KC Royals Trades: 3 likely deadline deal candidates

Fewer than a handful of days remain before June arrives and moves the KC Royals into the third month of the season. That’s early for most major league teams hoping to find their way to the playoffs.

Include Kansas City among those clubs. But not for this year. Trapped by their own dismal play in yet another disappointing campaign, it’s early for the Royals only because their realistic playoff hopes are for 2023 at the earliest.

That makes the Royals sellers if they choose to join the Aug. 2 trade deadline frenzy. Kansas City trading is no guarantee—this is an unpredictable club known to deal when they shouldn’t and stand pat when trades must be made.

Expect these Royals to make moves, however. They don’t have much, if any, choice. Carlos Santana must go—he’s in his contract year, he’s played badly all season, and either Vinnie Pasquantino or Nick Pratto deserve the first base job.

Santana could, of course, be gone before the deal deadline, and isn’t the only Royal the team should discard. For example, Ryan O’Hearn’s decent pinch-hitting doesn’t alone justify his continuing presence. And although it’s unlikely (demotion to Triple-A Omaha is a more likely alternative), Nicky Lopez might be moved.

Who else might KC put on the deadline market?

Trading their left fielder seems increasingly likely for the KC Royals.

Andrew Benintendi is the club’s best trade candidate and the idea of dealing him away is nothing new. We advanced that notion recently and nothing has changed. He’s hitting .323 with a .396 OBP and will be a free agent after the season. Conventional wisdom dictates a trade.

A probable trade means this pitcher’s return to the KC Royals won’t last.

Other than having no wins, there isn’t much Zack Greinke hasn’t done that Kansas City brought him back to do. Heading into his scheduled start against Minnesota Sunday, he’s 0-3 with a 4.53 ERA, although chronic lack of run support explains his won-loss record and his ERA is skewed drastically by the seven runs he recently allowed Arizona in his last start. Only once has he not made it to the fifth inning and he walks fewer than two batters per nine innings.

But the dream of Greinke returning triumphantly to Kansas City and leading the Royals to better days has vanished with the fate of the club itself. Despite winning two of three to start their current series with Minnesota, the Royals look like a bad team on the verge of getting worse, which means Greinke is expendable, a classic trade deadline target for contenders seeking pitching help down the stretch.

At 38, Greinke is also close to the end of a stellar career and may want a chance to make one more deep postseason run, an opportunity he won’t get with the Royals this year, and maybe not next. And he might want to pitch for a club more capable of helping him solidify his Hall of Fame resumé.

So, don’t be surprised to see other clubs express interest in Greinke and the Royals move him for a prospect.