Royals Viewed As Longshot Destination For Cardinals’ 8x All-Star
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The Kansas City Royals have some weaknesses that they need to address in order to improve in 2026. The offense let them down in 2025 and led to them missing the postseason.
But with the offseason underway, their goals are clear: find a power bat to make the lineup stronger and hope to get back into the American League playoff picture.
They seem to be leaning towards making a trade to find their impact bat. Though a longshot, Mike Petriello of MLB.com lists the Royals as a potential landing spot for St. Louis Cardinals Gold-Glove third baseman Nolan Arenado.
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Do Royals Make Sense For Nolan Arenado?
“Kansas City has Maikel Garcia, coming off an excellent season at third, but also a hole at second base that Garcia could probably fill if needed,” Petriello writes.
As a trade fit, it’s possible. The Royals could move Garcia to second base and have Jonathan India on the bench. Arenado would still bring elite defense to the table, even though his bat has declined significantly.
He’s an eight-time All-Star and has won 10 Gold Gloves, as well as six Platinum Gloves and five Silver Slugger awards.
Kansas City is a relatively hitter-friendly environment, more so than Busch Stadium, so perhaps a change of scenery could help Arenado get his bat going again.
The Cardinals will be seeking young and controllable starting pitching, and the Royals have plenty of it. Chaim Bloom will likely be very selective in what he targets. For Arenado though, the Cardinals probably won’t get any elite prospects.
So, in that case, the Royals wouldn’t have to give up too much in order to make this happen, and they could make a serious upgrade defensively at third base, and even if the Cardinals don’t get elite pitching in return, the Royals do have plenty of arms in their system to spare.
The 34-year-old hit .237/.289/.377 with 12 home runs, 52 RBI and a .666 OPS. It was a career-worst season at the plate, but the Royals are trying to contend while the Cardinals are rebuilding, so joining forces with Bobby Witt Jr. could be appealing to Arenado as he looks to play for a team in win-now mode.
It should be interesting to see if these two teams make a deal.
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Curt Bishop is a freelance sports writer who graduated from Maryville University of St. Louis with a Bachelor of Arts degree in the field of Communication and currently writes as a contributor for various platforms covering Major League Baseball. Curt’s work includes covering trade and free agency predictions, as well as rumors and news.
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