Potential Royals-Blue Jays trade makes more sense after AL champs hit new injury low

Heading into the final Cactus League game of spring, the Kansas City Royals have a better rotation heading to Triple-A Omaha than some teams have in major-league camp.

The Royals’ pitching depth was enviable two months ago, and that certainly has not changed heading into the week before Opening Day.

Kansas City’s primary starters from last season are healthy and ready to kick off the year, while players like Ryan Bergert and Luinder Avila bide their time in Triple-A. Stephen Kolek is still on the shelf, but the Royals have largely avoided injury in the pitching corps.

The same could not be said of last year’s AL champions, the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Royals and Blue Jays make plenty of trade sense ahead of Opening Day

The AL East favorite is looking not just to take another step forward in a competitive division, but to get back to the World Series in 2026.

Toronto invested heavily in its starting pitching, but major names are heading to the injured list to begin the season. The most recent hit was postseason sensation Trey Yesavage, who's set to hit the IL with a shoulder injury. Then, veterans José Berríos and Shane Bieber are expected to join him.

Toronto’s standing at the position is still better than many clubs even with those three sidelined, but an expected top-five unit could be without key arms for an undefined amount of time.

MLB’s pitching injury report from the 2024 season showed just how tricky spring training and the first month of the regular season can be. The highest time for injuries came in March and April, with the chart peaking in March and still running hot into April.

The raw number of injuries from game two through the end of the season is still massive, but there is a clear spike before Opening Day ever arrives. The Blue Jays are dealing with that spike right now, and while their current rotation is solid, it does not offer the most inspiring overall outlook.

Kevin Gausman, Dylan Cease, Max Scherzer, Cody Ponce, and Eric Lauer figure to make up Toronto’s rotation to open the season. That one-two punch of Gausman and Cease is one of the league’s best, but the next three names leave something to be desired.

Add in the fact that outside of those five, Toronto lacks proven depth among its starters. The Blue Jays should be able to tread water while those injured arms work their way back, but why would a team that spent so aggressively this offseason suddenly stop being aggressive once Opening Day hits? That is where the Royals come in.

That starting depth Kansas City has could fit nicely with Toronto. The current Blue Jays group is extremely right-handed, and the Royals have a tradeable starter-turned-swingman in Bailey Falter.

While the southpaw’s stuff ticked up coming out of the bullpen, Falter has largely been a reliable starter across his career, at least before coming to Kansas City. With no minor-league options remaining and an arbitration salary attached, Kansas City could easily part with Falter and give Toronto some short-term help, then let the Blue Jays sort out the role based on his performance.

Toronto could also be more aggressive and target one of Kansas City’s higher-upside depth arms, namely Bergert. The former San Diego Padres pitcher was excellent for much of his first run with the Royals and looked strong again in his first camp with the club. But his options and the entrenched names ahead of him pushed him off the Opening Day roster.

You could even toss Noah Cameron into the conversation, coming off a sensational rookie campaign in Kansas City. Most Royals fans had no idea who the southpaw was at this point last year, and now the club would at least have the option of cashing in on that rise if it chose to.

Of course, this all assumes one side picks up the phone and the other feels enough urgency to answer. The Royals have vocally praised their pitching depth all spring, whether on the starting side or in the bullpen.

Kansas City also learned the hard way in 2025 what happens when that kind of depth disappears, and that lesson alone may be enough to keep the front office from making a move before the 162-game season even starts.

Still, the need is there for Toronto, at least on paper. And the fix might be sitting in Kansas City. These are two teams with postseason aspirations, and there is at least a version of this where each helps the other before the season begins.