Royals Writer Declares Outfield Still Needs Help After Randal Grichuk Trade
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The Kansas City Royals were long thought to be sellers at this year's trade deadline. However, they seem to have reversed course.
They traded for outfielder Randal Grichuk to boost their lineup, and instead of sending Seth Lugo to another contender, they took him off the market by giving him a two-year, $46 million contract extension with a vesting option for 2028.
The Royals are now 52-54 and sit only four games back in the American League Wild Card race.
However, despite the recent trade for Grichuk, Andrew Banks of Kings of Kauffman believes that the Royals are still going to need more help offensively.
"The Royals still need help in the outfield, even with Grichuk on board. After all, as mentioned earlier, he's not a groundbreaking outfielder himself with a 96 wRC+ this season," Banks wrote on Sunday.
"John Rave has looked serviceable in the last few weeks, but he's nowhere near a proven league-caliber player with his 106 plate appearances."
With Jac Caglianone on the injured list, Kansas City will likely need some more help. One more impact bat could go a long way as far as putting the Royals back in contention for a Wild Card spot.
The offense has been their achilles heel this season, while the pitching staff has mostly carried the load. The outfield in particular hasn't had much success offensively.
The deadline is Thursday at 6 p.m. Eastern Time. It will be interesting to see if the Royals make any more moves between now and then.
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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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