The Kansas City Royals are on the lookout for upgrades this winter, particularly a bat, and they have some starting pitching to dangle. While some teams have reportedly been after ace of the staff Cole Ragans, the team is more interested in moving former Stanford Cardinal Kris Bubic, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.
In his recent piece, Rosenthal mentions that some teams around the league were a little perplexed that the Royals recently added relief pitcher Matt Strahm, who is owed $7.5 million next season, due to their self-imposed financial constraints.
Because of these financial constraints, it would appear as though Bubic, who is projected to make $6 million in arbitration in 2026, could be a good trade candidate from a fiscal standpoint.
“The team remains open to moving moving left-hander Kris Bubic, who is projected to earn $6 million in arbitration. A trade of righty reliever John Schreiber ($3.8 million projection) or Bailey Falter ($3.3 million) also would create flexibility.”
Why trading Bubic makes sense
Bubic, 28, is about to enter his final season of team control. They also have a decent crop of good starting pitchers right now, and trading Bubic could end up giving them some financial flexibility to add a bigger bat, but also bring in some extra talent for the future.
Bubic was selected with the 40th overall selection in the 2018 MLB Draft out of Stanford, and made his big league debut in 2020.
This past season he showed that his short run in 2024 was no fluke, putting up a 2.55 ERA with a 2.89 FIP, a solid 47% ground ball rate, and a 16.2% K-BB rate across 116 1/3 innings of work. The 3.3 fWAR that he racked up was the highest total of his career. In fact, it was more WAR than he had put up over the previous five seasons of his career, spanning 355 innings.
If the Royals were to trade him, they’d be selling at the peak of his value this winter. Add in that he’s only owed around $6 million next season, and he’s certainly worth the cost of acquisition if he’s going to come close to repeating his All-Star form from 2025.
Buyer beware?
The main concern for an acquiring team when it comes to targeting Bubic would have to be his health. While he put up a sub-3.00 ERA in 2025, he also last pitched on July 26 after suffering a left rotator cuff strain. He avoided surgery, and has reportedly been cleared to begin throwing again.
On top of the injury questions that will arise, there is also the fact that in June and July, Bubic combined for a 4.125 ERA across his final 48 innings of 2025, which is roughly a league average pitcher.
Would he be worth targeting and potentially giving up a small haul for if he’s going to be a league average arm? How much of that was the league figuring him out, and how much was the injury that ended his season?
The big question would have to be what kind of a return the Royals are expecting for Bubic. He’s had some pretty exceptional highs in the past two years, but current projections over at FanGraphs have him pegged for a 3.80 ERA across 155 innings of work in 2026. Would an opposing team be better off targeting a different (available) Royals starter, or looking elsewhere?
There have been reports about the Royals being open to moving Bubic for months now, so it would appear as though that would be the likely scenario this winter. We’ll just have to wait and see where he ends up this spring.
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