Blue Jays Could Acquire Royals All-Star Seth Lugo In 3-Player Swap

The Kansas City Royals have a huge decision looming at the trade deadline, and no player's fate is more up in the air than veteran starting pitcher Seth Lugo.

Coming into the season, the Royals had every intention of keeping Lugo and making another playoff push. But they've sputtered of late, dropping to six games under .500, and Lugo has an opt-out at the end of the season that he's all but certain to exercise.

What could the Royals get for Lugo? And would it be enough to justify fully punting on their remaining playoff chances? One baseball writer has attempted to answer both questions.

In a recent article, Connor Moylan of Royals Review drew up a trade package for the Toronto Blue Jays to land Lugo based on returns for veterans Jack Flaherty and Yusei Kikuchi at last year's deadline, landing two players with "future values" of 50 and 45 on the 20-to-80 scale.

Moylan's proposed package from Toronto was either lefty pitching prospect Ricky Tiedemann or outfielder Alan Roden, and lefty pitching prospect Kendry Rojas.

"I think Lugo would be as highly valued as Flaherty and Kikuchi were last season; you could argue that he is the best pitcher out of all the rental pitchers that have been traded in the last few years. So it would be reasonable to expect the Royals to land one prospect with a 50 FV rating and one with a 45 FV rating for Lugo," Moylan wrote.

"While the Royals still have more time to make a decision, I’m personally on Team Sell at the deadline right now... Unloading veterans and guys towards the end of their deals could help them compete again next year, and moving Lugo is a no-brainer if the Royals decide to move that direction."

Lugo dropped his season ERA to 2.74 following a 5 2/3-inning scoreless outing against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday. He's pitching like an ace, and he's bound to get a lot more than the one year, $15 million he had remaining on his deal by opting out this winter.

Tiedemann is an intriguing lefty who could be a frontline starter someday, but comes with injury questions. Roden stumbled out of the gates this season, and is a bit older than a typial "prospect" at age 25.

It's not certain that a return like this one would pan out in future playoff berths for the Royals, but depending on how far out of the playoff picture they fall, it might be their only play.

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