KC Royals Rumors: Chapman Package Not Enough For Wade Davis

KC Royals rumors continue to swirl around closer Wade Davis. The latest information comes from veteran reporter Jayson Stark who said the Kansas City Royals front office has told Davis suitors that an Aroldis Chapman package won’t get the deal done.

Stark tweeted these message on Monday:

An example of deals the Royals are mulling: A team that asked about Wade Davis said it was told the Chapman package "wouldn't get it done"
— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) July 25, 2016

Teams talking with the Royals say they're "wide open to listening" on Volquez, Davis, Morales, etc but want MLB-ready players back, not kids
— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) July 25, 2016

So, just what kind of package will it take for someone to land Wade Davis? The major-league grapevine is silent on that question, but we can make some (hopefully) intelligent speculation. According to Yahoo.com’s Jeff Passan, the KC Royals told the Washington Nationals that Lucas Giolito was the starting point for any potential Davis deal.

Davis is worth more than Chapman in the Royals eyes since he’s not a rental, Davis is just as dominant but also has one more year of team control.

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ESPN.com’s Keith Law rated Giolito as the no. 3 prospect in all of baseball in his mid-season top 50 prospects list. Shortstop Gleyber Torres, who headlined the Cubs package for Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman, ranked 15th on Law’s list.

Along with Torres, the Cubs sent 28-year-old pitcher Adam Warren (3.66 career ERA in MLB, but 3-2, 5.91 ERA in 2016), and outfielders Billy McKinney and Rashad Crawford. Twenty-one year old McKinney was rated the no. 74 prospect in baseball by Baseball Prospectus, and no. 83 by Baseball America before the 2016 season. Twenty-two year old Crawford is a High A outfielder who is currently riding a hot streak, and was an 11th round pick in 2012.

That’s a heck of a package that includes two top 100 prospects.

The key to any Kansas City Royals trade is Stark’s report that they want major-league ready talent in return. Clearly, Dayton Moore will only make a trade if it helps the KC Royals win in 2017 before potential free-agents Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Danny Duffy, Lorenzo Cain, Jarrod Dyson, and Alcides Escobar hit the market.

If we’re looking at the Nationals, a “better than Chapman” package might look something like this:

RHP Lucas Giolito

RHP Erick Fedde

OF Andrew Stevenson

RHP Felipe Rivero

Giolito is seen by scouts as a potential ace, and is major league ready. He’d probably go right into the Kansas City Royals rotation the moment they acquired him in a Wade Davis trade. Erick Fedde was ranked the no. 66 prospect in major league baseball by MLB.com. He’s a 23-year-old Tommy John surgery survivor (like Giolito) who is pitching at High A with a 3.35 ERA and 8.8 K/9 in 15 starts in the Carolina League. Stevenson is a Kansas City Royals type of outfielder with excellent range in center, but little power. Meanwhile, Felipe Rivero is a 25-year-old major-league arm who sports a 96 mph fastball and a 10.0 K/9, but has struggled this season with a 4.53 ERA.

Giolito and Rivero would join the KC Royals roster immediately upon a Wade Davis deal, with Fedde and Stevenson bolstering the farm system. Plus, if the Kansas City Royals dealt Davis, I’d expect them to quickly sign recovering closer Greg Holland (UCL) for 2017.

Next: Royals Report: KC Looks Dead In Loss To Angels

If Dayton Moore could get such a package for Davis, he’d very much have to do it if the KC Royals don’t pull out of their swoon before August 1.

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