Boosting the Royals: Trade Candidates Down the Line

The season hasn't started as the Royals would like, but they should still be operating under the assumption they're buying...for now.

Teams sitting at 9-14 that have already had a six-game losing streak don’t typically profile as buyers, but the expanded playoff field as changed that some. Last year, two of the 12 teams in the postseason were under .500 after 23 games. The bar simply isn’t as high to get in, which means more times are in it a lot longer. But I also think there’s more to it, particularly for the Royals. For one, they were a playoff team last season, which means that they likely have a bit more leeway with both the front office and ownership. Whether that trust is misguided or not is another question and one we can answer later, but there is a track record, albeit small.

The other factor for the Royals is that they have the pitching to win in the postseason. The starting rotation has taken a predictable slight step back to start this season, though they were still third in fWAR at the start of play yesterday. But the bullpen is better. I know there will be many who will argue that given the performances of Sam Long, Angel Zerpa and Chris Stratton to this point, but the rest have been generally excellent. If and when Hunter Harvey returns, they’ll have three closers to go along with Daniel Lynch IV, who just completed the second-longest reliever scoreless streak in team history and John Schreiber who we joke about, but his results will surprise you with how good they are.

At this point, when it’s far too early to start ripping things down to the studs, I think the Royals still profile as buyers. Could that change in a month? Absolutely. I’ll probably update this exercise on May 23 after another off day, and it may be pieces the Royals can sell and what they can get in return on the prospect-front. But for now, I’m looking at buying because if the Royals could just hit a little, they’d be very dangerous. So let’s look at some candidates to be acquired. And, yes, I’m including pitchers because you simply can’t ever have enough pitching.

Infield

Nolan Arenado

There are a number of Cardinals on this list, which might seem silly when I do this again in a month or so if they start winning a lot, but I just don’t think they’re that good. I also think they could end up being weirdly solid. But I do think they could make some guys available as they’re trying to remake their roster and Arenado was out there all season long. His strong start to the season should theoretically raise the value and make it a little to easier to get a team to want him but maybe harder to find a deal. That doesn’t change what he’s owed or his age, so there are certainly plenty of questions about him moving forward.