The Royals are obvious deadline sellers, but their efforts over the next few days will focus primarily on trading players on expiring contracts, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. Feinsand quotes an executive with another club who indicates that Kansas City plans on trying to contend next season and hasn’t been keen on discussing players signed/controlled beyond the current season.
Right-handers Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo, both signed through at least next season, were already known to be long-shot trade candidates. The Royals have placed a high asking price on both, seemingly in a nod to their importance to next year’s rotation. Long-term building blocks like Bobby Witt Jr. and Maikel Garcia were never going to move.
Outfielder Lane Thomas stands as the most surefire trade candidate on the Royals’ roster. He’s one of the few right-handed bats available on a market where such players are in high demand. He’s playing on a $5.25MM salary that’s affordable for any club. There’s about $1.64MM of that sum still to be paid out, and Thomas is having a decent year at the plate after a rough season and a half playing for division-rival Cleveland. He’s only hitting .229, but a big 11.8% walk rate has contributed to a .324 on-base percentage and Thomas is also slugging .394. By measure of wRC+, he’s essentially been a league-average bat.
As is typically the case for Thomas, however, his production has a platoon-heavy tinge to it. He’s only slashing .205/.293/.367 versus right-handed pitchers but has tormented lefties with a .265/.368/.434 line (125 wRC+). The 30-year-old is capable of playing all three outfield spots, making him an ideal platoon outfielder/backup center fielder on a contending club. There’s no chance the Royals would make Thomas a qualifying offer, so he’s a virtual lock to be moved for the best offer that presents itself.
[Related: Kansas City Royals Trade Deadline Outlook]
Lefty Kris Bubic would surely be Kansas City’s top rental asset — if he were healthy. However, the 28-year-old southpaw has been sidelined by an elbow issue since mid-May. He was trending toward a return earlier this summer before shoulder soreness shut him down for another ten days in late June/early July. He’s back on a throwing program now but still needs to throw a bullpen session, face live hitters and eventually complete a minor league rehab stint before he’s any sort of consideration for a major league return. A precise timetable for all of that remains unclear, but even in a best-case scenario it’s hard to imagine him returning before late August.
Bubic is being paid $6.15MM this season. He’s demonstrated the ability to pitch like a No. 2 or 3 starter when healthy, as evidenced by a 3.04 ERA, 25.5% strikeout rate, 8.3% walk rate and 48% ground-ball rate dating back to 2023. That production has come in a sample of just 213 innings, however. Bubic underwent Tommy John surgery in 2023, wiping most of his ’23 and ’24 seasons. He was excellent in 116 1/3 innings last year (2.55 ERA) before a rotator cuff strain shut down his season. He returned with a 4.11 ERA and an uncharacteristically high 12% walk rate in nine starts this season before landing back on the IL. Talented as Bubic may be, the Royals probably don’t want to risk a roughly $23MM qualifying offer when he’s struggled to stay healthy so much in recent years.
Other rentals on the Royals’ roster have minimal value. Righty reliever John Schreiber has a nice 3.76 ERA in 40 2/3 innings, but he’s sitting on a career-low 17.1% strikeout rate against a 10% walk rate that stands as the second-worst mark of his career. He still has about $1.16MM to go on this year’s $3.715MM salary. Most clubs would view him as middle relief depth rather than a high-leverage arm.
Lefty Matt Strahm has plenty of name recognition but is having a career-worst season. He’s pitched 34 2/3 innings with a 6.25 ERA. His velocity, strikeout rate and walk rate are all at career-worst levels. He’s being paid $7.5MM this season. A contender might roll the dice on a change of scenery, but he’s not going to command anything of note in return. That’s all the more true of outfielder/designated hitter Starling Marte, who’s batting .256/.315/.310 and has only played 161 innings in the outfield this year (all in the corners).
The Royals have at least one interesting, more borderline call. If they’re willing to consider offers on relievers with more club control, lefty Daniel Lynch IV would fetch a nice return. The former No. 34 overall pick never clicked as a starter but has found a home in Kansas City’s bullpen. He’s sitting on a flat 2.00 ERA in 45 frames this season and has a 2.83 earned run average dating back to 2024, when he first began shifting to relief work.
Lynch doesn’t miss bats like your prototypical high-leverage arm. He’s striking out a below-average 19% of his opponents this season. However, his 6.7% walk rate and 51.2% ground-ball rate are both considerably better than average, and opponents have had a hard time making good contact against him this season. They’re averaging 88 mph off the bat with a bleak 5.3% barrel rate and a below-average 36.6% hard-hit rate. Lynch’s 12.3% swinging-strike rate is comfortably above the 10.8% league average as well, which could give other clubs hope for more strikeouts down the road.
Lynch has limited righties to a dismal .216/.286/.386 batting line this year. Lefties may as well not even step into the box against him; they’re batting .145/.198/.184 in 81 plate appearances this season.
The Royals control Lynch for two more seasons after this one. He’s making just $1.025MM this year in his first season of arbitration. The executive quoted by Feinsand cast doubt on whether the Royals would move anyone controlled beyond this season except “maybe one of their relievers.” Alex Lange and Lucas Erceg have pitched poorly. Steven Cruz is controllable through 2030. Lynch offers the best blend of control and established/dependable production if the Royals are to move a non-rental arm out of the ‘pen. It seems likely he’ll stay put, but relief pitching is always at a premium this time of year. It’s at least possible someone makes a big offer, especially if they don’t want to pay high prices attached to rental lefties like Adrian Morejon, A.J. Minter and Brooks Raley.
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