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KC Royals deadline strategy still unknown, but GM’s latest comments provide optimism

KC Royals GM JJ Picollo weighs buying versus selling at the trade deadline
ByOliver Vandervoort|
Jun 21, 2024; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers general manager Chris Young (left) and Kansas City Royals general manager J.J. Picollo (right) talk before the game against the Kansas City Royals at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Jim Cowsert-Imagn Images
Jun 21, 2024; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers general manager Chris Young (left) and Kansas City Royals general manager J.J. Picollo (right) talk before the game against the Kansas City Royals at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Jim Cowsert-Imagn Images | Jim Cowsert-Imagn Images

Are the KC Royals going to be buyers or sellers at the deadline? While the team's general manager hasn't answered that question outright, but his most recent comments this week should fill fans with plenty of optimism that they'll attempt to make another run at the postseason.

JJ Picolo had his usual scrum with reporters on Monday and made it clear that, while the Royals are still an enigma, even to him, he sees something that is keeping him from making a decision one way or the other.

GM JJ Picollo says consistency will decide whether the KC Royals add at the trade deadline

"I think it's going to be a really interesting July," The KC Royals exec said. "I think the way we have to look at things from our own, I'll say, self-evaluation perspective is we've just got to get more consistent."

That is far from a shock. While Kansas City is playing better of late, they're still under .500 for the season. The team hasn't come close to the kind of winning streak it had at the start of the season.

"I think right now everybody's waiting for us to win like seven in a row to say, 'All right, we're definitely buyers.'" Picollo added. "That's not the case. I think what we've got to do is really focus on what do every three games look like."

In the end, Picollo is watching the standings more than anything else. Even if the KC Royals hit another rough stretch, he seems to have hinted that as long as they're in the race, he'll look at adding.

"You win a series, you gain a game. You're that much closer to being in it," he said.

And winning games and gaining ground is precisely what the Royals have been doing of late. They're 5-2 to start the month of July, they still sit within five games with only three teams separating them from the final AL Wild Card spot and they've also leap frogged their way up to second in the AL Central.

He has a few more weeks before he has to make a final decision on whether his franchise will be a buyer or a seller, giving the team plenty of time to build on recent momentum and find that consistency.

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