3 big moves the Royals can still make before the 2025 season ends

The major league trade deadline period, during which so many Kansas City Royals fans looked forward to their club landing a big outfield bat, ended late last month without such an acquisition being made.

But in the days leading up to the deadline and just minutes before it passed, the Royals landed five players — outfielders Mike Yastrzemski and Randal Grichuk, utility man Adam Frazier, and pitchers Ryan Bergert and Bailey Falter — who've contributed to the sudden spark that has KC within reasonable striking distance of a Wild Card spot.

Not to be forgotten about this season's midsummer swap frenzy, though, is the startling deal general manager J.J. Picollo swung that wasn't a trade. Bucking the throng of prognosticators who assured everyone that Picollo would deal away starter Seth Lugo, he instead, and as we'd previously urged him to, signed Lugo to a multi-season contract extension. The move was bold in inception and execution.

And it's also precisely the kind of deal the Royals shouldn't wait long to employ again. In fact, the time may be ripe for Picollo to strike again, but this time in three different and key spots. Nothing prevents him from securing the services now, or soon after the season ends, of three major current players.

The Royals need to extend Vinnie Pasquantino

Yes, the time has come for Kansas City to bind Pasquantino to the club for several years. Naysayers may balk at the notion because the big first baseman is under team control through the 2028 campaign, meaning the Royals can keep his salary under market value while still deriving the benefits he brings to the club.

And that's true. But Pasquantino has checked the boxes for an early extension, and his play this season proves the Royals should strive to keep him for a long time. The solo homer he blasted in the fifth inning of Thursday afternoon's victory over Texas gave him his club-leading (and career high) 26th of the season; his 87 RBI will almost assuredly allow him to reach 100, a mark a late-season visit to the injured list cheated him out of last year, he's an above-league-average first baseman, and his role as a key team leader is undisputed.

No, the Royals should want to wait until Pasquantino nears free agency to lock him in for years. The time is now ... or at least as soon as this campaign concludes.

Maikel Garcia deserves a contract extension from the Royals

The many fans who spent last winter clamoring for the trade of Garcia have grown silent ... and did so some time ago. Many detractors who undoubtedly loved him after he hit .272, stole 23 bases, and played superb defense in 2023, turned on him after he slashed only .231/.281/.332 (but paced the Royals with 37 steals).

But Garcia has silenced the disgruntled. Proving he's the best third-sacker Kansas City has had since Mike Moustakas, he's batting .299 with a nifty .362 OBP through Thursday, his 22 stolen bases are second only to Bobby Witt Jr.'s 34, his 12 homers already exceed by one the career total he brought into this season, and his 57 RBI are just one short of the career high he set last year, and he made the American League All-Star team in July. His peripherals are impressive.

And his glove? His 10 OAA and eight runs prevented ranked second in the majors and first in the AL, respectively, as late as Wednesday.

Like Pasquantino, Garcia is well under team control — he can't test free agency until after the 2029 season. But now, he's proving that it's his disappointing 2024 campaign, and not his stellar 2023 season, that's an outlier. He's definitely worth an early extension.

The Royals should extend Kyle Isbel

For all his fine defensive work (more on that in a moment), Isbel hasn't hit much during the parts of five seasons he's spent in Kansas City's outfield. Coming into this season, only in 2021, when he hit .276, had he posted an average better than .240, and that was in only 28 games. The eight homers he managed last season remain his career-best, and he's never driven in more than 42 RBI.

But he's showing progress this season. He's hitting .261 through Thursday afternoon, which with 34 games left on Kansas City's schedule gives him a shot at a new career high. Isbel's August slash line of .333/.393/.471 (through Thursday) can't be ignored.

Isbel's greatest asset is, of course, his glove and mastery of Kauffman Stadium's expansive center field. His 9 OAA and eight runs prevented rank tied for third and third, respectively, among AL center fielders.

And while he may not patrol center with the flair, flash, and flamboyance that Willie Wilson, Amos Otis, and Lorenzo Cain did, he's still one of the finest defenders ever to tackle one of the toughest center fields in the majors. KC needs strong, long-term defensive strength up the middle, and extending Isbel is one way the Royals can assure themselves of just that.