The Kansas City Royals’ offseason took a while to really pick up, but they’ve been especially active the past two days post Winter Meetings after signing free agent Lane Thomas to a one-year contract on Thursday followed by the extension of Maikel Garcia on Friday.
Royals fans know however this isn’t the end for their team this offseason, as they’ve arguably only scratched the surface of addressing their offseason needs.
This claim takes on even more validity after hearing some of the major offseason rumblings on Friday that has the Royals right in the thick of the rumor mill.
According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the Royals have been active in trade discussions with both the Boston Red Sox and Washington Nationals for some marketable stars.
“The Royals have been active on the trade market too, looking to acquire another outfielder,” Passan wrote. “They have discussed acquiring Jarren Duran from the Boston Red Sox and inquired about pitcher MacKenzie Gore and infielder CJ Abrams from the Washington Nationals, according to sources.”
Passan also mentions that the reason behind the Royals’ “aggressiveness” stems from “not wasting the prime years of Witt and Garcia”.
Royals Rumors: KC’s link to Jarren Duran seems alive and well
This is certainly not the first mention of the Royals and the Red Sox being great trade fits, given the two teams have a surplus of what the other team wants. The Royals obviously have the pitching while the Red Sox have a crowded major league outfield.
And according to a Thursday report from Jim Bowden of the Athletic, the match seems like it makes it self at this point, considering he believes the “the Royals will move a starter for a power-hitting left fielder”.
Duran certainly fits the bill given he has 20+ home run power at his best and primarily plays left field. The fact he’s also very capable of playing center field and is a great base runner are just added bonuses.
What exactly the Royals would have to give up to attain the All-Star outfielder remains to be seen, but between Kris Bubic, Noah Cameron and Ryan Bergert, there’s a variety of potentially available arms for the Red Sox brass to frame a deal around.
Royals Rumors: KC could pull off a blockbuster with the Washington Nationals
What hasn’t been discussed as much is a link connecting the Royals to the Nationals. On their own, both would somewhat puzzling moves, but together it could be too good a deal to pass up.
Abrams definitely has his red flags, as a 106 wRC+ followed up by a 107 wRC+ doesn’t necessarily represent the top prospect pedigree he held when he was dealt from San Diego to Washington, alongside Gore ironically enough, for Juan Soto during the 2022 season.
However he has at least managed to find a way to start his past two seasons well, posting a a 128 wRC+ in 2024 and a 132 wRC+ last season. Perhaps with a change of scenery, some more lineup protection and a much needed move off of shortstop and over to second base, he could put it together for a full season and recapture some of his prospect shine.
Then there’s Gore, who isn’t a need of the Royals by any means, but a 26-year old controllable arm with three years of team control and the upside he possesses is never something a team wouldn’t desire.
And with Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha not getting any younger as well as Kris Bubic, Noah Cameron and Ryan Bergert not necessarily being surefire locks to replicate their impressive 2025 seasons to the same degree in 2026, having a younger and more consistent high-profile starter to pair alongside Cole Ragans could do wonders for ushering this already well-regarded rotation into the future.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source kingsofkauffman.com ’
