Royals change entire trade deadline landscape with surprise extension

With the trade deadline just days away now, most teams are either in the mindset of looking for ways to better their team for a postseason push or determining which pieces on their current roster are expendable and finding the right return to better position themselves for the future.

For J.J. Picollo and the Royals though, they found a way to pull off both at the same time, by shocking the baseball world and extending Seth Lugo.

According to ESPN's Jeff Passan, the veteran starter is finalizing a multi-year deal to remain in Kansas City, adding stability to this rotation both in 2025 and beyond.

According to Jon Heyman of both the New York Post and MLB Network, the deal is reportedly worth $46 million over the next two seasons, plus a vesting option for the 2028 campaign.

In pulling off this move, it not only uniquely finds a way for the Royals to further solidify themselves as a team going for it down the stretch, but it also changes the entire trade deadline landscape.

Seth Lugo's surprise extension sends shockwaves to the trade market

With just a club option remaining for the 2026 season that seemed all but a shoo-in for Lugo to decline, he was thought to be one of the top starting pitching options on the market. Passan and his fellow ESPN colleague in Kiley McDaniel even ranked him as the fourth most coveted starting pitching asset at the deadline.

Now, with news of an extension, any starting pitcher still on the block just saw their value tick up - and in some cases significantly. The chance to acquire an AL Cy Young runner-up from a year ago - who's having just as strong a year in 2025 - would certainly be an enticing option for many teams looking to make big-time spash amongst their starting stash.

There were not shortage of links to him either, with many of the leagues brightest organizations this season tied to him at one point or the other. The thought process seemed to be that the Royals were either too far out to continue to contend or would use a rental asset like Lugo - given the strength of their rotation this year - to acquire some desperately needed offense help.

Instead though, after dipping their toes in the buyer's market with a July 16 deal for utility man Adam Frazier and then doubling down with another trade on Saturday for veteran outfielder Randal Grichuk, the Royals seem focused on keeping the core of their steadily improving roster together this season.

Lugo has been a godsend to the Royals in 2025. In a year where their presumptive ace in Cole Ragans has struggled with injury and lackluster performances, he, alongside All-Star Kris Bubic, have stepped in to lead this rotation to be a Top 5 staff in all of baseball.

So far this season, the 35-year-old has thrown to a 2.95 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and .217 BAA in 113.0 innings across 19 starts.

Now though, with veteran Michael Lorenzen already on the shelf with Ragans, Kris Bubic was added to the 15-day IL on Sunday with a rotator cuff strain, meaning Lugo's presence in this rotation was exponentially made more important.

The Royals now ensure that their rotation has a solid trio, in him, fellow veteran Michael Wacha and rookie sensation Noah Cameron, to see them through until some of their top-end injured talent, specifically Ragans and Lorenzen, make their return to the mound - hopefully at some point in August.

What's in store for the next few days for Kansas City, now that they seem all in on 2025, reamins to be seen.

The bigger question might be though, how much will Lugo being snatched off the market impact other buyers in need of starting pitching upgrades?

Buckle up everyone, this is about to be a wild week!