Royals Could Cut Ties With $45 Million All-Star: Dodgers, 4 Others Named As Fits

The Kansas City Royals seem to be taking a hard stance against selling at the trade deadline. But is there a chance that's all for show?

In fairness, it's probably still too early for the Royals to commit to a pathway at the Jul. 31 deadline. But last week, both the Royals' general manager and vice president of communications came out with aggressive denials in response to a report that ownership had instructed the front office to start putting out feelers to potential buyers.

The reporter behind that piece of scuttlebutt, Mark Healey of the Rockaway Wave, also speculated that starting pitcher Seth Lugo could be a great fit for the Mets. Lugo is in year two of his three-year, $45 million deal with the Royals, but he can opt out in advance of the 2026 season.

Has the way the Royals' season has played out so far, including the uncertain injury status of Lugo's co-ace, Cole Ragans, created a possibility that Lugo could still be moved?

ESPN's Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel believe so. On Tuesday, the two insiders assigned Lugo a 40 percent chance of being traded, while naming the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, Houston Astros, Toronto Blue Jays, and San Diego Padres as potential landing spots.

"Lugo has posted mid-3.00s or lower ERAs for five seasons despite having below-average fastball velocity and good-not-great strikeout rates. His ability to strand runners and limit hard contact comes in part due to his nine different pitches," the authors wrote.

"With a Nathan Eovaldi-type contract awaiting Lugo in free agency, Kansas City could opt to move him, especially if Cole Ragans' injured shoulder doesn't improve."

Lugo has a 2.93 ERA in 11 starts this year, which is actually lower than his 3.00 mark from last year, when he finished runner-up in Cy Young Award voting. He went on the 15-day injured list in May, but that was due to finger inflammation, so hopefully isn't any sort of long-term concern.

The Dodgers are particularly dangerous in this situation because, well, they're the Dodgers. At any given moment, they can swoop in when they're least expected to land a star and have that star in Hollywood in time for their close-up.

At age 35, this offseason is probably Lugo's best chance to get one more big contract. He's going to opt out if he keeps pitching like this, so the Royals have to assess the risks of moving on from him versus keeping him and potentially losing him for nothing.

More MLB: Red Sox Could Cut Ties With $3.5 Million All-Star Via Royals Trade, Per Insiders