KC Royals Trade Targets: Julio Teheran

The KC Royals pitching (most notably, starting pitching) has been horrendous as of late. With the entire rotation, excluding Danny Duffy, hanging in limbo, it’s time for GM Dayton Moore to make a move.

The Kansas City Royals are currently 43-40 and in third place in the AL Central. With the division slowly slipping away to the Cleveland Indians, it is time for the team to figure out if they’re going to be buyers or sellers at the deadline.

To be completely honest, if the team’s pitching picks up after the All-Star break, then the KC Royals will have a legitimate shot at another division title, or at least a wild card spot. With that being said, the Kansas City Royals #1 priority is a starting pitcher, and there are few better right now than Julio Teheran. Though the possibility of the KC Royals pulling the trigger on a big-name such as Teheran is pretty low, it is still a possibility and one that would greatly benefit the team.

The 25-year-old right-hander for the Atlanta Braves has posted a career year so far, boasting an ERA of 2.72 over 112.2 innings tossed. It will come as no surprise for either team that the cost for the young righty will be immense, with the Kansas City Royals likely letting go of star outfielder Bubba Starling and/or rising star (although presumed PED user) Raul Mondesi Jr, along with a few other big names. The price will be high, but GMDM has a way of making things work for the KC Royals.

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Teheran has an ERA of 2.72 over 112.2 IP, 15 HR allowed (hey, anything is better than Chris Young at this point), 24 BB, 105 SO and 1 CG. Teheran’s worst start this season came on April 14th against the Washington Nationals when he allowed six earned runs on just six hits over seven innings (that doesn’t sound too bad to me, as a KC Royals fan who has continued to watch Chris Young give up homer after homer in very few innings pitched).

In just his second start of the season, he only tossed four innings after conceding four runs on six hits, which would prove to be his shortest outing of the season so far. His next fewest innings pitched would be five, which has occurred just four times over his 17 starts this season.

For other believers of sabermetric statistics, Teheran has a WAR of 3.4, good for 5th in the league, a BABIP of .224 and a FIP of 3.83.

Side note: Teheran faced the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium on May 13 and tossed seven one-run innings with 3 BB and 5 SO.

Next: Royals Head North For Three Against Toronto

While the KC Royals will not likely be able to pull the trigger on such a big name target, it would sure be nice to see the team acquire a true ace (even with the emergence of the Duffman). Dayton Moore has just a little less than a month left to make any moves that he feels will benefit the team, and this would be one that has the ability to boost the Kansas City Royals Royals into a position in which they can, once again, compete for the division title.