Royals Rumors: Insiders predict newly minted All-Star should have no shortage of trade suitors

The Kansas City Royals are closer and closer to assuming the sellers role at the deadline and insiders across the baseball world are already pitching their best landing spots for several of their more expendable names. On Monday, it was ESPN pitching their top trade candidates ahead of the Aug. 3 deadline and leading the charge for Royals assets was Michael Wacha.

Fresh off being named an All-Star for the American League this weekend, insiders Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel have ranked Wacha as the 20th most valuable trade asset available ahead of the Aug. 3 trade deadline and listed no shortage of suitors who'd be fits for his services. They listed nearly a third of the league a potential suitors for him to help bolster their contending rotations.

The nine teams Passan and McDaniel list as fits for the veteran right-hander are the Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees, Atlanta Braves, the Athletics, San Diego Padres, Arizona Diamondbacks, St. Louis Cardinals, Miami Marlins and Chicago Cubs.

"Few pitchers are as consistent as Wacha," they wrote. "He isn't going to headline a playoff rotation or even necessarily slot in as a No. 2, but rotation depth is important for postseason teams if only as a bulwark against injuries."

"Kansas City doesn't want to punt, but with its options increasingly limited...Wacha has real appeal," they also wrote. "Two years of potential control at a tolerable salary add even more value."

For those not going after or frankly not being financially afford ace-potential names like Tarik Skubal or Joe Ryan, names like Wacha will be a welcome sight. It's not often that an All-Star with his more affordable profile comes on the market.

Now, will the Royals trade him to the likes of division rivals like the White Sox? Likely not, however the list of suitors only seems to be growing, giving the Royals plenty of potential returns to choose from and leverage offers against.

Michael Wacha's safe profile might be more valuable than many give him credit for

Like Passan and McDaniel alluded to, Wacha doesn't blow hitters away with high strikeout rates or an arsenal with bountiful offerings with above-average stuff+ metrics, but he consistently finds way to grind away starts and find success nonetheless.

"Wacha has a collection of below-average pitches by stuff+, but Wacha does have a plus changeup to go with his above-average-to-plus command of a six-pitch mix," Passan and McDaniel wrote. "He doesn't rack up strikeouts, but he is durable and limits walks, making him a valuable and reliable third/fourth starter depending on the year."

While his All-Star selection is certianly another jewel in his crown, it's only just one piece to an overall impressive puzzle he's crafted in recent seasons.

This year alone, he's leading the American League with 12 quality starts and is only trailing the likes of aces in Sandy Alcantara, Cristopher Sánchez and Yoshinobu Yamamoto from a major league standpoint. And he's once again doing it to the tune of a respectable mid-to-low 3.00s ERA, the fifth straight season he's done that in his career. Between that and his aforementioned control and durability, he appears to provide quite the strong package for prospective suitors.

You can't put a price on experience and that's what Wacha does to a T. He's not a journeyman but he's been around enough to have the value of pitching in numerous different systems, which is valuable for a midseason acquisition. Not to mention postseason experience goes a long way and with 46.2 innings of postseason work, he certainly has that under his belt.

Now that he's an All-Star it only seems even more of a no-brain option to trade him now with his value sky high and potentially garnering a worthwhile return to kickstart a retool and focus on 2027.

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