KC Royals: 5 Potential Trade Targets for Yordano Ventura

Potential Trade Target 1: Jake Odorizzi

Jake Odorizzi is 26 years old, only 1 year older than Ventura, and as John Viril stated in an earlier piece, someone the Royals are already familiar with. He is currently posting a 3.33 ERA and averaging nearly 5.2 innings per start. He is also set to begin arbitration for the first time in 2017 so he would be under team control through 2019.

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The Rays aren’t likely to make any noise in 2016 so building for the future should be their objective and they can certainly afford to deal a more polished pitcher for one a bit rougher around the edges. But it will certainly cost the KC Royals at least 1 top prospect to get a deal like that done….maybe 2 top prospects.

The fact is, Odorizzi doesn’t have Yordano Ventura’s upside, but he’s a polished pitcher NOW, which is what the Kansas City Royals need. For the KC Royals, today is much more valuable than tomorrow, and Odorizzi is a guy that is just coming into his own.

Odorizzi appears on the edge of his peak seasons.

Likelihood score if Offered (1-10). We give this one a 7.

Next: Trade Target No. 2