Kansas City Royals Starting Rotation Needs a Savior

Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

There are a couple of other guys the Kansas City Royals might also consider (Mike Leake, Alex Wood, NOT Jeff Samardzija), but the three listed above are the most affordable, and would be the most effective.

It’s no secret that Dayton Moore isn’t keen on making splashy deals in the middle of a season. Due to the financial constraints, and what the organization would have to give up, he likes to do the bulk of the team-building business during the off-season. As he explained last year, when the Royals stood pat at the trade deadline,

"“You can only take advantage of what’s available to you. Again, internally, we feel that this group of players are very talented, and have the ability to produce, and will produce. We didn’t feel that there was a significant upgrade for us, based on what the acquisition cost was going to be, that would vastly improve our team, or make us better to the point where we felt it was going to put us over the top.”"

While that may have disappointed people at the time, he was ultimately right. This year is different, though. This year, most of our core player are playing well, and are producing at a high level. The “holes” within the team are much more obvious, and much less likely to improve on their own. There are absolutely significant upgrades out there this year, the only real question is whether or not Dayton Moore and the Glass family are going to be willing to do whatever it takes to get a deal done.

The Royals are a very good baseball team, built to “win now.” The window of opportunity for teams to “win now” is incredibly small, and can take years to recreate. The Royals should know that better than anyone.

Next: Royals Trade Targets: Tigers Edition