Finding a Dance Partner - NL Edition

It's a whole different league, but they also employ baseball players.

Yesterday, I looked around the American League for some fits for the Royals to make deals with once this silly little lockout ends. There are a few, so if the Royals do want to make some moves, they’re out there. But the rules of baseball allow them to interact with the other league as well, so today I want to go through the National League and find some potential fits there. Remember, I’m of the belief that there’ll be some creativity in deals, so even if it seems like a bit of a stretch, I’m mentioning it here.

NL East

Atlanta Braves

Let’s start with the champs because I started with the East and Atlanta is first alphabetically. A team that basically had to go out at the trade deadline and find an entirely new outfield is now in a position where they might have a bit of a logjam. A lot depends on what they do with Marcell Ozuna, who was not only hurt in 2021 but put on administrative leave for a domestic violence investigation. He’s healthy now and he was suspended for 20 games, but the league fecklessly is allowing that suspension to have been served during his leave. Putting aside personal thoughts there, he’s under contract through 2024 and is owed $53 million more by the team. I’m not suggesting the Royals acquire him, but whether or not the Braves keep him impacts their outfield situation.

They’re getting Ronald Acuña Jr. back. They have Adam Duvall under contract. They have Ozuna potentially. Who knows if they want to bring back NLCS MVP Eddie Rosario or World Series MVP Jorge Soler? They also have Christian Pache and Drew Waters waiting in the wings with Michael Harris just a step or two behind them. Duvall is a free agent after 2022, so he might be the likeliest to move and that’s something the Royals could be very interested in given his defense has shown at times to be good. He has a ton of power, but also is a whiff machine and doesn’t walk, so (insert Larry David gif here). The DH in the NL that seems likely will help them a bit, but I could see them willing to make a move to add a young arm.

New York Mets

Here’s one of those stretches. The Mets outfield after signing Starling Marte and Mark Canha is pretty full with Brandon Nimmo the lone holdover. They still have Dominic Smith and they appear to be willing to shop Jeff McNeil, which makes some sense given that they have Robinson Cano coming back to play second and signed Eduardo Escobar to play third (probably). Smith and McNeil both had big-time down seasons, but both had big years the previous two.

Is it an aberration? Is it decline? I don’t know. Neither plays the outfield exceptionally well, but both can handle it. Smith brings a ton of power while McNeil gets on base and hits for a high average. Either could fit a niche in the Royals lineup. While the Mets rotation looks quite good if everyone is healthy, they’re led by Jacob deGrom who made 15 starts in 2021 and Max Scherzer who has had back issues. They also have nice depth within the rotation with Carlos Carrasco and Taijuan Walker, but someone like Brad Keller or Mike Minor might appeal to them.

Miami Marlins

The Marlins don’t currently have a ton of depth offensively (though that could change as they’ve already been aggressive in free agency and might be on the hunt for more when the lockout ends), but their pitching is impressive. They signed Sandy Alcantara to an extension, so he’s off limits, but they have Pablo Lopez, Jesus Luzardo, Trevor Rogers, Elieser Hernandez, Sixto Sanchez, Max Meyer, Braxton Garrett and others right behind him. Hernandez is the oldest of that bunch and he’ll be 27 next year. If the Royals want to go out and get someone to play right field and decide Kyle Isbel isn’t the guy, he could be a nice piece for them. If they want to play really big, maybe that’s a Nick Pratto move for one of their prized pitchers. The Royals have a lot of what the Marlins don’t and the Marlins have what the Royals seem to desire, so there could be something here, but it would definitely fall in the creative category.

NL Central

Cincinnati Reds

I’ve talked about them and their three big pitchers - Luis Castillo, Sonny Gray and Tyler Mahle - a lot. Go get one. Or two. Or heck, all three. I dare you. And if they’re truly wanting to tear it down, get Jesse Winker too. He won’t hit 35 homers at Kauffman Stadium (probably), but he’ll be a doubles machine who walks and doesn’t strike out much. If they’re actually trying to cut payroll, the Royals should be able to get it done with their prospect depth.

Milwaukee Brewers

On the surface, there isn’t a great fit here, but I could see them being interested in Carlos Santana and sending the Royals back someone like Tyrone Taylor, who seems like a very Royals player. He has some tools, is good defensively and can handle center. He’s probably a bit exposed playing every day but I could see the Royals liking him enough that he platoons with Isbel and then could be a part of a bench moving forward maybe? While the Brewers rotation is outstanding, they don’t have a ton of depth there, so maybe there’s a deal to be had that includes one of the Royals pitchers or prospects to bring back a prospect too. Not a monster deal, but I could see something working.

Pittsburgh Pirates

There isn’t much to say here, but the Pirates have an outfield commodity that every team wants in Bryan Reynolds. It will cost an arm and a leg to get him, but I’d maybe offer a hand and a leg and see if it gets the job done? The Royals can go quantity with their system depth if they wanted to try to entice the Pirates into that, though I doubt it would get the job done. It’s just that Reynolds is such a perfect fit. He’s an excellent player, so he’s a perfect fit everywhere, but it feels like he’d be a great corner outfielder in Kauffman Stadium and would plug gaps all day long. Plus he’s a switch hitter. I will say that the Pirates farm system is lacking in big time pitching, so if the Royals were willing to pony up one of the pitchers and one of the big bats, I think a deal could be found.

I also want David Bednar and I will not stop talking about it no matter how much you make me. I thought when they traded Jacob Stallings to the Marlins that Cam Gallagher might be a good fit there as part of a Bednar deal, but they signed Roberto Perez. They could still use Gallagher, so maybe the dream is alive, I don’t know.

NL West

Colorado Rockies

I think I first wrote that the Royals should pry away German Marquez from the Rockies back in June or July. I still believe it. I’m not sure anyone can explain the way the Rockies do business with their handling of both Trevor Story and Jon Gray over the past year, but if the Royals can find a way to get Marquez in the front of their rotation, it will be worth it. They seem to want a haul for him if they move him, which is absolutely right given how good he is. Of course, we don’t know what a haul means to them, so it’s hard to say what it would cost, but it would likely involve one of MJ Melendez or Pratto. Is it worth it? Hard to say, but you have to give to get. They also do have some outfielders they’d be willing to move, but I wouldn’t give up much of anything for any of what they have.

Los Angeles Dodgers

This one is a little tricky. For one thing, the Dodgers love and use their depth. So prying anything away from them is difficult and they’re very smart, so if they want someone that bad, you almost have to stop and wonder why you’d trade them. That said, they do spend a lot of money and every dollar over the luxury tax is a dollar they have to spend on. David Price is a guy they’re spending roughly $16 million on in 2022 as the Red Sox are paying some of his salary. With Max Muncy’s injury potentially more serious than they either led on originally or believed, they could look for a first baseman. They’re aiming much higher than this, but if push comes to shove, maybe they swap contracts with the Royals for Santana and bring him back to the organization after trading him years ago.

The issue with Price is that he just wasn’t that good in 2021. He didn’t strike out many and his control wasn’t great. Could it be a blip after a year off and having to work in a role that he hadn’t been in for a long time? Maybe. It’s a net add of $6 million or so to the 2022 payroll, so it’s a sort of big risk, but it does give the Royals the veteran they might like at the top of the rotation to lead the young guys. At 36, it’s a risk, but might be worth it for the potential reward and simply clearing the roster spot for Pratto or Melendez. The Dodgers also have some other pieces and after losing Corey Seager to free agency, maybe they’re interested in Adalberto Mondesi or Nicky Lopez. It’s easy to target Cody Bellinger as a potential star to get while buying low, but he’s projected to make a cool $16.1 million coming off a .165/.240/.302 season. Hard to make that work, but it’s creative season!

San Diego Padres

The Padres were expected to compete with the Dodgers for the best record in baseball in 2021 and instead they finished 79-83 and fired Jayce Tingler. There are a lot of factors that went into their struggles, but regardless of those, they need to win in 2022. Their roster is still kind of weird, though. They’ve got Jurickson Profar, Wil Myers and Trent Grisham as the only three outfielders on the 40-man roster, but have Fernando Tatis Jr. obviously at shortstop and he might be an outfielder moving forward (or maybe he won’t be) or CJ Abrams could move to the outfield. I’m not sure there’s a fit for an outfielder trade, but the Royals and Padres have matched up a lot.

Where I could see something happening is with a pitcher. I’d love to see if the Royals could get a shot at Joe Musgrove, though he’s a free agent after 2022. Or I know he can’t stay healthy, but Dinelson Lamet has such good stuff that you just hope it works out at some point like it did for him in the shortened 2020. If you’re looking for a creative trade and trying to pinpoint a team that might get crazy, it’s a team that underperformed massively the year before and the GM might be on the hot seat if they do it again.

So yeah, there are teams out there. Now we just tap our fingers on the table and wait until the two sides finally negotiate something meaningful and end this lockout.