Kansas City Royals and Pittsburgh Pirates players: who played for both
Who played for both the Royals and Pirates?
121 players played for both the Kansas City Royals and the Pittsburgh Pirates between 1969 and 2025, including Amos Otis, Freddie Patek, Jason Kendall and Jay Bell. 60 of them played for the Royals first and 55 for the Pirates first; 6 played for both in the same season.
Did you know?
- Bob Oliver is the earliest on this list to complete the pair: Pirates first, then the Royals from 1969.
- Tommy Pham is the most recent: Royals first, then the Pirates from 2025.
- Amos Otis played the most games across the two: 1,891 for the Royals and 40 for the Pirates.
- 14 of them had two or more separate spells with one of the teams, such as Joe Randa.
- Most common positions on this list: P (60), OF (28), C (9), SS (8).
How many can you name?
Name players who played for both the Royals and the Pirates. The surname is enough. 0 / 121
All 121 players, most games for the two first
| Player | Pos | Royals | Pirates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amos Otis | OF | 1970–1983 (1891 g) | 1984 (40 g) |
| Freddie Patek | SS | 1971–1979 (1245 g) | 1968–1970 (292 g) |
| Jason Kendall | C | 2010 (118 g) | 1996–2004 (1252 g) |
| Jay Bell | SS | 1997 (153 g) | 1989–1996 (1106 g) |
| Joe Randa | 3B | 1995–1996, 1999–2004 (1019 g) | 1997, 2006 (215 g) |
| Kevin Young | 1B | 1996 (55 g) | 1992–1995, 1997–2003 (1150 g) |
| Jeff King | 3B | 1997–1999 (307 g) | 1989–1996 (894 g) |
| Jose Lind | 2B | 1993–1995 (250 g) | 1987–1992 (779 g) |
| Omar Moreno | OF | 1985 (24 g) | 1975–1982 (944 g) |
| Ed Kirkpatrick | OF | 1969–1973 (613 g) | 1974–1977 (309 g) |
| Adam Frazier | 2B | 2024–2025 (160 g) | 2016–2021, 2025 (686 g) |
| U. L. Washington | SS | 1977–1984 (757 g) | 1986–1987 (82 g) |
| Don Slaught | C | 1982–1984 (250 g) | 1990–1995 (475 g) |
| Jose Guillen | OF | 2008–2010 (340 g) | 1997–1999 (336 g) |
| Jarrod Dyson | OF | 2010–2016, 2021 (627 g) | 2020 (21 g) |
| Emil Brown | OF | 2005–2007 (410 g) | 1997–2001 (196 g) |
| John Buck | C | 2004–2009 (584 g) | 2013 (9 g) |
| Jerry May | C | 1971–1973 (135 g) | 1964–1970 (417 g) |
| Joakim Soria | P | 2007–2011, 2016–2017 (427 g) | 2015 (29 g) |
| Matt Stairs | OF | 2004–2006 (330 g) | 2003 (121 g) |
| Jackie Hernandez | SS | 1969–1970 (228 g) | 1971–1973 (214 g) |
| Bob Oliver | 1B | 1969–1972 (422 g) | 1965 (3 g) |
| Adrian Brown | OF | 2004 (5 g) | 1997–2002 (408 g) |
| Jose Bautista | OF | 2004 (13 g) | 2004–2008 (400 g) |
| Dave Clark | OF | 1991 (11 g) | 1992–1996 (388 g) |
| Lonnie Smith | OF | 1985–1987 (302 g) | 1993 (94 g) |
| Onix Concepcion | SS | 1980–1985 (389 g) | 1987 (1 g) |
| Michael Taylor | OF | 2021–2022 (266 g) | 2024 (113 g) |
| Melky Cabrera | OF | 2011, 2017 (213 g) | 2019 (133 g) |
| Jim Rooker | P | 1969–1972 (115 g) | 1973–1980 (221 g) |
| Mike Williams | P | 1997 (10 g) | 1998–2003 (306 g) |
| Brandon Moss | OF | 2017 (118 g) | 2008–2010 (195 g) |
| Carl Taylor | C | 1971–1973 (152 g) | 1968–1969, 1971 (155 g) |
| Carlos Santana | 1B | 2021–2022 (210 g) | 2023 (94 g) |
| Grant Jackson | P | 1982 (20 g) | 1977–1982 (278 g) |
| Stan Belinda | P | 1993–1994 (60 g) | 1989–1993 (222 g) |
| Edward Olivares | OF | 2020–2023 (217 g) | 2024 (55 g) |
| Jermaine Allensworth | OF | 1998 (30 g) | 1996–1998 (238 g) |
| Reggie Sanders | OF | 2006–2007 (112 g) | 2003 (130 g) |
| Bruce Dal Canton | P | 1971–1975 (127 g) | 1967–1970 (113 g) |
| Chris Stratton | P | 2024–2025 (69 g) | 2019–2022 (163 g) |
| Nelson Liriano | 2B | 1991 (10 g) | 1995–1996 (219 g) |
| Doug Mientkiewicz | 1B | 2006 (91 g) | 2008 (125 g) |
| Curt Wilkerson | SS | 1992–1993 (123 g) | 1991 (85 g) |
| Kurt Bevacqua | 3B | 1973–1974 (138 g) | 1974, 1980–1981 (69 g) |
| Brian Meadows | P | 2000–2001 (21 g) | 2002–2005 (178 g) |
| Larry McWilliams | P | 1989–1990 (21 g) | 1982–1986 (173 g) |
| Tom Prince | C | 2003 (8 g) | 1987–1993 (177 g) |
| Mike Kingery | OF | 1986 (62 g) | 1996 (117 g) |
| Mendy Lopez | SS | 1998–1999, 2003–2004 (151 g) | 2001–2002 (25 g) |
| Roberto Hernandez | P | 2001–2002 (116 g) | 2006 (46 g) |
| Jeff Reboulet | 2B | 2000 (66 g) | 2003 (93 g) |
| Jeff Suppan | P | 1998–2002 (138 g) | 2003 (21 g) |
| Bob Johnson | P | 1970 (40 g) | 1971–1973 (112 g) |
| Neal Heaton | P | 1992 (31 g) | 1989–1991 (120 g) |
| Kirk Gibson | OF | 1991 (132 g) | 1992 (16 g) |
| D. J. Carrasco | P | 2003–2005 (101 g) | 2010 (45 g) |
| Kip Wells | P | 2008 (10 g) | 2002–2006 (134 g) |
| Tommy Pham | OF | 2024 (23 g) | 2025 (120 g) |
| Nelson Briles | P | 1974–1975 (42 g) | 1971–1973 (98 g) |
| Fernando Gonzalez | 2B | 1974 (9 g) | 1972–1973, 1977–1978 (129 g) |
| Danny Jackson | P | 1983–1987 (119 g) | 1992 (15 g) |
| Matt Diaz | OF | 2005 (34 g) | 2011 (100 g) |
| Chris Stynes | 3B | 1995–1996 (58 g) | 2004 (74 g) |
| George Spriggs | OF | 1969–1970 (74 g) | 1965–1967 (56 g) |
| Jerry Don Gleaton | P | 1987–1989 (105 g) | 1992 (23 g) |
| Gene Garber | P | 1973–1974, 1987–1988 (105 g) | 1969–1970, 1972 (20 g) |
| Jesse Chavez | P | 2010–2011 (27 g) | 2008–2009 (88 g) |
| Elmer Dessens | P | 2006 (43 g) | 1996–1998 (61 g) |
| Ted Savage | OF | 1971 (19 g) | 1963 (85 g) |
| Darrell May | P | 2002–2004 (96 g) | 1996 (5 g) |
| Edinson Volquez | P | 2015–2016 (68 g) | 2014 (32 g) |
| Aroldis Chapman | P | 2023 (31 g) | 2024 (68 g) |
| Ken Brett | P | 1980–1981 (30 g) | 1974–1975 (69 g) |
| Juan Cruz | P | 2009–2010 (51 g) | 2012 (43 g) |
| Kyle Farnsworth | P | 2009–2010 (78 g) | 2013 (9 g) |
| Vin Mazzaro | P | 2011–2012 (25 g) | 2013–2014 (62 g) |
| Neftali Feliz | P | 2017 (20 g) | 2016 (62 g) |
| Butch Davis | OF | 1983–1984 (74 g) | 1987 (7 g) |
| Mark Huismann | P | 1983–1986 (70 g) | 1990–1991 (7 g) |
| Sean Lowe | P | 2003 (28 g) | 2002 (43 g) |
| Denny Bautista | P | 2004–2006 (20 g) | 2008–2009 (49 g) |
| Carmelo Martinez | OF | 1991 (44 g) | 1990–1991 (23 g) |
| Jim Campanis | C | 1969–1970 (61 g) | 1973 (6 g) |
| Andy Hassler | P | 1976–1978 (60 g) | 1980 (6 g) |
| Octavio Dotel | P | 2007 (24 g) | 2010 (41 g) |
| Bailey Falter | P | 2025 (4 g) | 2023–2025 (60 g) |
| Ted Power | P | 1988 (22 g) | 1990 (40 g) |
| Jonah Bayliss | P | 2005 (11 g) | 2006–2007 (50 g) |
| Pedro Ciriaco | 3B | 2013–2014 (30 g) | 2010–2011 (31 g) |
| Mark Redman | P | 2006 (29 g) | 2005 (30 g) |
| Benito Santiago | C | 2004 (49 g) | 2005 (6 g) |
| Joel Johnston | P | 1991–1992 (18 g) | 1993–1994 (37 g) |
| Jordan Lyles | P | 2023–2024 (36 g) | 2019 (17 g) |
| Chris Owings | SS | 2019 (41 g) | 2023 (11 g) |
| Dennys Reyes | P | 2004 (40 g) | 2003 (12 g) |
| Rick Reed | P | 1992–1993 (20 g) | 1988–1991 (31 g) |
| Ruben Mateo | OF | 2004 (32 g) | 2004 (19 g) |
| Dave Wickersham | P | 1969 (34 g) | 1968 (11 g) |
| Erik Kratz | C | 2014–2015 (17 g) | 2010, 2016 (27 g) |
| Jeff Schulz | OF | 1989–1990 (37 g) | 1991 (3 g) |
| Joe Blanton | P | 2015 (15 g) | 2015 (21 g) |
| Yamaico Navarro | 3B | 2011 (6 g) | 2012 (29 g) |
| Brian Shouse | P | 2002 (23 g) | 1993 (6 g) |
| Jeff Granger | P | 1993–1994, 1996 (18 g) | 1997 (9 g) |
| Rich Hill | P | 2025 (2 g) | 2023 (22 g) |
| Colin Selby | P | 2024 (2 g) | 2023 (21 g) |
| Jayson Nix | 3B | 2014 (7 g) | 2014 (16 g) |
| Eric Stout | P | 2018 (3 g) | 2022 (18 g) |
| Bryan Bullington | P | 2010 (13 g) | 2005, 2007 (6 g) |
| Evan Sisk | P | 2025 (5 g) | 2025 (14 g) |
| Trevor Cahill | P | 2017 (10 g) | 2021 (9 g) |
| Jonathan Sanchez | P | 2012 (12 g) | 2013 (6 g) |
| Dennis Moeller | P | 1992 (5 g) | 1993 (10 g) |
| Don Wengert | P | 1999 (11 g) | 2001 (4 g) |
| Mark Ryal | OF | 1982 (6 g) | 1990 (9 g) |
| Miguel Batista | P | 2000 (14 g) | 1992 (1 g) |
| Chris Zachary | P | 1969 (8 g) | 1973 (6 g) |
| Thomas Hatch | P | 2025 (1 g) | 2023 (12 g) |
| Rich Sauveur | P | 1992 (8 g) | 1986 (3 g) |
| Enny Romero | P | 2018 (4 g) | 2018 (2 g) |
From the SABR Lahman Baseball Database (CC BY-SA 3.0), 1876–2025. A season counts when the player played at least one regular-season game for the franchise.Pirates seasons include the Pittsburg Alleghenys (1882–1890).
What next? Play today's MLB Grid
Fill a 3×3 board of team pairs like this one, with nine guesses and a rarity score. New board every day.
Play the MLB GridMLB career pathRoyals historyPirates history
More “played for both” lists
Kansas City Royals and…
Angels 128Mets 128Reds 120Red Sox 119Athletics 118Cubs 118Braves 117Padres 114Rangers 114Cardinals 111
Questions
How many players have played for both the Kansas City Royals and the Pittsburgh Pirates?
121 in the Lahman Baseball Database from 1969 to 2025, including Amos Otis, Freddie Patek, Jason Kendall and Jay Bell. A player counts when he played at least one regular-season game for each franchise.
Who was the first player on this list to play for both?
Bob Oliver: Pittsburgh Pirates first, then the Kansas City Royals from 1969.
Who has played for both recently?
Adam Frazier, Michael Taylor, Edward Olivares, Chris Stratton, Tommy Pham and Aroldis Chapman and 6 more, with a season for one of the two in 2024 or 2025.
Does a player count if the team has moved or changed its name?
Yes. Seasons count for today's franchise, the way the Lahman database links every team-season to a franchise. Pirates seasons include the Pittsburg Alleghenys (1882–1890).
Careers from the SABR Lahman Baseball Database (CC BY-SA 3.0). Team logos are trademarks of their respective teams (logos via TheSportsDB). Independent and not affiliated with MLB or any team. Credits