The Five Worst Trades in Kansas City Royals History

Mandatory Credit: Bob Stanton-USA TODAY Sports

4. Melky Cabrera for Jonathan Sanchez and Ryan Verdugo (November 7, 2011)

Melky Cabrera was seemingly on his last chance in baseball when he signed with the Royals as a free agent on December 10, 2010. Having eaten his way out of Atlanta, not much was expected of Cabrera in Kansas City. As it turned out, Cabrera may go down as one of the best signings of Dayton Moore’s tenure, as he produced a .305/.339/.470 batting line with 18 home runs and 20 stolen bases.

Possibly thinking that Cabrera would never produce like that again, Moore shipped him off to the San Francisco Giants for Jonathan Sanchez and Ryan Verdugo. While Cabrera was suspended for PED use during the 2012 season, he still made the All-Star team and technically lead the National League with a .346 batting average. Presently with the Blue jays, Cabrera has been a solid player.

Jonathan Sanchez, meanwhile, absolutely bombed with the Royals, going 1-6 with a 7.76 ERA and a 2.044 WHiP. He walked 44 batters while striking out only 36 in 53.1 innings of work. Yet, as awful as Sanchez was, he still performed better than Ryan Verdugo. In his only major league appearance, Verdugo allowed six runs on eight hits and two walks in 1.2 innings of work. That 32.40 ERA makes Sanchez look competent by comparison.

At least the Royals were able to turn Sanchez into Jeremy Guthrie. However, that still does not remove the pain of watching either Jonathan Sanchez or Ryan Verdugo having pitched for the Royals.