The Royals are looking to add a right-handed hitter, reports Jayson Stark of the Athletic (via Ken Rosenthal’s latest column). The Angels’ Luis Rengifo and Taylor Ward are under consideration, as is Washington’s Lane Thomas.
Rengifo is a switch-hitter who does more damage from the right side. Ward and Thomas are strictly right-handed bats. Rengifo is the most valuable of the trio. He’s having the best season of the group and provides the most defensive flexibility. Rengifo isn’t a great defender but he can bounce between second and third base and moonlight at shortstop. He wouldn’t need to worry about the latter position in Kansas City. The Royals have gotten very little offense out of Maikel Garcia at the hot corner. Lefty-swinging second baseman Michael Massey was playing well early in the season before slumping this month.
The 27-year-old Rengifo would be a significant offensive upgrade. He goes into play tonight with a .308/.352/.432 slash across 285 plate appearances. It’s his second straight above-average offensive performance. Rengifo makes a ton of contact, fitting the Royals’ general style of hitter. He topped 15 homers in both 2022 and ’23. This year’s production has been more OBP-oriented as he has cut his strikeout rate to a personal-low 13% clip. Over the past two and a half seasons, he owns a massive .328/.368/.555 slash against left-handed pitching.
Thomas and Ward have a more limited defensive profile as corner outfielders. The Royals could certainly look to upgrade in left field, where MJ Melendez was underperforming before landing on the injured list. Thomas might be more of a platoon target. He mashes southpaws but posts below-average numbers against same-handed pitching. Since landing in Washington at the 2021 trade deadline, he has tattooed lefties at a .310/.371/.525 clip. He’s hitting .231/.294/.398 versus righties in that time. Thomas has had similarly stark splits this season and has a league average .247/.323/.397 slash in aggregate.
Ward has looked like an All-Star caliber player at his best, highlighted by a .281/.360/.473 season two years ago. His production has been more pedestrian over the past season and a half, as his line has hovered around league average. Over 424 plate appearances this year, the former first-round pick has a .226/.309/.396 line. As with Thomas, Ward does an inordinate amount of his damage with the platoon advantage. He’s hitting .294/.365/.468 against lefties since the start of 2022. His .243/.328/.423 slash versus right-handed pitching over that stretch is more solid than elite.
All three players are under team control beyond this season. (Anne Rogers of MLB.com tweeted this afternoon that the Royals would be reluctant to relinquish players at the top of their thin farm system for rentals.) Rengifo and Thomas are eligible for arbitration through next year, while Ward is controllable until the 2026-27 offseason. They’re each similarly costly from a financial perspective. Rengifo’s the lowest-paid of the group at $4.4MM, while Thomas is most expensive at $5.45MM. The prospect cost should be highest for Rengifo, who’ll have broad appeal in a market that’s very light on infield talent.
Nice. Could work out well for both sides.
And I can root for them in Royal blue.
The Royals system is so thin though. Among the AL/NL Central clubs, the Angels match up so much better with the Pirates and Brewers.
Pirates are my preferred partner.
They have pitching prospects and as a Steelers fan I always pull for the Pirates
Pirates are probably sitting back letting everyone else spend their prospects and will come in with some quantity trades for the remaining scraps. Hopefully. They may just kick the can down the road. They are pretty awful at marketing. But if you like quantity they can be out developed.
Lose again tonight and the Pirates should be selling not buying.
We all had an adrenaline rush with what Skenes has done in a short time, but this club is still three or four bats away from competing.
GMBC had a chance to get Arozarena, Chisolm and/or Winker to boost MLB’s worst outfield, but barring a miracle Rooker or Robert move, the Bucs will carry on regardless with AAAA everyday players.
After the Harvey trade I would love to trade with KC. Huge overpay. Not getting elite prospects for these 2 so might as well do quantity with KC and pick their weaker farm apart.
Dammit Friedman get in here
If Perry gets anything for these guys I will be shocked.
Might as well keep them.
I agree we’ll either get nothing or Moreno’s ask will be so ridiculous that no one will take it.
Not being traded is possible even probable. Reports were they didn’t want to.
They are in demand. Will get multiple quality prospects for them. Not top 100 guys unless someone goes nuts but upside top 30 guys. Probably at least 1 who could be top 100 in a year or two.
What’s your deal man? Overly pessimistic lately
Lane Thomas headline erasure
I have wondered if Mondesi could be brought back on a minor league deal and see what he could do in the outfield.
Rupture a couple of tendons…
The fact that no one has taken a flier on Mondesi tells me he either has no desire to play or is physically unable to play (or both).
These are two guys I hope we actually hold onto. Plus there’s nothing the Royals could realistically give us that would make sense for us.
You keep saying Rengifo is subpar on defense. He’s made huge strides in his play at 3B and has a great arm. He lacks some instinctive talent that can be seen in his reaction time, but I’m sure the scouts will tell you how his defense makes him even more valuable.
Rengifo was a Gold Glove runner up last year. His throws to first can be a little wild but he’s come a long way.
The Angels are not going to trade the two mentioned to the Royals. Just because they want them doesn’t mean they can have the two, especially when the Royals have the 2nd worst farm system, while the Angels have the worst. They will only trade Rengifo and Ward with a team that actually has a good farm system. The Angels probably put that rumor out there to boost there value with other teams.
Royals can easily get them. Both of them if they wanted to.
Reality is calling you, please pick up
I think a deal for Rengifo would likely involve Mikail Garcia and a prospect. We have a few catching prospects that are worth a look but I wouldn’t be in favor of the deal. Maybe Ward depending on what the Angels want
From everything I’ve read, Perry got a nice return for Estevez, a two month rental. Hope he is equally successful in trading controllable players.
IMO I would have rather have Rengifo instead of Chisam
The Angels could use both Ward and Rengifo next year. They shouldn’t be desperate to trade either one. If a playoff bound team really wants one of them, they will have to give up a decent prospect or two. Ward is probably at his lowest trading value and will probably not get dealt in my opinion.
The Angels would be in a sell low situation for Ward right now. Rengifo is as high a value you can ever expect to get from him. Would be best to trade Rengifo and keep Ward.
He has little value because he’s not that good. Peary need to try to get something to help the younger core now before the little value he has is gone.
Maybe Rengifo, but Ward must go!
Alexpulido7051 213 hours ago
The Angels could use both Ward and Rengifo next year.
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They are likely doomed next year anyway. Trade both.
They could use them next year. The problem is that the Angels won’t be good next year either. They aren’t close to being a playoff team now or in the next couple of years based upon how Moreno runs this team. Both Ward and Rengifo have value and should be traded. This is the process of rebuilding a team like a really MLB franchise would.
All the experts saw the Dodgers, Atlanta, Phillies, and New York watch Arizona play in the World Series last year. There’s also team chemistry, health, and the players on the field getting hot at the right time. I agree that the Angels need more depth to compete, but you can’t just trade players for the sake of trading them. There has to be valuable players coming back that will strengthen the team for years. Teams will want to trade a box of Cracker Jax and bubble gum for Ward right now. Ward has two more years of arbitration, so he could be more valuable when he gets back to his old self
@Alex Exactly, there is no real rush to trade Ward. He is under control for another 2 seasons after this one. He can be traded this off season or next trade deadline for equal or more than is being offered now, which is probably long shot prospects. That being said, if the right deal comes a long, trade him, but I don’t see that happening.
Ward must go! He’s not someone the Angels are building around.. Peary needs to get what he can now before Ward loses the small value he has. Same with Tyler Anderson. Send them out Peary!!
Ward is a streaky hitter. I wouldn’t be surprised if he finishes the year strong.
Seems like only yesterday the Angels were touting Ward as a potential MVP candidate. Yes Nevin really said that.
Rengifo’s damaged goods. I’d be suspicious of them bringing him back so close to the deadline despite a mysterious wrist injury that he had to see specialists for.
And another chapter will be closed on another Angel they deemed untradable at one point who never lived up to expectations who never became much of a fan favorite. We’ll no longer have to suffer Gubicza tell us how he has a “cannon” for an arm and is “”tough as nails!” The Angels have the toughest players in the league apparently.
I seriously doubt the Royals have the prospects to make it worth it.