It’s no state secret that the Kansas City Royals are looking to make some considerable upgrades to their outfield this offseason.
What Royals fans are also well aware of by now is that their team has an abundance of starting pitchers – more than they have rotation spots.
This has meant that numerous arms have been floated around in trade offers. Kris Bubic has been the most popular name, but recently ESPN’s Jeff Passan poured some cold water on a potential deal for him, saying teams might have reservations about him considering his season-ending rotator cuff injury in 2025, therefore making returns for him “too light for Kansas City to bite.”
The Royals may be forced to pivot, as their need for both outfielders and to narrow down their starting rotation won’t resolve themselves by simply standing idle and doing nothing. However, there were certain avenues that seemed unlikely for the Royals to consider.
Of the names that seemed all but locks to be back in the rotation in 2026 were their two veterans in Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha as well as their presumptive ace Cole Ragans.
But a Saturday report from Alex Speier of the Boston Globe suggested that perhaps J.J. Picollo and the Royals front office are considering doing the unthinkable and at least entertaining offers for their front-man in Ragans.
Could the Royals trade Cole Ragans in order bolster their outfield?
Speier acknowledged that the Royals are an intriguing trade fit for teams looking for “high-end starting pitching and willing to deal big league talent to get it.”
“Kansas City isn’t hiding its willingness to deal a rotation member for an outfielder,” Speier wrote.
According to Speier, Picollo confirmed the notion that he and the front office recognize their starting surplus and are considering how they can use it to their advantage.
“Our starting pitching, we have some depth there,” Picollo told Speier. “A lot of teams are looking for starting pitching, so if we have what they may be interested in, and they have an outfielder that would be of interest, then there’s potentially the opportunity to make a deal.”
When asked about if Ragans in particular and whether he was off limits in a trade, Picollo didn’t some out and say he was available but certainly dismiss the idea either.
“I wouldn’t say off limits,” Picollo said.
He did, however, pour some cold water on the idea of trading away his three tenured starters, claiming that he’s reluctant to deal either of his older veterans in Lugo or Wacha and it would take “a really big return” to entertain the notion dealing Ragans.
Still, even after a down year in 2025 where he was sidelined for a great deal of it with injury, Ragans is still a Cy Young-worthy arm when he’s at his best. He’s only a year removed from a throwing to a 3.14 ERA, 2.99 FIP, 1.14 WHIP and .212 BAA with 223 strikeouts and just 0.72 HR/9 in 32 starts back in 2024.
That being said, while Ragans may seem indispensable on paper, the fact remains, with Lugo, Wacha, Bubic and Noah Cameron currently alongside him as the rotation frontrunners, as well as likes Ryan Bergert and Stephen Kolek also in the mix, if the Royals were going to seek a blockbuster deal for an outfielder, doing so now would make a lot of sense.
Whether or not these reports materialize into an actual trade remains to be seen, but perhaps the once unthinkable idea of trading Ragans is becoming more realistic.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source kingsofkauffman.com ’
