Royals open to trading a starter

A year ago, almost to the day, the Kansas City Royals traded Brady Singer to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for the services of outfielder Jonathan India and outfielder Joey Wiemer.

The result? A playoff-less 2025 campaign, a step back from 2024 when the Royals participated in the fall dance, losing to the New York Yankees in the American League Division Series.

Even so, it seems that the Missouri club wants to repeat its pattern of trading one of its starting pitchers, which is what allowed it to play baseball in October two years ago. Indeed, according to the team's general manager, J.J. Picollo, no one is untouchable in Kansas City.

In the starting rotation, we have depth. A lot of teams are looking for starting pitchers, so if we have what they're interested in, and they have an outfielder they might be interested in, there's potentially an opportunity to make a deal.

Right now, the Royals are expected to enter the 2026 campaign with Cole Ragans, Michael Wacha, Seth Lugo, Kris Bubic and Noah Cameron in the starting rotation.

Although Picollo said the Royals were reluctant to trade Wacha or Lugo, he added that anything is possible if the return fits his club's needs. That would seem to include Ragans, who boasts a 3.32 earned-run average and 10.8 strikeouts per 9 innings in 57 starts for the Royals, and is under contract until 2029.

The Boston Red Sox could then be an ideal dance partner if Ragans is indeed available, given the surplus of outfielders in Massachusetts and the Royals' interest in Jarren Duran.

However, the Sox seem to be overvaluing their colt in relation to what other Major League Baseball teams think of his value. The Sox could therefore keep him in their ranks, thus opening the door to a transaction involving Ceddanne Rafaela, who is not of interest to the Royals.

I think they're open to moving anyone outside of Anthony in the OF mix and I'm not reporting they're shopping Rafaela. This drum I've been beating is from a speculative standpoint. But if you think about it with all the factors (especially contract) it does make sense

– Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) December 2, 2025

What's more, the Bas Rouges have already got hold of Sonny Gray and now want to focus on adding a big stick or two.

This content was created with the help of AI.