KC Royals Trades: 4 high-value potential deals

Trading Andrew Benintendi could net the KC Royals some good young pitchers.

Benintendi’s value per Baseball Trade Values: 11.50

Benintendi will likely be one of the headliners of this summer’s deadline news. He’s the Royals’ biggest trade chip and should be one of the biggest targets. When determining a trade match, finding teams that are struggling with outfield production is key; the Padres have reportedly already discussed Benintendi with Kansas City and, according to their fWARs, these teams could use corner upgrades:

• San Diego: 25th in fWAR from right-fielders
• Toronto: 26th in fWAR from left-fielders
• St Louis: 27th in fWAR from left-fielders
• Atlanta: 30th in fWAR from left-fielders

Each club could stand to gain significantly by acquiring Benintendi and all have a chance to compete in October. The Braves could give the Royals a couple of outstanding young pitching prospects and, with Kansas City ranking among the worst teams in baseball in virtually every pitching statistical category, the time is ripe to acquire more hurlers. This deal might work:

Royals trade Benintendi (11.50) for Muller (5.50) and Elder (3.80)

Kyle Muller, 24 and MLB Pipeline’s No. 3 Atlanta prospect, and Bryce Elder, 23 and Pipeline’s No. 4 Braves’ prospect, can give the Royals even more young pitching talent than they have now. Muller’s fastball, slider and curve are plus pitches. He’s 3-3 with a 3.09 ERA and 73 strikeouts in 55.1 innings at Triple-A.

Elder throws a fastball, curve, slider, and change and is 1-3, 4.74 in four starts for the Braves this season. He’s currently pitching in Triple-A with a 2-3, 5.66 record in seven starts. Elder was 11-5, 2.75 with a 10.1 BB9 across High-A, Double-A and Triple-A last year.