KC Royals Whispers: Giants After Edinson Volquez

KC Royals rumors continue to float around major league baseball. Now it seems that the San Francisco Giants are interested in Kansas City Royals starter Edinson Volquez.

ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick reported the Giants interest in Volquez on July 27:

While the Giants are also interested in relief help, Crasnick dismissed the possibility that the Giants could land KC Royals closer Wade Davis due to the fact that they don’t have the kind of major-league ready prospects that KC general manager Dayton Moore has been insisting on if he’s going to deal Davis.

San Francisco’s top prospect according the MLBPipeline.com is Phil Bickford, whom they rate no. 67 among minor-league players. The 21-year-old Bickford is currently in the High A Carolina league and isn’t expected to be ready for the show until 2018 at the earliest. Other top Giants prospects INF Christian Arroyo (no. 96 overall) and RHP Tyler Beede (former 2014 first round pick) are in AA.

Those aren’t the kind of guys that could help the Kansas City Royals in 2017.

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However, the Giants could have the ammunition to land Volquez. Beede plus 25-year-old lefty reliever Steven Okret who has pitched in seven games for the Giants this season would be a reasonable offer for mid-rotation rental Volquez, who can become a free agent after the 2016 season. Volquez’s contract does have a mutual option at $10 million for 2017, which also carries a $3 million buyout.

Edinson Volquez’s 8-8 record with 4.56 ERA don’t seem all that impressive, but his numbers have been inflated by one horrible start in which he allowed 12 earned runs in 1.0 innings pitched. Throw out that game, and his ERA drops to a quite solid 3.72. And remember, that’s in a league with a designated hitter, so Volquez would give up around 0.5 run less in the National League.

The problem with this deal is I don’t seen the KC Royals actually pulling the trigger on it unless they decide to deal Wade Davis. Even Beede and Okret won’t help the Kansas City Royals much in 2017. Cashing in Volquez doesn’t make much sense unless Dayton Moore decides to give up on 2016 completely and trade off the short-term assets for the best price he can get.

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With every loss, the Kansas City Royals come closer and closer to a sell decision. I know it’s not what we KC Royals fans like to see, but it might be the best thing in the long run.