Royals Urged To Pry Top Prospect From Orioles For Daniel Lynch IV Trade Package
The Kansas City Royals may have lucked into an extra starting pitcher this spring.
Daniel Lynch IV was an afterthought in most early Royals rotation projections. But the 27-year-old lefty has turned heads with a 3.14 ERA and zero walks to 11 strikeouts in 14 innings thus far during spring training.
Lynch has a minor-league option remaining, so the Royals could send him to Triple-A if he's not going to earn a rotation spot. It's likely down to Lynch and Kris Bubic for the number-five starter role, and Bubic has played a bigger role for the Royals throughout his career when healthy.
Rather than demoting him, though, is there a way the Royals could capitalize on some of the value Lynch has built himself by shipping him off in a trade that addresses an obvious weakness?
On Friday, Jacob Milham of FanSided posed the idea that Kansas City could ship Lynch to the Baltimore Orioles, whose starting rotation is barren for a prospective contender, in exchange for an outfield prospect (either Dylan Beavers or Heston Kjerstad).
"The Orioles’ loaded farm system is one that Royals fans would love to tap into, and Lynch’s ZiPS projections suggest he’d be the fourth-best starter in Baltimore’s rotation," Milham wrote. "Could a package of Lynch and another MLB-ready piece be enough to pry away a young outfielder like Dylan Beavers or Heston Kjerstad?"
"The Royals shouldn’t move Lynch for pennies, they should be aggressive in exploring a deal that could strengthen their long-term roster construction — especially if it means addressing their outfield depth."
Lynch could become especially expendable for the Royals when both Alec Marsh and Kyle Wright are eventually healthy. A trade like this would be the definition of striking while the iron is hot, and that's if a team like Baltimore has seen enough from Lynch to take the bait.
If Lynch isn't traded, it will be interesting to see if he's ever able to earn regular innings for a win-now Kansas City team during the regular season.
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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