MLB insider reveals 2 possible trade partners for Royals after GM Meetings

Stop me if you’ve heard this before…the Kansas City Royals have a desperate need for corner outfield help.

It’s no secret that of all the areas J.J. Picollo and Co. could stand to address this winter, that might be the one that takes the cake.

And with a free agent market that leaves a lot be desired at that position outside of top names like Kyle Tucker and Cody Bellinger, the Royals will have to get more creative and likely turn to the trade market to address this need.

This brought Picollo to the annual GM meetings this week with a clear goal of “evaluating the trade market for outfielders”, according to a report from MLB Network insider Jon Morosi.

A pair of trade suitors have emerged as top trade suitors for Royals

Morosi identified two different teams that could have outfielders to offer the Royals to satisfy their corner outfield desires.

“The Angels and Red Sox are among the possible trade partners,” Morosi wrote on X.

Why these two teams in particular?

Well, each team may have their own respective reasons as to why they’d look to sell from their major league roster, but what they have in common is the fact that they each have multiple strong outfielders they could offer.

The Angels are no surprise to be mentioned here, as one of their All-Star caliber outfielders in Taylor Ward has been linked to the Royals on numerous occasions throughout the past year. Along with Ward, the Angels could be enticed to deal former top prospect Jo Adell to fuel a potential rebuild.

Ward is coming off a season where he may not have looked as strong as he did during his career-year back in 2022, when he hit .281 with 23 HR, an .833 OPS and a 136 wRC+, but it was certainly his best season since then.

In 663 plate appearances across 157 games for the Halos this season, Ward hit .228 with a .792 OPS and 117 wRC+. He also posted career highs in homers at 36, RBI at 106 and walk-rate at 11.3%.

Then there’s Adell, who in 2025 finally started to show some of his first-round prospect pedigree. In 573 plate appearances across 152 games, Adell slashed .236/.293/.485 with 37 HR, 98 RBI and a 112 wRC+.

Then there’s the Red Sox, who certainly aren’t staring down the barrel of a potential rebuild like the Angels might be, but are faced with the predicament of having too many major league-caliber outfielders to manage.

Top prospect Roman Anthony and Gold Glove center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela seem to be the logical choices to stay put in Fenway in 2026, meaning the Royals could look to target either Jarren Duran or Wilyer Abreu.

Duran, who isn’t a stranger to being linked to the Royals, took a step back from his career year in 2024, where he hit .285 with an .834 OPS and 131 wRC+, however, he was still had a more than solid campaign in 2025. In 696 plate appearances across 157 games, he slashed .256/.332/.442 with 16 HR, 84 RBI and a 111 wRC+. He also managed to swipe 20+ bags for a third consecutive season.

On top of capturing his second consecutive Gold Glove, Abreu was once again an above average outfielder at the dish. In 417 plate appearances across 115 games this past season, the 26-year-old hit .247 with 22 HR, 69 RBI and a 110 wRC+.

The Royals have various types of assets they could offer teams to satisfy their unique individual needs.

They have a plethora of MLB starters, that according to some insiders will likely be an area they look to deal from this winter.

And while it remains to be seen whether the Royals would be willing to part with high rising top-tier prospects like Blake Mitchell, Yandel Ricardo, David Shields or Kendry Chourio for names like these four, there’s plenty of other intriguing names on the farm they could build a package around.

They feature some strong catching depth including Ramon Ramirez and Moises Marchán along with a variety of other position players like Asbel Gonzalez, Daniel Vazquez, Carson Roccaforte, Javier Vaz or Gavin Cross who the Royals could view as expendable in order to reel in an impact bat.

Not to mention prospect pitchers such as Ben Kudrna, Drew Beam or Frank Mozzicato could garner some trade interest as well.

The likelihood of a bigger trade like this occurring at the GM meetings this week doesn’t seem strong, however conversations had here could set the tone for a deal down the road, maybe when the entire baseball world congregates during December’s Winter Meetings.