Royals' rumored interest in Mets trade chip may suggest a move is coming soon

At this point, one of the worst-kept secrets in all of baseball is that the Kansas City Royals desperately need an upgrade to their current outfield corps. As things currently stand, the Royals will enter the 2025 regular season with the rapidly-declining Hunter Renfroe, the defense-oriented Kyle Isbel, and the extremely hot-and-cold MJ Melendez in the outfield grass.

To see the Royals pass on all of the major names in free agency (and on the trade market) this offseason was frustrating for fans of the team to sit back and watch. At one point, Anthony Santander felt like a prime fit, as he'd inject a major power bat into a lineup that could use one in the worst way. Instead, he wound up signing north of the border with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Jurickson Profar and Taylor Ward were another pair the Royals looked into this past winter, but nothing came to fruition.

The most recent rumblings out of Royals camp is that the club had spoken to the New York Mets about Starling Marte during this past offseason. Joel Sherman of the New York Post first reported the interest from KC, and even went on to say that the Royals still have not totally closed the door on putting a deal together with the Metropolitans.

Royals reportedly discussed Starling Marte in trade talks with the Mets

Marte is entering the final year of the four-year, $78 million contract he signed with the Mets prior to the 2022 season. When he first latched on with the club, he had developed a longstanding reputation as one of the game's most valuable yet criminally underrated outfielders.

His 2022 campaign saw him post 3.9 bWAR while hitting 16 home runs, going 18-for-27 in stolen bases and posting an .814 OPS to go along with a 132 OPS+. In the process, he made just the second All-Star Game of his career and even earned scarce MVP votes for the first time.

Then the wheels fell off in 2023, as he posted easily the worst season of his big-league career. Since the decline began, he hasn't really been able to bounce all the way back. Last year, he posted a 104 OPS+ through 94 games but he still battled durability concerns and didn't look like the player he once was.

That explains why the Mets are perfectly fine with trying to get out from under the last year of his deal. He's been effectively pushed out of an everyday spot in their lineup now that Brandon Nimmo, Jose Siri, Jesse Winker, and that Juan Soto fella are all on-hand as the outfield trio and the primary designated hitter.

While Marte's seen his production trail off a bit, that doesn't mean the Royals would be acquiring nothing more than a has-been player. The Mets are going to be using him as part of a platoon at DH this year, and for good reason, as he absolutely annihilates left-handed pitching. He could slot right in to that fifth-spot in the Royals' lineup that they've been relentlessly looking to fill.

This past year, Marte hit .310 with an .844 OPS against left-handed pitching. Just two years before that, he hit .302 with an .877 against southpaws in an even larger sample size. As long as the Royals can get him at his healthiest, there's no real reason to suggest he can't still be a productive big leaguer. It also helps that he's on an expiring contract, so even if he did struggle, it's not like the Royals would be stuck with him long-term.

Sherman reported that the Mets like some of the Royals relievers like Hunter Harvey and Angel Zerpa, so look for trade talks to continue in the near future.