Royals' questionable trade deadline strategy could look even worse after insider's latest intel

At this point, despite gearing up to sell ahead of the upcoming trade deadline, Kansas City Royals fans are aware that they should expect their two veteran rocks in the rotation in Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo to still be in Royals uniforms when the dust settles. Even if it does make sense to go bold, it's somewhat easy to see the reasoning behind the front office's hesitancy in this scenario. Their rotation is looking shallow again in 2027 and not one that screams of a competitor. Bottom line they needs arms and Wacha and Lugo can provide that.

However, insider Mark Feinsand of MLB.com suggested on Wednesday that the Royals hesitancy goes beyond just Wacha and Lugo and includes other controllable names now as well.

"According to sources, the Royals are open to moving their expiring contracts, most notably reliever John Schreiber and outfielders Lane Thomas and Starling Marte, but players with control beyond 2026 – namely pitchers Michael Wacha, Seth Lugo, Daniel Lynch IV and Alex Lange – will likely remain in Kansas City after the Trade Deadline has passed," Feinsand wrote.

Again, given their starting pitching woes there's at least some reason behind wanting to hold onto Wacha and Lugo. But there's no denying that they would be two of their biggest trade assets if they were more available. So, knowing they're already behind the eight ball and searching for ways to upgrade to compete next season, holding onto controllable relief pitching too makes little to no sense.

Relief pitching is the most volatile position in baseball and potentially all of sports for that matter. So, unless we're talking about generational-looking closers like Mason Miller or Cade Smith, relievers should be considered expendable for a seller like the Royals looking to accelerate their retool.

Daniel Lynch IV, Alex Lange must be on trade block for Royals at deadline

Lynch is the obvious name that many think could bring in a considerable return. The former first-rounder appears to be finally living up to the expectations he carried on draft night eight years ago in a breakout season this year. Through 45 innings of work, he's throwing to a 2.00 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and .182 BAA. When you consider that he's a lefty with two years of remaining team control after this season, he would certainly be one of the prized high-leverage options on the market.

Lange may not carry much trade value on the market anymore after his putrid month of July. However, his two years of remaining team control shouldn't deter the Royals from keeping him off the market. His 6.33 ERA for the season and 14.21 ERA in the month of July in particular looks downright unappealing, however he did pitch well enough this year to earn the closer's role in Kansas City and has plenty of previous high leverage experience with the Tigers prior in his career. Perhaps that will entice other teams to take a chance on him, because any return would be better than nothing at this point for someone with DFA-worthy numbers right now.

Rental names like Lane Thomas, Starling Marte and John Schreiber certainly have value on the market, but there's only so much teams will be willing to offer the Royals for rental players. If they want to maximize this trade deadline and prep for a competitive 2027, they can't keep taking valuable names of the market.

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