Royals Could Part Ways With Two Key Pitchers Via Trade To Blue Jays: Insider
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The Kansas City Royals could realistically swing either way at the upcoming trade deadline.
Coming out of the All-Star break, the 47-50 Royals will face the Miami Marlins, Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Guardians, and Atlanta Braves. Those four series will be the last intel they have before choosing whether to buy at the trade deadline, sell, or do a little bit of both.
At this point, Seth Lugo is the elephant in the room. The 2024 All-Star is pitching to a 2.74 ERA through 17 starts, and any contender short on starters would love to have him. But making that move would be akin to throwing in the towel for Kansas City.
No matter how these next 12 games go for the Royals, there will surely be teams coming after Lugo with vigor. Will the Toronto Blue Jays be one of those teams?
On Sunday, Jon Heyman of the New York Post proposed a trade in which the Royals would send both Lugo and All-Star closer Carlos Estévez to the Blue Jays in exchange for infielder Orelvis Martinez, outfielder Emmanuel Bonilla, and outfielder RJ Schreck.
"The Royals are still looking to add, not subtract. But if they continue to disappoint, Lugo has an opt-out and would become an obvious sell piece," Heyman wrote.
Martinez has debuted in the majors and is considered the Blue Jays' third-best prospect by MLB Pipeline. But he lasted one game in Toronto last summer before getting hit with an 80-game performance-enhancing drug suspension. Bonilla and Schreck check in 16th and 18th on the list, respectively.
It's not a bad package by any means, but it still feels like the Royals could hold out for more, especially if they're going to give up Estévez, who is under team control through 2026 with a club option for 2027.
The Royals would likely still rather stay in the playoff hunt, but a stretch of 5-7 or worse before the deadline could be cause for waving the white flag.
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Jackson Roberts is a former Division III All-Region DH who now writes and talks about sports for a living. A Bay Area native and a graduate of Swarthmore College and the Newhouse School at Syracuse University, Jackson makes his home in North Jersey. He grew up rooting for the Red Sox, Patriots, and Warriors, and he recently added the Devils to his sports fandom mosaic. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "Kansas City Royals On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org
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