the Major League roster only to disappear and seemingly never be heard from again. Hardcore Royals fans can come up with a list of these dudes: Tug Hulett, Brandon Duckworth, Lucas May, Terry Stockman, Scott Elarton, Abraham Almonte, Ryan Goins, Domingo Tapia, Tony Cogan.
These players can be referred to as another title: replacement-level players. With 150 full-season professional teams in Major League Baseball and roster sizes of 25-35, there are over 4,000 professional baseball players floating around at any given time.