A surplus can be both a gift and a curse in Major League Baseball.
This offseason, the Kansas City Royals have a ton of depth in the starting pitching department. But they also know that depth can run out quickly, as they made emergency trades to replenish the rotation just a few months ago at the July 31 deadline.
However, entering the offseason, just about everyone on the Royals’ rotation depth chart is healthy. And with the offense lagging behind the pitching staff anyway, we’ve got a situation on our hands that appears ripe for a trade.
On Tuesday, Anne Rogers of MLB.com seemingly predicted that the Royals would trade away at least one starter in a “baseball trade” that would land the Royals some offensive firepower of relatively equal value.
“Here’s the reality: The Royals need a bat. Probably two,” Rogers wrote. “And they’re not going to be swimming in the highest tier of free agency to get one, so it’s likely going to come via trade. Pitching is now a strength for Kansas City as an organization, and other teams will target that in trade talks.
“You’ll probably see the Royals trade from their starting surplus this offseason. Then it will be on the front office to resupply that depth ahead of Spring Training.”
It’s worth noting that Jon Heyman of the celebrity.land reported earlier this week that the Royals are somewhat expected to shop for some of the bigger names in the free-agent class. Whether they have the means to land an Alex Bregman or a Cody Bellinger, though, certainly remains in question.
Ace Cole Ragans isn’t going anywhere, and Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha have contracts that are hard to trade. It probably comes down to Kris Bubic, Ryan Bergert, Bailey Falter, Stephen Kolek, and (maybe) Noah Cameron for the trade pieces.
Rogers also specifically named Bubic as a potential trade candidate later in the piece.
“The Royals explored an extension of sorts with Bubic last offseason, but he wanted to see what his role was before they went any further,” Rogers wrote. “Now we know he can start, but there are a few more injury concerns.
“As he heads into his final year of arbitration, I could see Kansas City broaching those talks again — or seeing what his value is on the trade market.”
More MLB: Royals’ Possible Free-Agent Target Projected For Bargain-Bin $8M Contract
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.si.com ’
