Kansas City Royals and the 2017 MLB Trade Deadline

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The Kansas City Royals will be sending Salvador Perez and Jason Vargas to the Mid-Summer Classic. Mike Moustakas will also be in Miami for the Homerun Derby (and the game now as well). While it is great to once again have multiple team representatives at the All-Star Game let me be honest with you.

These Kansas City Royals will undoubtedly represent their team and fan base well. However, now that there is no significant meaning attached to the game, there just doesn’t seem to be as much to be excited about. My gut tells me that MLB will go the way of the NBA and NFL. I expect this exhibition game will see players “putting on a show” with no real competitiveness.

That may be a rant better suited for a different write-up.

What the break means for this writer is that we are one step closer to the MLB trade deadline. All hail the madness that will ensue. I love the whispered rumors. The talking heads and their hypothetical deals take up my spare time, which my wife loves. (Is that how you use the sarcastic font?)

In the early part of the season it appeared that the Kansas City Royals would set the market from a seller’s perspective. They were terrible the first two months of the season. Add in all the soon-to-be free agents on the roster and the perfect storm for selling was brewing.

A hot June and start to July has changed the narrative. The Kansas City Royals are squarely in the playoff hunt. Let’s speculate about what the 2017 trade deadline could look like for Dayton Moore and company.

According to this ESPN article the Kansas City Royals may be doing the opposite of selling this July. Boys and Girls that means the team may be looking to be buyers. According to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe “Adding a frontline pitcher ahead of the deadline is a possibility.”

Now before we begin throwing names around that the Kansas City Royals could give up limited assets for, let’s talk about what kind of currency they actually have.

Instead of listing the names of players that make up the organizations top prospect list there is

one specific name I would like to explore. That name is Kelvin Herrera. I already can see the comments: “This guy has no idea what he is talking about!”, “You don’t trade your team’s closer to make a playoff push!” and so forth. Stick with me though and I’ll try to explain my oh-so crazy thinking.

Baseball is a sport where name and reputation can hold onto clout longer than it should. This could pay great dividends for Dayton Moore. Remember early in the season, even with all the potential big league talent the team could offer, Herrera’s name seemed to be drawing the most interest. The reason is he has a proven track record late in games and more controllable service time than upcoming free agents like Moose.

That explains why teams would have interest in KH, but why would Moore consider dealing his closer?

Herrera may be the Kansas City Royals closer now. My question is should he, or does he need to be. I believe there is proof that without KH the bullpen could perform close to the same level, at the very least. If that is indeed the case then he becomes expendable. Here is why I have made this conclusion.

KH 2017 Stats – 35 games (34.0 IP), 4.50 ERA, 1-2 Record, 19 SV, 33 K, 1.265 WHIP and -0.1 WAR

Player A – 38 games (36.0 IP), 3.25 ERA, 4-2 Record, 1 SV, 48 K, 1.278 WHIP and 0.8 WAR

Player A is Joakim Soria. I know he was garbage in 2016. Good thing this is 2017. Fans need to be able to differentiate that. Jack also carries the “proven closer” moniker with him. Players have down years and by now I believe that is what last season was. At the very least he has shown that he can provide similar to better production that KH now.

SEATTLE, WA – JULY 3: Catcher Salvador Perez /

Mike Minor has been excellent this year. You factor that in with promising results for Kyle Zimmer, in Triple A Omaha since moving to the pen, and you still have a back-end that should be just as good as what the Royals rely on currently.

Zimmer-Minor-Soria can get the job done. Don’t forget about recently acquired Neftali Feliz. Oh and Seth Maness, Scott Alexander,and Kevin McCarthy who all have the ability to throw a baseball toward home plate out of the pen as well. Because of that Herrera is a major trade chip that could allow Dayton Moore to go after a “frontline starter” without wiping out an already depleted farm system. I am not saying that KH on his own will net such a player.

What I am saying is that KH plus a (singular) prospect just might. Could Herrera and a minor leaguer such as a seemingly improved Bubba Starling get the job done? Maybe, now we just need to know who could be potential targets.

There have been several names recently that floated around the world wide interwebs of starting pitchers who could be available for the Kansas City Royals to look at. Sadly for me the one I am most intrigued by might not match up with what the Royals could offer. Not saying it couldn’t be done, but there are better fits.

That being said I am still going to throw it out there and hope that good karma does its job. First though let’s look at some of those names that have been speculated in one place or another. Jose Quintana, Ervin Santana, Alex Cobb, Chris Archer, Gerrit Cole, Johnny Cueto and Jeremy Hellickson are all names that are out there at this year’s deadline.

The player I am most intrigued by however is Sonny Gray. Here is a quick look at how he is doing so far.

13 games (78.2 IP), 4.00 ERA, 4-4 record, 74 Ks, 1.208 WHIP and 1.2 WAR

Gray has a solid reputation. I think he would fit nicely in the rotation behind Danny Duffy and Jason Vargas. Like I stated though, I’m not sure that the teams match up great for a deal. While I would really like to see Gray as part of the Kansas City rotation, I wouldn’t want to give up pieces that play important roles for the team next season. Raul Mondesi is the perfect example.

There is one more name that I just heard who, while maybe not at the top of my personal wish list, perhaps matches up better from a trade standpoint. That is Lance Lynn. A potential KH and Starling deal could be in the realm of possibilities for Lynn.

Lynn’s 2017 has shaped up as follows: 17 games (95.1 IP), 3.87 ERA, 6-6 record, 91 Ks, 1.175 WHIP and 1.0 WAR.

It has been a whirlwind baseball season so far. No team proves that more than the Kansas City Royals. GMDM seems completely in on this year so we should expect some movement as the trade deadline approaches.

Kansas City Royals and the 2017 Trade Deadline

The Kansas City Royals will be sending Salvador Perez and Jason Vargas to the Mid-Summer Classic. Mike Moustakas will also be in Miami for the Homerun Derby (and the game now as well). While it is great to once again have multiple team representatives at the All-Star Game let me be honest with you.

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