Why Royals Could Benefit From $50 Million Slugger's 'Trade Stock' Trending Down

Less competition for the big bat?

Oct 10, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Royals manager Matt Quatraro (33) during warmups before a game against the New York Yankees for game four of the ALDS for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images | Denny Medley-Imagn Images

It's never too early to start thinking about the Major League Baseball trade deadline, and this season, the Kansas City Royals could swing either way.

The Royals are off to a 10-14 start, but they're entering an easy stretch of schedule. The offense is bottom-five in any statistical category you can imagine, but if they can clean it up, this Kansas City team could get back into playoff contention fairly quickly.

The most obvious spot the Royals need an upgrade is the outfield, where they're trotting out names like Drew Waters and Hunter Renfroe on a nightly basis. But with limited availability expected at the deadline, who can the Royals realistically target?

Maybe the best-case scenario for the Royals is for a former All-Star to keep struggling. Let's dig into that.

On Wednesday, Bleacher Report's Zachary D. Rymer wrote about several trade candidates, and named Chicago White Sox center fielder Luis Robert Jr. as a player whose stock was trending in the wrong direction ahead of Jul. 31 deadline.

"Robert's strikeout and walk rates have trended in positive directions relative to 2024. But he's also lost 3.8 mph off his average exit velocity, and even improvements to his swing-and-miss tendencies still only have him in the 23rd percentile with both his whiff and strikeout rates," Rymer wrote.

"With all this coming on the heels of a .657 OPS and 1.4 rWAR in 2024, it sure looks like the White Sox may have overplayed their hand."

Robert, 27, would be a major difference-maker for the Royals if he's in his 2023 All-Star form. But their best chance to get him, ironically enough, might be if he continues to struggle.

If Robert rebounds and looks like his old self, he'll suddenly be an attractive target, not only because of his play on the field, but because his contract (originally six years, $50 million) contains club options for 2026 and 2027.

In that case, big-market teams like the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets might be all over the White Sox star. And those teams also have better farm systems than the Royals, whose only real strength in terms of prospect capital is at catcher, where the White Sox also have two top farmhands.

So maybe the Royals' best chance to get a difference-maker is for Robert's numbers to stay just low enough that the other suitors are scared off. In the meantime, they'll have to claw above .500 and prove they're only one big bat away from serious contention.

More MLB: Royals' Carlos Estévez Has 5-Word Response To 9th-Inning Meltdown Vs. Rockies