3 pitching targets on Seattle Mariners for KC Royals

The KC Royals need to improve their pitching. Plain and simple.

The team finished the season with the 23rd-highest WHIP (1.41), a fact which was driven by the team issuing the 10th most walks (553) and surrendering the 8th most home runs (207). To improve their starting pitching, the Royals must seek out different pitchers who issue fewer walks and keep the baseball inside the ballpark. 

Many fans will demand that the Royals spend some money and sign top-tier players. And it's certain that if such a move doesn't happen, ownership will be accused of being cheap. But ownership is running a business. Sure, it’s a business built around a game, but it’s a business nonetheless. They have financial interests that preclude them from spending cash they don’t have.

How do the Seattle Mariners and KC Royals as trade partners make sense?

Recent reports suggest the Royals' currently available cash figure is somewhere around $30 million, a number that might bring in one really great free agent but would limit their ability to bulk up their roster. Throwing two-thirds of that down on one starting pitcher simply doesn’t make sense.

More than likely, they are looking to use one-third or half of that amount to entice a veteran to fill an innings role, and they will look for a trade partner—one who needs or desires something they have—and hope they can obtain something of value in return. They were able to swing just such a move during the season, flipping Aroldis Chapman for Cole Ragans.

On the trade market, the Royals don’t have much to work with. They are already operating at a talent deficiency and have little room for error in trading. If they are to make a move that bolsters their 2024 roster, it will mean identifying teams that have a large number of minor-league pitchers or young major-league arms whom they are willing to part with in exchange for anything of value in the Royals organization. That could mean having to move someone from their positional core to improve their starting pitching.

Recent rumors around the Royals suggest that they are talking with the Seattle Mariners. The Mariners are also considered to be in the market for Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Seattle is certainly a team with some strong starting pitching options and if a deal is made, could be in the position to sell a starter. The Mariners have promoted a number of young arms to the major league ranks in recent years: George Kirby, Luis Castillo, Bryan Woo, Bryce Miller, and Logan Gilbert. Could the Royals pry one of them away?

The most likely option for Kansas City is Emerson Hancock.

If the Seattle Mariners continue down their path toward acquiring Yamamoto, they are likely going to want to move at least one starter, possibly two. Emerson Hancock seems like the most likely option. Hancock made his major league debut in August but quickly found his way onto the 60-day injured list with a shoulder strain. This injury has placed him in a tough spot; he is now on the outside looking in. While Hancock sat out, rookie starters Woo and Miller did everything necessary to earn their spots in the rotation, making Hancock somewhat expendable.

In the 2020 draft, the Mariners selected Hancock sixth overall out of the University of Georgia. Hancock quickly moved from High-A to Double-A in 2021 and played in the All-Star Futures Game. But shoulder troubles started, and the organization shut him down. At the time, he was the number four prospect in the Mariners system and the 36th-best prospect per MLB Pipeline.

Reports from 2021 and 2023 suggest Hancock’s shoulder injuries were each Grade 1 plus with no tears or damage, but the consistent injuries raise the question of his future. The Royals have invested in a pitcher with shoulder injuries this off-season in Kyle Wright and could potentially have some insight into how to treat these injuries. They have certainly dealt with quite a few shoulder injuries in recent years, with 2023 starter Brad Keller suffering a similar issue.

In June, Hancock was pitching well in Double-A. He was named the organization's Minor League Pitcher of the Month, winning four of five starts with a 1.74 ERA. He issued just six walks to 29 strikeouts over the run. Similar to Gilbert, Hancock does a great job of keeping the ball in the yard (.83 HR/9), which would appeal greatly to the Royals front office. Right now, Hancock relies on a mid-90s four-seam fastball combined with a hard-thrown curve and a firm, fastball-like slider. Prior to his injury, he was developing a change-up, which could eventually be an out-pitch.

For the Royals, there is a lot of risk here. Hancock has had two shoulder strains in three seasons, and at this point in his development, he appears likely to be a middle-to-back end starter. This said, compared with Gilbert, who would come at a significant cost, Hancock will be the significantly more affordable Mariner to target. The question here would be, What does Seattle want in return?

If the Royals could make it happen, they should want George Kirby.

As the Royals entered the 2023 off-season, the notion of needing to improve starting pitching was clear. For this author, the first thought was: how could we acquire George Kirby?

Kirby is a 25-year-old 6'4" right-hander who fits the Royals needs to a T. In Kirby's second full season with the Mariners, he dominated opponents by controlling the strike zone. Kirby painted the plate like Greg Maddux, minimizing walks (.90 BB/9) and keeping home runs (1.04 HR/9) in check. These are both key factors for Kansas City. Kirby did this with an impressive arsenal of pitches, including a pair of crowd-pleasing 96-mph fastballs: a four-seamer and a sinker. Both pitches result in a high number of fly ball outs that would play for years in Kauffman Stadium.

But Kirby isn't a flamethrower-type pitcher. He is the real deal. Kirby has done well to absorb and develop in the Mariners system, listening and developing a pitch arsenal that not only varies in velocity but also in movement. He has demonstrated every bit of the mental aptitude the Royals have long sought from their starting pitchers. Although he's managed to produce high strike counts, he has demonstrated he understands the importance of going deep into ball games by pitching for bad contact. Kirby is a retro pitcher like Jack Morris, Greg Maddux, or Zach Greinke.

Kirby's sweeping slider (86 mph) is probably his best pitch, having significant depth across the zone and producing a high number of ground ball outs. Kirby throws an 85-MPH curve that batters just take; it is simply too hard of a pitch to track. Batters also tend to lay off his 87-MPH sinking change-up, which also results in a high ground-ball rate. Like Greinke, Kirby has a sense of humor. This season, he began toying with a 75-mph knuckleball, a disgusting pitch that looks like it was pulled straight from the Eephus playbook of Greinke.

It's unclear what it would take to obtain Kirby from the Mariners. If the Royals could obtain him, they should strongly consider meeting Seattle's demands.