1 bold trade Royals should make before trade deadline, 1 temptation they must avoid

The Kansas City Royals are inching oh so close to the trade deadline where they'll likely adopt a unique angle. At 45-62 their hopes of competing for October are all but out the window, making a buyer's approach look like wishful thinking. On the other hand, thanks to injuries and abnormally bad examples of individual underperformance, the Royals should be a better looking team on paper this year with a core that's led by Bobby Witt Jr., Maikel Garcia and Cole Ragans. This makes being an all-out seller at the deadline an unlikelihood as well.

This means the Royals are likely set up to be conservative sellers, with MLB.com's Anne Rogers reporting earlier this month that the front office's interest is to acquire more ready-now talent to accelerate their competitive ambitions starting in 2027.

With this more creative approach comes the possibility of bolder ideas entering the scene, which could have some real benefits, perhaps trading a prospect like Blake Mitchell despite being in a position to think towards the future. However, it could also be counter-productive in the long run in some cases, such as trading someone from the lower-half of their core like Vinnie Pasquantino.

While the Royals may have more opportunities than the traditional black and white approach many teams adopt at the trade deadline, they should lean into the boldness in some cases, but resist the urge to in others.

Royals should trade Blake Mitchell before his prospect value continues to fall

As sellers, the thought of trading away a young name like Mitchell, one of their current Top 10 organizational prospects and a very recent Top 100 prospect across the league, seems borderline foolish. There's potential he could become one of their building blocks for the future thanks to his immense power and ability to draw walks.

That being said, catchers are something the Royals have in abundance at the moment, especially young catchers. Carter Jensen is more than holding his own at the major league level right now with a 109 wRC+ since his September 2025 call-up and looks the successor to the great Salvador Perez.

Then there's Ramon Ramirez, who's only just below Mitchell in the team's prospect rankings according to MLB Pipeline at No. 6 and is thriving all around in High-A Quad Cities this season. He's slashing .296/.379/.500 with 11 homers, 72 RBI, a 10.6% walk rate, a much lower K-rate than Mitchell at 21.6% and a 124 wRC+. Not to mention, he's nearly a year younger than Mitchell as well.

As touched up on already, Mitchell has his concerning red flags too, primarily his K-rate. His near-35% K-rate with River Bandits has made him a risk to become a real three true outcome hitter. In some cases that can work at the big league level, such as with Max Muncy of the Dodgers. On the the other hand, it can end in a short career, such as it did with former Astros slugger Chris Carter.

At just under 22-years-old with the power and walking abilities he's displayed, there will surely be teams interested in someone like him. Earlier reports have the Angels as a potential suitor for young catchers.

And if J.J. Picollo and Co. want to acquire controllable big league-ready talent at the deadline, they may have to part with some prospect talent. So why not take advantage of the pedigree Mitchell still has and cash in before he has a chance to continue becoming less appealing across the league.

Vinnie Pasquantino is too vital to Royals' 2027 plans to trade at upcoming deadline

The Royals appear to be prioritizing their 2027 rotation and with injuries ravishing them this season, the thought of keeping surefire veterans like Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo is enticing. Perhaps that's why they're reportedly so reluctant on the idea of trading them before Aug. 3. These are the type of names though that would best get the Royals the MLB or near-MLB ready talent they desire so perhaps they may look elsewhere among their regulars to achieve that.

One name that isn't near the peak level of Bobby Witt Jr. and hasn't quite reached the heights that Maikel Garcia has reached is Vinnie Pasquantino.

With two more years of control left after this season, the Pasquatch has become a name that's been thrown around amongst the Royals fanbase as one that they should listen to offers on. And knowing that Jac Caglianone and Salvador Perez can occupy first base could make him seem that much more expendable.

However, despite his slow start Pasquantino is proving why he belongs in the heart of this order. Since May 29, he's hitting .309 with a .792 OPS with a 12.0% walk rate, just a 15.7% K-rate and a 123 wRC+. His presence in the lineup after the likes of the names like Jensen, Witt and Caglianone at the top of the order only adds protection for them to produce and unlock the rest of this order.

On top of that, he's a fan-favorite and vocal clubhouse leader which holds value that's almost impossible to quantify in a traditional sense.

At his peak, he's a disciplined 30+ HR and 100+ RBI hitter capable of producing well above-average OPS and wRC+ outputs. His injury history may be sketchy and he's notoriously slow starter, but he wouldn't be easy to replace as a small market team.

Should a ridiculously good offer come across that they couldn't refuse, then maybe they go through with trading Pasquantino. However, apart from that unlikely scenario, the Royals should really cherish what they have in Pasquantino and not get too caught up in their 2026 struggles.

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