<\/p>\n
The Royals have had discussions with the Nationals about shortstop CJ Abrams<\/a><\/strong> and left-hander MacKenzie Gore<\/a><\/strong>, ESPN\u2019s Jeff Passan<\/a> reports.\u00a0 Jarren Duran<\/a><\/strong> also continues to be a player of interest, as Passan writes that Kansas City is still considering the Red Sox outfielder after first being linked<\/a> to Duran\u2019s market prior to last summer\u2019s trade deadline.<\/p>\n It is no secret that the Royals are looking to improve what has been arguably baseball\u2019s least-productive outfield over the last couple of years.\u00a0 Between Boston\u2019s crowded outfield and Kansas City\u2019s numerous rotation options<\/a>, the two teams seem like natural and logical trade partners, especially given how the Red Sox have continued to pursue starting pitching even after landing both Sonny Gray<\/a><\/strong> and Johan Oviedo<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0 Likewise, the Royals have added Lane Thomas<\/a><\/strong> to their outfield mix, yet an everyday starter like Duran would be a much more clearcut upgrade.<\/p>\n Acquiring Gore would represent a fascinating pivot for K.C., and perhaps a step in a somewhat more convoluted path to obtaining outfielders.\u00a0 Gore would only add to the Royals\u2019 rotation surplus, yet with Gore now in the mix as a front-of-the-rotation arm, Kansas City could be more open to sending a pitcher like Cole Ragans<\/a><\/strong> to the Red Sox in a hypothetical Duran deal.\u00a0 Ragans has been cited as perhaps the most logical fit for Duran, as Michael Wacha<\/a><\/strong> and Seth Lugo<\/a><\/strong> both recently signed extensions with the Royals, Kris Bubic<\/a><\/strong> is only a year removed from free agency, and the Royals\u2019 array of younger arms might not quite move the needle enough to pry Duran (who is team-controlled through the 2028 season) out of Fenway Park.<\/p>\n Perhaps complicating this idea is the fact that the Red Sox almost surely have interest in Gore themselves.\u00a0 While the Sox haven\u2019t been publicly linked to Gore\u2019s market to date, their desire for frontline pitching and the fact that former Sox executive Paul Toboni is now Washington\u2019s president of baseball operations makes it easy to connect the dots.\u00a0 The Nationals have gotten so much interest<\/a> in Gore that Toboni undoubtedly has plenty of creative offers to consider, and there still isn\u2019t any direct urgency to deal Gore since he is under arbitration control through 2027.<\/p>\n Toboni\u2019s hiring represented a fresh start for a rebuild that seemed to have stalled out under former Nationals PBO Mike Rizzo.\u00a0 Washington hasn\u2019t had a winning season since its 2019 World Series title year, yet even with impatience growing amongst District fans, the sense is that Toboni is more focused on adding more young talent than trying to contend.\u00a0 That could mean dealing away such top players (and trade chips) like Gore and Abrams, who were supposed to be cornerstones of the rebuild process when acquired in the 2022 Juan Soto<\/a><\/strong> trade.<\/p>\n Abrams is controlled through the 2028 season, so the Nationals have even less reason to trade the shortstop immediately than Gore.\u00a0 The Royals\u2019 younger pitchers or more longer-term minor league prospects would likely have more appeal to the Nats than to a win-now team like the Red Sox, but Kansas City would have to pay a hefty price to extra Abrams given his team control and All-Star ceiling.<\/p>\n With that ceiling, however, comes a low floor.\u00a0 The last two seasons have seen Abrams excel in the first half only to tail off badly after the All-Star break.\u00a0 The lack of consistency also extends to Abrams\u2019 splits, as the left-handed batter hasn\u2019t been very productive against left-handed pitching.\u00a0 Defensively, Abrams is a mixed bag at best \u2014 the Outs Above Average metric has long hated his work at shortstop, while the Defensive Runs Saved metric has been more positive in general but graded Abrams as a -6 in 2025.<\/p>\n A move to second base might be in Abrams\u2019 future anyway, and that would work for a Royals team that already has Bobby Witt Jr.<\/a><\/strong> entrenched at shortstop.\u00a0 Jonathan India<\/a><\/strong> is the incumbent at second base after K.C. agreed to a one-year, $8MM salary with India for 2026<\/a>, which came as something of a surprise since India\u2019s unimpressive 2025 season had made him a non-tender candidate.\u00a0 In the event that Abrams did land in Kansas City, the Royals could look to trade India or just relegate him to bench duty, as inefficient as that would be for a team with a limited payroll.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.mlbtraderumors.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Royals have had discussions with the Nationals about shortstop CJ Abrams and left-hander MacKenzie Gore, ESPN\u2019s Jeff Passan reports.\u00a0 Jarren Duran also continues to be a player of interest, as Passan writes that Kansas City is still considering the Red Sox outfielder after first being linked to Duran\u2019s market prior to last summer\u2019s trade 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