Insider’s Royals-Diamondbacks mock trade could make dealing Cole Ragans much easier

The Kansas City Royals have a real conundrum on their hands.

They desperately need offensive reinforcements and have the starting pitching surplus to be able to make a potential trade that much more intriguing for other teams.

But how far are they willing to dip into their surplus to bring in the right name? Are they willing to do what once might have been the unthinkable and trade their ace?

Cole Ragans has been the topic of conversation in many trade spheres this past week as the possibility the Royals could trade their All-Star front man seems at least something worthy of conversation, even if it’s still unlikely.

And this week on an episode of the ESPN Baseball Tonight podcast, Buster Olney proposed a blockbuster deal between the Royals and the Arizona Diamondbacks that could potentially pique the interest of the Royals front office.

Buster Olney pitchers Royals-Diamondbacks blockbuster that could make a lot of sense for Royals

As Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reported last weekend, J.J. Picollo hasn’t made any body off limits in potnetial trade discussion, but admitted it would take “a really big return” to move an arm like Ragans.

While the recent contract extension for Jonathan India for the 2026 season may put a wrinkle in a potential second base upgrade, if the right name comes along to shift them off the status quo of India and Michael Massey perhaps the Royals would jump at that chance. And a name like Diamondbacks superstar Ketel Marte fits that mold to a T.

“This is not exactly equal value for value, they’d have to some other things to equal this out,” Olney said. “Ketel Marte for Cole Ragans.”

“The Kansas City Royals need another offensive player in their lineup,” he said.

“Ketel Marte is a guy who would be under contract, it’s not a crazy bad deal, in terms of the money that’s owed to him it’s not outrageous for a mid-market team like them,” Olney said.

While he doesn’t specify which team would need to send more to get the deal done, it seems as though the Royals would need to recieve more on their end given Marte’s four years older than Ragans and due the final five years of his $116.5 million contract compared to Ragans’ roughly $4.6 million salary in 2026, $7.6 million in 2027 and his final arbitration year in ’28.

The D-backs could arguably want a bit more insurance on their end though as well given Ragans’ injury-plagued season in 2025. However, the bones of this deal make a lot of sense for both sides.

Marte is coming off a pair of spectacular years at the plate with a 152 wRC+ season in 2024 and a 145 wRC+ last season. And since 2021, he’s been one of the best second baseman in all of baseball, ranking top five in wRC+ (2nd), OPS (1st), OBP (2nd), SLG (1st), HR (4th), RBI (3rd), runs scored (3rd) and BB% (T-4th).

He would immediately slot into the heart of that order seamlessly alongside Bobby Witt Jr., Maikel Garcia, Vinnie Pasquantino and Salvador Perez.

Then, on the other side, if Arizona truly wants to contend like Olney claims they do, Ragans can not only provide that for them, but match the award worthy pedigree that Marte has.

Last season wasn’t great, there’s no denying that. However, he’s still one of the premier left-handers in all of baseball.

Before injuries took a toll on his 2025 campaign, from the time he arrived with the Royals in June of 2023 to the end of the 2024 campaign, his ERA, WHIP and BAA as well as K/9 and HR/9 totals ranked among the top five starting southpaws in MLB with 200.0+ innings pitched.

And last season, while not his strongest, still had plenty of encouraging signs. His 38.1% K-rate ranked in the 100th percentile of league arms. He also sat in the 95th percentile in whiff rate while holding stellar expected metrics with a 96th percentile xERA and 97th percentile xBA.

With the right prospect additions or perhaps lower-level major league talent to help balance things out, there could be a win-win deal to be had here.

And more importantly for Royals fans, this could be a suitable trade that would make surrendering their ace in the rotation not only palatable, but potentially worth it.