MLB insider hints at trade availability of two starters Royals might not be able to pass up

One of the Kansas City Royals' greatest strengths to start the season has been tested in recent weeks. Their starting staff still sits among the Top 10 in the MLB in ERA, with a trio of sub-3.50 ERA arms in Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha and Kris Bubic leading the charge. However, with the now perennially injured Cole Ragans already on the shelf and Noah Cameron struggling immensely in year two, there's certainly reason to believe this staff could upgrade. Pair with that their depleting depth after Ryan Bergert and Ben Kudrna went down for the season and their starting needs run further than the starting five-man staff.

This is where a midseason trade splash could work wonders, and while inexpensive depth arms might be the more desirable play for the KC front office, they can't discount strong big league starting options either. This is where a report from USA Today's Bob Nightengale could come into play, as he listed five underachieving teams that could position themselves as sellers ahead of the summer trade deadline. Two of those teams were the Arizona Diamondbacks and the New York Mets.

While names like Freddy Peralta and Eduardo Rodriguez would certainly be dream targets that would undoubtedly push the needle for any contenders, this is the Royals we're talking about here - a perennial lower-market team always looking to save. However, beyond those two top names are a pair of just as successful arms in 2026 who come at a cheaper price, those being Arizona's Michael Soroka and New York's Clay Holmes.

Michael Soroka's skill and affordability make him perfect Royals rental arm

Nightengale lists Rodriguez as the go-to arm many teams will call about this summer if the Diamondbacks can't be more than a .500 team in the very top-heavy AL West division. However, this could work in the Royals' favor, as Soroka makes more sense for them from an affordability standpoint anyways.

After signing a one-year, $7 million contract with Arizona this winter, Soroka has been outperforming his salary immensely so far this season. Through 43.1 innings across eight starts, the Canadian right-hander is pitching to the tune of a 3.53 ERA and 3.19 FIP.

On top of his cheap contract and solid ERA, Soroka also gives the Royals something that over half of their starting staff lacks this season. That is the ability to strike hitters out. Only Ragans and Bubic hold K/9 totals above 9.00 this year (11.46 and 9.13 respectively) and if Ragans finds himself injured for a good portion of the season like he was last year, that need becomes even greater. Soroka's 25.4% K-rate isn't ground-breaking, ranking respectably in the 71st percentile. However, that does equate to an 9.76 K/9, which notably surpasses Royals arms like Lugo (7.93 K/9) and Wacha (7.36 K/9) and Cameron (8.07 K/9).

He pairs that strikeout ability with an even better knack for limiting the walk. So far this season, Soroka has managed to follow up his average looking 7.7% walk rate in 2025 with the Nationals with a well above-average 6.5% walk rate in the early stages of this season.

Whether he deepens their major league rotation to protect them from further injury or provides a different look to someone like the stumbling Cameron, there's no denying Soroka could a solution that doesn't break the bank - both financially and from a trade return perspective.

A contending Royals team could always use a dynamic arm like Clay Holmes

Now, is Clay Holmes as affordable an option as someone like Soroka? No. However, a $13 million AAV in the second year of a three-year contract - the third of which is a player option valued at $12 million - is not necessarily bank-breaking by any stretch.

And at 16-25, Nightengale said that the Mets could be in a position where playing the odds of Holmes opting into his 2027 contract could be dicey.

"He may be too valuable on the trade market for the Mets to take that gamble he won't leave," Nightengale wrote.

There's certainly no denying his value this season, as he's been one of the the few bright spots to this dreadfully poor start from the Steve Cohen-funded big money Mets. Through 48.1 innings of work across eight starts, Holmes is throwing to a sterling 1.86 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and .189 BAA. He hasn't done so in a flashy sense with just 19.3% K-rate, but his ability to keep the ball on the ground, avoid barrel's and induce the chase - he holds rates above the 80th percentile in each metric this year - has been the backbone of his early success.

In a newly renovated Kauffman Stadium that is more conducive to hitter success than in the past, someone with characteristics like this can make all the difference.

What also has to be considered is Holmes' past a reliever. While there's no reason that the Royals should ever consider moving him out of the rotation if they were to acquire him, you have to think of postseason scenarios too. In an "all hands on deck" situation, similar to when Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the 2025 World Series or (look away Royals fans) Madison Bumgarner in the 2014 Fall Classic additionally came out of the 'pen, Holmes already has a leg-up on those guys. This is thanks to his high-leverage, late-inning bullpen experience with both the Pirates and more notably the Yankees.

Whether or not Holmes opts back into his contract for 2027 shouldn't be a concern for the Royals. Frankly, the shorter the term the better for their future payroll flexibility.

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