JJ For a Day: Let's Make Some Deals

This right here is how I would fill out the roster for the Royals with three trades.

Acquiring talent can take many forms. Drafting/signing internationally and developing is the approach that people seem to think is the most honorable, but teams are built in all sorts of different ways. And nobody wins without a trade here and there or dipping your toe into the free agent market. As JJ for (another) day, I want to look at trades today that I would make to help this team in 2025 and moving forward. Just a reminder. This is what I would do, not what I think the Royals will do.

One thing that’s so interesting about the season they had in 2024 is that it sort of recalibrated the mindset. For so long, I feel like we’ve been conditioned to ask how this helps for four to six years rather than how this helps next season. And while I agree that there is value in a long-term plan and nobody should be going away from that, there’s also a level of “go for it” that should exist in a team that won 86 games and a playoff series this past season. Sometimes that means hurting the longer-term future for shorter-term gains.