Cubs exposed difficult reality Royals fans already knew after Edward Cabrera trade

As busy and successful as the Kansas City Royals have been this offseason, they've still yet to address one of their marquee needs this winter...narrowing down their major league starting rotation.

It's well documented just how many MLB capable arms they have at their disposal with at least seven but potentially nine in total who are capable of starting games for them in 2026.

Given their injury history last season, with every one of their Opening Day five-man rotation hitting the injured list at one point or another, depth is never a bad thing to have. The issue is though, they have needs to fill elsewhere on the diamond that some of these names could really go a long way to help address.

However, reality is starting to set in that the perhaps their surplus that was once seen as a universal asset, may not be as strong as initially anticipated, with more and more teams seemingly dropping off the board of being trade fits.

And after the Chicago Cubs reportedly traded for Edward Cabrera from the Miami Marlins on Wednesday, the nail might be in the coffin of any potential deal between them and the Royals.

Edward Cabrera deal essentially eliminates Cubs from any starting pitching deal with Royals

The Cubs entered the offseason with pretty glaring need for additional top-tier starting pitching if they really wanted to elevate their status in a relatively open NL Central division.

This is where the Royals could have potentially been a fit, with an All-Star in Kris Bubic in the final year of team control potentially being an ideal name to fill that need for Chicago.

However, ahead of the holiday season, The Athletic Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney poured cold water on potential deal stating that Bubic and his lack of control may not be of much desire to the Cubs.

So, when news broke Wednesday that the Cubs had found their guy in Cabrera, Sharma and Mooney's suspicions seemed to become a reality.

Now, the Royals officially find themselves in a position where they must pivot and look elsewhere which is becoming a bit of trend of late after the Red Sox seem too be asking to much in their initial talks for Jarren Duran and the Giants now appear to be off the market for starting pitching altogether.

There's still plenty of time for a deal to come to fruition, as the starting pitching needs around the league go much farther than this handful of teams. However, it's still a frustrating reality for the Royals faithful nonetheless.