Cubs 22-Year-Old 'Trade Candidate' Is Perfect Target For Punchless Royals

There aren't enough ways to say how bad the Kansas City Royals' offense has been this season.

Look at a statistical leaderboard, and the Royals are at or near the bottom of it as a team. And though there are plenty of culprits to identify, the outfield stands out as an area Kansas City can (and must) improve.

Royals outfielders rank dead last in fWAR, home runs, ISO, and wOBA. They've already sent MJ Melendez to the minors, but they still have players like Drew Waters and Hunter Renfroe clogging up roster spots, and Jonathan India hasn't hit well in his debut as a part-time left fielder.

At some point, the Royals simply have to improve their outfield. If moving top first base prospect Jac Caglianone to a corner spot isn't the solution, which in a perfect world, it shouldn't be, they'll have to find another way to inject some star talent into their outfield mix.

Enter Chicago Cubs outfield prospect Kevin Alcántara, who ESPN's David Schoenfield called a "trade candidate" in an article on Tuesday. Regardless of whether they're buying or selling at the deadline, the Royals should be all-in on trying to acquire Alcántara as a building block of their future outfield.

"(Owen) Caissie and Kevin Alcantara are two young outfielders in Triple-A, and even if Tucker isn't re-signed, there won't be room for both youngsters in 2026, so either could headline a deal," Schoenfield wrote.

Caissie is the higher-ranked prospect of the two 22-year-olds, with MLB Pipeline placing him third and Alcántara sixth in their current Cubs rankings. And while the Royals shouldn't turn their nose up at the chance to get Caissie, Alcántara seems less likely to get a spot in Chicago anytime soon, which should make him all the more affordable for Kansas City.

Alcántara has done nothing but hit in the minors, and at 6-foot-6, 188 pounds, he's got the chance to grow into more power than he's shown so far. He's never hit more than 15 homers in a minor-league season, but that frame suggests he could be an easy 25-homer guy, which the Royals simply don't have in their outfield.

Just consider this a modest proposal. No matter where the Royals' record stands at the deadline, they should make a serious push to land Alcántara from the outfield-flush Cubs.

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