Royals cutting ties with Starling Marte makes their trade deadline hesitancy look so much worse

With Vinnie Pasquantino and Maikel Garcia rumored to be returning from injury to the active roster entering Monday, Royals fans knew some juggling would have to be done to make room for them. However, now that the Royals made the official announcement of their returns, the corresponding moves have also become official.

As part of their efforts to make room, the Royals opted to designate veteran outfielder Starling Marte for assignment. In theory, this move made a lot of sense. He's a defensively limited corner outfielder who's offense hasn't lived up to scratch whatsoever. He's sporting a career-low 71 wRC+ thanks to a lackluster .242/.298/.314 slash line.

The problem with this move though is that Kansas City have let Marte go for nothing when in all likelihood they didn't have to. On an expiring deal, Marte was a prime name for the Royals to dump at the trade deadline despite his poor numbers. As an accomplished major league veteran, he fit the profile of someone contenders would potentially look at to add some clubhouse presence for a postseason push.

Instead, he's now likely to leave the organization without anything to show for it. He wouldn't have fetched much on the trade market but even cash considerations would've been better than nothing.

All eyes turn to Vinnie Pasquantino and Maikel Garcia after latest Royals roster shuffle

There's no point in crying over spilled milk. Marte is all but gone and the Royals have to move on. After all, while certainly extremely frustrating, it's not a catastrophic situation at the end of the day. He was middling bench option at best.

On the bright side, the Royals recieve two main cogs to their offesnive attack in return in Pasquantino and Garcia. Neither have been having great years and the hope will surely be that they find some sort of momentum to enter the offseason with in hopes of better days to come in 2027.

Pasquantino, has had his moments after a brutal start, but has yet to really take the bull by the horns this season and repeat on his 30+ homer and 100+ RBI career year in 2025. He's slashing just .232/.318/.345 with six homers, 33 RBI and an 84 wRC+ in 79 games this season.

Then there's Garcia, who's defense at third base has remained incredible with eight DRS and four OAA, but his bat has not lived up to the All-Star level it was the year prior. He's slashing just .261/.320/.373 with three homers, 30 RBI and a 92 wRC+ in 69 contests.

The Royals may not be playing for anything at the moment at 23 games under .500, but it's the moral victories that matter now. Having key cogs to their competitive attack back and playing closer to their potential to end the season would instill a lot more hope around them amongst the fanbase entering 2027.

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