3 new pitching trade partners the Kansas City Royals should explore this offseason

Well folks, the door between the Boston Red Sox and the Kansas City Royals feels firmly shut.

The AL East club acquired another starting pitcher, this time going the free agency route with a nine-figure deal for Ranger Suárez. The former Philadelphia Phillies left-hander forms a lethal southpaw combo with Garrett Crochet for the Red Sox and rounds out a stout starting rotation.

From the word go this offseason, it felt like the Royals and Red Sox were destined to make a trade. With Boston’s outfield situation and a perceived surplus of starters in Kansas City, the two making a switch looked too enticing on paper. Royals fans, and baseball writers, too, have held onto hope for Jarren Duran in Kansas City’s Opening Day lineup, the cost be damned.

All-Star pitcher Kris Bubic has been a popular mock-trade offering, especially with one year of team control remaining and the reported desire for Kansas City to shed some payroll. But with the Red Sox likely out of the running for another starting pitcher right now, where else can the Royals turn to send Bubic or another pitcher?

Here are three teams that make sense for Bubic, and some of the Royals’ other arms, to join via trade.

Texas Rangers

Former Kansas City pitcher Chris Young has carved out quite the post-playing career for himself. The former All-Star and World Series winner has now won one as an executive, in 2023, in his first full season as president of baseball operations.

But Young has learned that it’s harder to stay atop the mountaintop than it is to reach it. After years of investing in starting pitching and the infield while trusting the hitting development, the Rangers have now missed the playoffs for two consecutive seasons. The 2025 Rangers were better than their record showed, but it’s never wise to bank on things simply balancing out the following season.

The Rangers arguably have one of the game’s best one-two starting combos in veterans Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi. They, alongside Jack Leiter, Kumar Rocker, and José Corniell, figure to factor into the initial starting rotation.

But the drop from Eovaldi to any other option is drastic, and with deGrom’s and Eovaldi’s injury histories, either one pitching a full season is no guarantee.

As such, Young has been candid, saying “pitching is the main focus” for the remaining offseason. While another reliever or two would help shore up the bullpen, another starter would go a long way in balancing out Texas’ roster.

Now, the question is: what direction would Texas want to go? While Bubic may have the most one-year value, Noah Cameron or Ryan Bergert may fit better for the Rangers. Both have solid No. 4/5 starter outlooks, with plenty of years of team control remaining.

The Rangers would have to pony up to trade for them, but it’s a route worth exploring. There has been no reason to believe Bubic will not be ready for action come the regular season, but would Texas prefer him in the short term, or invest in a younger pitcher without the injury history? It all depends on what Young wants.

The Royals acquiring Alejandro Osuna, or putting more in the pot for an Evan Carter-shaped bet, would be interesting, but hardly the sure thing that Jarren Duran felt like. All I know is the Royals are aggressively trying to fix the outfield and the Rangers want more pitching. Why shouldn’t the two make sense as dance partners?

Atlanta Braves

Being a buyer on the trade market inherently makes a team aggressive, but there are degrees to it. There are years where the Royals are cautious buyers, like the 2025 trade deadline, and there are super-aggressive years like the 2015 season.

The Atlanta Braves have been pushing all the right buttons on the free-agent market so far this offseason, but it’s time to make a foray into the trade waters. With sizeable money already on the books, moving for one of Kansas City’s cost-controlled pitchers feels wise.

The Braves are coming off an outlier of a season, their first losing season since 2017. With their streak of seven consecutive playoff appearances broken, Atlanta needs to capitalize on one of the most talented lineups in baseball with a deeper, more reliable rotation.

The injury bug bit the starters hard last season, with 19 different pitchers making a start for Atlanta and none exceeding 28 starts. Atlanta has plenty of young pitching talent waiting in the wings, but with so many question marks in the rotation, the Braves should absolutely be buyers in the pitching market.

The NL East club’s window is still open, but competing against the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets for that crown is no easy task. If Bubic is 100% healthy heading into spring training, there is little reason teams should pass entirely on him due to injury history.

If the Braves want to raise the rotation’s ceiling, adding another lefty is in order and Bubic could fit that bill best.

Baltimore Orioles

The Baltimore Orioles are in an odd spot at this point in the offseason. Southpaw Trevor Rogers will assuredly be the team’s Opening Day starter if he’s healthy, and they already shored up the rotation’s floor by trading for Shane Baz.

Those two, along with Dean Kremer and Kyle Bradish, feel like an okay top four to start the season. Add in the handful of prospects they have in the upper levels, and the pitching picture could get very crowded soon for the AL East club.

But is all that enough to stand out in the division? The AL East looks like baseball’s best division on paper, and winning it will be tough sledding. The Orioles could have just as easily coasted into a fourth- or fifth-place finish in 2026, but signing first baseman Pete Alonso this offseason doesn’t communicate a team willing to let the cards fall how they may. That’s a front office signaling aggression, cost, fit, and inconvenience tossed to the wind.

Right now, the Orioles look like they have the worst rotation in the AL East. They could chase one of the remaining big-name free agents, or they could trade from their boisterous farm system and find an option that’s more payroll-palatable.

Sending Bubic to Baltimore would give the Orioles a more balanced rotation, or perhaps Cameron would be the longer-tenured play if they prefer a left-hander with more team control. Bubic boosts the rotation more in the near term, giving Baltimore a better group, albeit still a lackluster one compared to the rest of the division’s heavyweights.

Baltimore doesn’t have the unquestionable outfield help the Royals need in a trade, but Heston Kjerstad could use a change of scenery. The second overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft had a 2025 to forget after productive short stints in 2023 and 2024.

He’s just the name value tip of the iceberg Kansas City could ask about in a broader deal. But if Baltimore wants to be aggressive in the trade market too, Kansas City should be all ears.