Royals Unexpectedly Floated As Trade Candidate For Cardinals 8-Time All-Star
The Kansas City Royals have been awfully quiet for the last month. Will they break their silence before Opening Day?
Rolling out a lineup led by Bobby Witt Jr. and not much else could very well get the Royals back to the playoffs--Witt is simply that good. But if the Royals really want to build something special, they need more position player talent.
Spending big on free agents doesn't seem to be in the plans this winter, but could the Royals absorb a decent chunk of salary on the trade market? If so, there's an eight-time All-Star playing for their in-state rival who would look awfully good in royal blue.
The Royals weren't on Nolan Arenado's original list of six teams that the St. Louis Cardinals third baseman would waive his no-trade clause for. That might make bringing Arenado to KC a long shot, but the beauty of the offseason is that anything is possible.
Appropirately, Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors named the Royals as a "plausible, but unlikely" trade suitor for the 10-time Gold Glover on Thursday.
"Kansas City could push Maikel Garcia into a utility role or trade him to a team that can use him at shortstop," Franco wrote.
"Jonathan India and Michael Massey could split playing time between second base and left field. The Royals are already at last year’s spending level, though, so money could be an obstacle."
Arenado didn't have a good season by his standards in 2024, but he still would have been an upgrade over Garcia. And if he rebounds to being the 7-WAR player he was in 2022, or even a reasonable approximation, the Royals would be thrilled they traded for him.
Arenado is owed $64 million over the next three seasons, and that might be the biggest holdup from the Royals' standpoint. But if they were willing to send better prospects to St. Louis to make a deal happen, there's a chance they could pull off what many see as unlikely.
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Jackson Roberts is a former Division III All-Region DH who now writes and talks about sports for a living. A Bay Area native and a graduate of Swarthmore College and the Newhouse School at Syracuse University, Jackson makes his home in North Jersey. He grew up rooting for the Red Sox, Patriots, and Warriors, and he recently added the Devils to his sports fandom mosaic. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "Kansas City Royals On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org