Royals GM Dayton Moore ‘disgusted’ by Whit Merrifield’s vaccine remarks

The Royals opened their four-game series against the Blue Jays on Thursday in Toronto without 10 of their unvaccinated players, including Whit Merrifield. Although Kansas City got off to a fiery start with a 3-1 win, the 33-year-old utility man remains in hot water following his recent remarks.

Earlier this week, Whitfield elaborated on his decision not to get vaccinated against COVID-19, which is a requirement to enter Canada. The two-time All-Star noted he could possibly change his mind over the jab depending on a potential future situation.

“Right or wrong, I didn’t do it on a whim. It’s been a long thought process. Because I understand what Canada has in place right now. That’s the only reason that I would think about getting it at this point, is to go to Canada,” Merrifield said, according to Anne Rogers of MLB.com.

“That might change down the road. Something happens and I happen to get on a team that has a chance to go play in Canada in the postseason, maybe that changes. But as we sit here right now, I’m comfortable in my decision, my teammates support me, support the rest of the guys in here who have made that decision, and that’s that.”

Merrifield’s comments sparked some backlash, with Royals president Dayton Moore sharing Thursday on “The Program” with Soren Petro that he was “very disappointed” by what he heard.

“It’s very difficult at times to articulate feelings and emotions. Sometimes, it just comes out wrong. When I first heard that, I was very disappointed. Pretty disgusted, truthfully,” Moore said.

Moore also revealed that Merrifield expressed remorse in the aftermath.

“As I begin to communicate with Whit about that, he made it very clear he was sorry for how that came out,” Moore continued. “I have to accept that and move on. I’m not going to kick him when he’s down, because I do know what Whit Merrifield has meant to our team, the great work that he does in this community and I just think it was a very poor choice of words.”

Moore later added, “It’s unfortunate, but we got to try to move on from it. Whit will get an opportunity to discuss that statement at some point in time.”

Merrifield, who made his major league debut with the Royals in 2016, is slated to be a free agent after next year. Prior to this week’s controversy, The Post’s Jon Heyman reported in late June how the Royals are talking “more seriously” about Merrifield in trade discussions than in the past, according to a rival exec.

On Thursday, Heyman also reported that the Yankees — who currently lead the AL East — are unlikely to continue their pursuit of Merrifield’s teammate, Andrew Benintendi, due to his vaccination status.

Benintendi also missed the trip to Toronto, where the Royals improved to 36-53 on Thursday.