{"id":2471061,"date":"2026-06-22T20:02:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T20:02:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2471061"},"modified":"2026-06-22T20:02:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T20:02:20","slug":"royals-trade-buzz-continues-to-build-ahead-of-upcoming-deadline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/royals-trade-buzz-continues-to-build-ahead-of-upcoming-deadline\/","title":{"rendered":"Royals’ Trade Buzz Continues to Build Ahead of Upcoming Deadline"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Kansas City Royals are in the midst of a disappointing season. After entering 2026 with high expectations, Kansas City holds a 32-46 record through its first 78 games.<\/p>\n

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The Royals currently sit in last place in the American League Central. According to\u00a0FanGraphs, Kansas City has a 4.6% chance<\/a> of making the playoffs.<\/p>\n

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Despite their ugly record and slide in the standings, the Royals are just 6.5 games out of a Wild Card spot. That makes the upcoming trade deadline an intriguing one for Kansas City.<\/p>\n

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Kansas City emerges as a top 10 team to watch at the trade deadline<\/h2>\n

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May 8, 2026; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Kris Bubic (50) throws a pitch in the first inning against the Detroit Tigers at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter Aiken-Imagn Images | Peter Aiken-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

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With the Royals’ current situation, they have become a popular topic ahead of the trade deadline. With several potential trade chips on the roster, Kansas City is a team many will be monitoring as the Aug. 3 deadline approaches.<\/p>\n

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Bleacher Report’s Zachary D. Rymer compiled a list of big- and small-market MLB sellers<\/a> that could “own” the trade deadline.<\/p>\n

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Kansas City was featured on the list as it slid into the No. 10 spot.<\/p>\n

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The majority of the Royals’ trade chips come from their pitching staff, more specifically their rotation. Kansas City currently ranks second in MLB with 36 quality starts this season.<\/p>\n

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Arguably their biggest trade chip, and a player who has frequently been mentioned in deadline discussions, is right-hander Michael Wacha.<\/p>\n

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The 34-year-old is in his 14th major league season and has gotten off to a strong start. Wacha is currently tied for fifth in MLB with 94 innings pitched this season.<\/p>\n

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In that sample size, Wacha holds a 3.64 ERA, with 10 of his 15 starts being recorded as quality starts.<\/p>\n

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Wacha is putting together a strong 2026 campaign, which has placed him firmly in trade discussions.<\/p>\n

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Rymer listed three of Kansas City’s top trade chips, with Wacha joined by Kris Bubic and Seth Lugo.<\/p>\n

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Bubic and Lugo come as no surprise, as both have been mentioned among the top Royals who could be moved ahead of the deadline.<\/p>\n

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Both have dealt with injuries this season, with Bubic still sidelined. Still, each has put together a solid season so far.<\/p>\n

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Lugo has logged 85 1\/3 innings this season while posting a 3.69 ERA. Much like Wacha, he is a veteran arm who continues to produce at a high level.<\/p>\n

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Bubic has a smaller sample size, as he has been sidelined since mid-May with left elbow soreness. In 50 1\/3 innings this season, he has posted a 4.11 ERA.<\/p>\n

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The closer the trade deadline gets, the more these discussions will heat up. Kansas City will definitely be a team to watch as Aug. 3 approaches.<\/p>\n

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\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.si.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Kansas City Royals are in the midst of a disappointing season. After entering 2026 with high expectations, Kansas City holds a 32-46 record through its first 78 games. The Royals currently sit in last place in the American League Central. According to\u00a0FanGraphs, Kansas City has a 4.6% chance of making the playoffs. Despite their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2471062,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2471061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-royalty"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Royals-Trade-Buzz-Continues-to-Build-Ahead-of-Upcoming-Deadline.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2471061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2471061"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2471061\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2471063,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2471061\/revisions\/2471063"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2471062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2471061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2471061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2471061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}