The 2025 season was a letdown for the Kansas City Royals, who finished 82-80 and missed the postseason. They need at least one bat to bolster their lineup after a down offensive year in which they scored just 651 runs.
They’ll need somebody to help protect Bobby Witt Jr. in their lineup. If they can add that piece, they’ll be in a better spot entering the 2026 season.
There are multiple ways that the Royals can go about adding a bat to their lineup this offseason. Jon Morosi of MLB Network has some insight on how the Royals are going about it at the GM meetings in Las Vegas.
“Royals are evaluating the trade market for outfielders during this week’s GM Meetings,” Morosi posted on X. “The Angels and Red Sox are among the possible trade partners.”
A Trade Makes Sense For The Royals
There are plenty of options just from these two teams alone. The Boston Red Sox have a logjam of position players.
With Roman Anthony now in the Major Leagues, Jarren Duran and Wilyer Abreu may become expendable as trade pieces, so the Royals could add some offense that way. Abreu is likely their best option if they want to add power to their outfield group.
They could also go after Jo Adell if they make a deal with the Los Angeles Angels. Even Taylor Ward could be an option, as he was somebody that was floated as a fit last winter.
It seems that at the moment, Kansas City prefers to go the trade route. Granted, they aren’t likely to spend big on Kyle Tucker or Kyle Schwarber as a small-market team, so perhaps a trade makes more sense for them.
Still, they have options they can pursue, and the Angels and Red Sox do make sense as trade partners given what they have to offer. In order to add a player like Abreu or Duran however, they would have to part ways with one of their starting pitchers, which could be risky.
Both Seth Lugo and Cole Ragans dealt with injuries this year, and Kris Bubic had his season cut short. But it will likely take a big piece in return for the Royals to get what they need, so trading from an area of strength to address a hole in the roster makes sense.
We’ll see what the Royals decide to do.
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