KC Royals: 3 potential trades involving Maikel Franco

It is apparent that the KC Royals signed the former Philadelphia Phillies third baseman to use as trade bait before the deadline.

If the KC Royals viewed Maikel Franco as a long-term option at the hot corner they would have negotiated a contract with at least two to three years of team control.  Since he was signed for a budget-friendly $2.95 million with options that could push it to $4 million, they could have secured his services for more seasons and still not spent much more than that per year.

This deal has all the makings of a Dayton Moore special.  Take a player who struggled the last season or two for a one year deal and hope he regains enough production that a playoff contender will ship you a prospect or two for his services the last two months of the season.

Injuries play a large part in a team having an immediate for help in a playoff hunt, but other teams may have questionable players to begin with.  If Franco can hit .250-.260 and put 12-15 balls out of the park by mid-July, he will be a marketable asset.  He will also only be 28 years old at the end of August which is more attractive than a player at the twilight of his career.

These factors should allow the Royals to expect a greater return than a trade involving an older player like Ian Kennedy.  Of course, Franco will need a return to his 2018 form when he slashed .270/.314/.467 in Philly and not the player whose OPS was 75 points less than that in 2019.

The potential is there for Franco, he was the NL Rookie of the Month in June of 2015 when he put together his best Sabermetric numbers in 80 games that season.  He takes heat on his fielding but it should be pointed out that he finished fourth last year in fielding percentage for third basemen in the senior circuit.

We will take a look at three possible landing spots for him as the KC Royals hope Franco can bring value in a deadline deal.

Normally the Tampa Bay Rays are the ones mining for prospects but with the American League East in fluctuation, they may need help at the hot corner.

The Boston Red Sox shipped off their best player and a top-tier pitcher to the west coast recently and Chris Sale is getting multiple opinions for arm trouble…never a good sign.  The New York Yankees are in a bind with Luis Severino hurt for the year and James Paxton missing two months at a minimum.

Tampa is coming off a 96-win season making it easy to see how they could be on top of the American League East or at least a wild card team.  Although they seem set with Yandy Diaz at third base he is not a proven commodity. They could have a need for a power hitter at that position or filling in at DH.

2019 was the first time Diaz hit for double digits in home runs at any level and his .267 average was well below what he has produced in the past.  He also missed the last two months of the regular season with a foot fracture and left a playoff game with soreness to the same foot. Franco is actually a year younger the Diaz as well so if the latter struggles or has continuing issues with his foot, the Rays may need to make a move to fill in a strong right-handed bat.

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The Rays have several pitchers in their top 20 prospects and one of them is Riley O’Brien.  He is close to falling off the normal prospect radar as he just turned 25 and will be eligible for the Rule 5 draft this December.  That alone could make him available in a trade.

His minor league numbers are outstanding and it interesting he has not pitched above the Double-A level.  His career ERA is 2.83, batting average against sits at .199 and he has stuck out 250 in 232 frames.

O’Brien did get hit harder at Double-A then at earlier stops but his numbers were still impressive.  He could be an instant addition to the major league roster and even if the trade does not happen, if he becomes Rule 5 eligible he could be the next Brad Keller.

The KC Royals and Milwaukee Brewers seem to have a pipeline to each other that happens every few years.  

Most recently KC sent Mike Moustakas to the Brew Crew for Brett Phillips and Jorge Lopez.  Another deal that helped with the success in the mid-2010s was Kansas City acquiring Lorenzo Cain, Alcides Escobar and Jake Odorizzi for Zack Greinke.  Cain also went back to Milwaukee when he left the Royals as a free agent in 2018.

The Brewers were in the thick of National League Central race only missing out to the St. Louis Cardinals by two games.  At the hot corner, Milwaukee is beginning the season with a platoon of Jedd Gyorko and Eric Sogard.  Gyorko had a horrible 2019 campaign and while Sogard had his best year ever, he will turn 34 years old and it is difficult to see him duplicating last season’s performance.

It is not a stretch to think the Brewers will be looking to upgrade their offense at third if they are in a place to take the division again.  What they could offer the Royals is a potential catcher to fill in the hole that will be created as KC looks to limit Salvador Perez behind the plate and potentially move him to at 1B or DH role full time.

Payton Henry was drafted out of high school in 2016 in the sixth round and has improved his power numbers each season.  Defensively he throws out nearly 40 percent of the potential base stealers and is highly skilled behind the plate.  He needs to work on cutting down on strikeouts and drawing more walks but a couple more years of minor league seasoning should help with that.

Henry has been a Mid-Season All-Star the last two years and took home a MiLB Gold Glove award in 2018 while with Wisconsin in the Mid-Atlantic League.  While the Royals look to see if their current crop of catchers can spell Perez, this prospect would be worth taking a chance on.

These are just three possibilities that could improve the future of the Royals.  One thing we are fairly certain of is that Franco will not be on the Kansas City roster once the calendar hits August.