3 ways Royals could pivot in trade talks if Kris Bubic returns are too underwhelming

Earlier in the week, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that the Kansas City Royals could be hitting a snag when it came to trade talks involving their All-Star starter Kris Bubic.

According to him, Bubic’s rotator cuff injury that cut his 2025 season short could be a cause for concern amongst interested parties, with their offers “expected to be too light for Kansas City to bite” on a deal.

So, knowing the Royals have too many starters than they do spots in the rotation at the moment, how do they pivot if the they don’t end up dealing Bubic due to the rumored lackluster returns?

3 ways Royals could pivot in trade talks if Kris Bubic returns are too underwhelming

Royals could look to cash in Noah Cameron’s breakout season

The most obvious annswer here is to look to their next best trade chip, even if it’s more painful to palate. This of course is their rookie extraordinaire, Noah Cameron.

While the Royals may want to keep the man that just finished fourth in the AL Rookie of the Year voting in their rotation and build around him, there’s no denying he’s the arm that would fetch the most in a return for them.

Last weekend, Will Sammon of The Athletic reported that it would be “unlikely” that the Royals deal their ace Cole Ragans, as well as their two veterans in Seth Lugo or Michael Wacha.

That leaves Cameron as the next best piece remaining, with some already tabbing his a potential trade chip.

And perhaps dealing their rookie sensation, as extreme as it may seem, could be to the Royals’ benefit.

With three remaining years of pre-arbitration, the element of more team control for Cameron would certainly fetch more on the trade market than Bubic’s one remaining year of control.

For the Royals, as good as Cameron may’ve been in 2025 it was still only one year of MLB work they have to go off of, and at 26-years-old he’s not the typical younger age of a rookie in today’s game.

On top of that, as strong as his 2.99 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and .214 BAA performance was, there were some underlying and expected metrics that painted a picture of Cameron benefitting from some luck, with a 4.18 FIP, 4.07 xERA and .246 xBA.

With Kansas City still having a strong rotation with or without Cameron, if he’s the cost to help bolster this top-heavy but otherwise underwhelming offense, then perhaps that’s a move they need to make.

Royals could try and trade one of Ryan Bergert or Stephen Kolek

Now, if J.J. Picollo and the Royals front office view Cameron as too pivotal a piece to part ways with this offseason, then perhaps they could look to two other young names who also came into their own as Royals arms in 2025.

Both Ryan Bergert and Stephen Kolek entered into the mix after the trade deadline and proved to be just what this ailing Royals rotation needed.

Bergert tossed to a serviceable 4.43 ERA in a Royals uniform and after a strong showing in San Diego before hand, he enters into the offseason coming off a rookie season where posted a 3.66 ERA.

Then there’s Kolek, who really gained a knack for pitching under the bright lights when Kansas City eventually gave him in his shot to pitch in the majors with them.

The 28-year-old threw to a 1.91 ERA, 2.71 FIP, 0.76 WHIP and .167 BAA in 33.0 innings of work across five starts in Kansas City.

Both Bergert and Kolek would likely land the Royals less in a deal if they were to trade one of them as opposed to an All-Star in Bubic or the potential rising star in Cameron, but perhaps they could put a package together around one of them to help bring in an impactful bat.

Royals could lean on available minor league options

With many situations, there’s always the opportunity to do nothing at all. Now, it wouldn’t be an overly productive route for the front office to take in this case, however, if they don’t receive a deal to their liking for any of the four names mentioned here, then perhaps they’ll have to stand pat with what they have.

As of right now both Bergert and Kolek, who appear to be sixth and seventh on the starter depth chart, have multiple minor league options remaining and spent some notable time in the Triple-A ranks last year.

As much as they’re both seemingly productive enough to crack a major league rotation, the reality is, if the Royals were to only trade Bubic, one of them would of needed to either be optioned or pitch out of the bullpen anyways, So, it’s not as if this concept is completely coming out of left field.

Will Sammon put it best in his aforementioned article from last weekend, “their rotation is a strength”. While the Royals could use that strength to balance the rest of their roster, it doesn’t seem completely crazy to think that they might lean into their starter strength if deals for their more available rotation arms aren’t up to their standards, and thus take different measures to acquire the offensive help they need this winter.