Potential Lane Thomas replacement surfacing for Royals in Triple-A as trade rumors swirl

The Kansas City Royals are just a week out from the Aug. 3 trade deadline and several players seem like no-brainers to move off of in the presumed retooling period they're about to enter. While the odds of being all-out sellers seems relatively slim given their supposed contending ambitions in 2027 and beyond, expiring deals like Lane Thomas seem likelier to be on the move as opposed to names like Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo.

Just last week, Jim Bowden of The Athletic predicted Thomas to be the perfect trade fit for Philadelphia Phillies and others have included the veteran outfielder on their list of top trade candidates to move at the deadline. While the Royals may not be gearing up for a competitive run in 2026 after the deadline passes, they'll still have to field a 26-man roster. And perhaps his immediate replacement is surfacing in Triple-A Omaha as we speak.

Former first-rounder Gavin Cross has been setting the International League on the fire this past week, capturing the league's Player of the Week honors. This is in large part due to the five-game homer streak he's currently walking. Since July 21, he's slashing .444/.483/1.222 with those aforementioned five home runs, 10 RBI and an astronmically high 309 wRC+.

And it hasn't just been this week that Cross has dazzled on the Triple-A scene. Since July 2, he's riding an 18-game hit streak. And looking even further back, after a brutal start to his season Cross has completely re-written the script. From May 16 onwards, Cross is slashing .320/.367/.560 with 10 homers, 32 RBI and a 133 wRC+ in 216 plate appearances across 54 games.

Royals really have nothing to lose when it comes to calling up Gavin Cross

As Royals fans are well aware of already, their focus has all but shifted to writing the wrongs of 2026 next season and beyond. This means that they can afford to take some gambles and try some things out. Cross could be the perfect example of this.

Beyond Thomas, Starling Marte could be set to be on the move and the Royals have already traded an depth piece in Kameron Misner in recent days, meaning there's likely plenty of spots that will need to be occupied in the major league outfield very soon.

Cross is also not a name to come out of the blue. The Virginia Tech product was the ninth overall pick back in 2022 and burst onto the scene early in his pro career at Low-A and High-A. Even with his struggles in the upper minors in recent years, MLB Pipeline still has him among their Top 30 Royals prospects at 25th, proving his pedigree hasn't completely evaporated.

Recent offseasons have proven to be a challenge for Kansas City when it comes to acquiring impactful outfield upgrades, so perhaps giving Cross a shot could unearth an internal solution to their free agency and trade struggles of the past.

Between Jac Caglianone's surge this season and Isaac Collins' red-hot month of July, breakouts have been the name of the game in the Royals' outfield of late. With quite literally nothing to lose, now seems as good a time as ever to see if Cross can join them on that list.

At the very least, perhaps it will settle the debate of whether or not he was a bust at ninth overall.

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