The Royals have been looking for outfield upgrades for years. This winter, they seem to have a tight budget but a strong rotation, which has led to speculation about them trading a starting pitcher for an outfielder. “Our starting pitching, we have some depth there,” Royals president of baseball operations J.J. Picollo tells Alex Speier of The Boston Globe. “A lot of teams are looking for starting pitching, so if we have what they may be interested in, and they have an outfielder that would be of interest, then there’s potentially the opportunity to make a deal.” Speier notes that the Royals had interest in Jarren Duran of the Red Sox prior to the trade deadline.
As mentioned, it’s been a long time since the Royals got strong production from the grass. Last winter, they were connected to free agents such as Anthony Santander and Jurickson Profar but fell short in those pursuits. Kansas City outfielders produced a collective line of .225/.285/.348 in 2025. That resulted in a 73 wRC+, indicating they were 27% below league average, the worst group in the majors.
It was reported last month that the club is looking for outfield help on the trade market. That makes sense for a number of reasons. For one, there’s the payroll. Back in October, owner John Sherman suggested the club would likely have a similar payroll in 2026 as they did in 2025. RosterResource currently projects the club to spend $139MM on the 2026 squad, which is already above the $138MM they spent by the end of 2025.
Also, the free agent outfield market has a big gap. At the top, there are guys like Kyle Tucker and Cody Bellinger, who will be out of the Royals’ price range. Then there’s a big drop to the tier featuring guys like Mike Yastrzemski and Harrison Bader. The Royals just acquired Yastrzemski at the deadline and he played well for them. Presumably, they would have interest in bringing him back but he might get an eight-figure deal and is now 35 years old, so it would make sense if they considered cheaper and/or younger options.
Put it all together and trading from the rotation seems like a decent possibility, something that MLBTR’s Nick Deeds explored a few weeks back. The Royals currently have Michael Wacha, Seth Lugo, Cole Ragans, Kris Bubic, Noah Cameron, Bailey Falter, Ryan Bergert, Stephen Kolek, Luinder Avila and Ben Kudrna for five rotation spots. A trade of Wacha or Lugo feels unlikely because they both signed extensions with the Royals in the past 13 months. Bubic has reportedly drawn some trade interest but he might not be able to bring back a massive return. He is down to one year of club control and missed the final few months of 2025 due to a rotator cuff strain.
That perhaps points to Ragans as the most logical candidate, but there are issues there as well. It would be a sell-low move for the Royals. He finished fourth in American League Cy Young voting in 2024 by putting up a 3.14 earned run average over 186 1/3 innings. But in 2025, he spent a decent amount of time on the injured list due to groin and rotator cuff injuries. He only made 13 starts with his ERA jumping to 4.67.
He is still controllable for another three years. He is already signed for $4.5MM in 2026 and $7.5MM in 2027. He would then be controllable for the 2028 campaign via arbitration. Despite his rough 2025, the Royals would surely put a massive asking price on him, considering his talent, affordability and controllability. “I wouldn’t say off limits,” Picollo said, when asked if any of his pitchers are untouchable. “There would have to be a really big return for one [starter] in particular.” That statement seems likely to be in reference to Ragans.
The Royals could perhaps try to trade one of the group including Cameron, Bergert, Kolek, Avila and Kudrna but no one in that group has shown the tremendous ceiling of Ragans. Though those players are still in their pre-arb years, a team looking for a surefire rotation upgrade wouldn’t have as much interest as they would in Ragans.
For the Red Sox, they are a logical trade partner for the Royals. They have been looking for rotation upgrades and have too many outfielders. Currently, their outfield mix consists of Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, Roman Anthony, Wilyer Abreu and Masataka Yoshida, with prospect Jhostynxon García waiting in the wings.
Trade rumors around this group have been around for quite a while. Anthony and Rafaela have been signed to extensions and seem very unlikely to be available. The Sox would probably love to move Yoshida but his contract and poor performance give him negative trade value. Wilyer and Abreu feel a bit redundant, so it’s those two who often appear in rumors most often. Both are strong defenders who hit left-handed and have notable platoon splits.
Abreu still has four years of club control remaining whereas Duran as three. Duran also qualified for arbitration a year early as a Super Two player, meaning he gets four arb passes instead of just three. While Abreu is still a year away from arbitration, Duran made $3.85MM in 2025 and will get a bump to $7.75MM plus performance bonuses in 2026. The Sox don’t seem to have a ton of powder dry for the rest of the offseason, so perhaps they would lean towards trading Duran. He could perhaps bring back a notable return on the pitching front while also saving the Sox some money.
Duran has slashed .271/.337/.468 since the start of 2024 for a 121 wRC+. He has also stolen 58 bases and received strong grades for his outfield defense. FanGraphs credited with 10.8 wins above replacement over that two-year span.
That kind of production would certainly look good in the Kansas City outfield. Currently, there’s not a lot locked in. Jac Caglianone will probably get another chance, even though he performed poorly in his 2025 debut. Kyle Isbel projects as the favorite in center, mostly on account of his glove. Duran has lots of center field experience but the Sox have been using him in left recently, largely in deference to Rafaela. Guys like Drew Waters, Kameron Misner, John Rave and Dairon Blanco are on the roster but would ideally be pushed down the depth chart.
The Sox already made one notable addition to their rotation by acquiring Sonny Gray from the Cardinals. He’ll slot in alongside Garrett Crochet and Brayan Bello as locks for the front of the Boston rotation. That leaves two spots available for guys like Kutter Crawford, Patrick Sandoval, Payton Tolle, Connelly Early, Kyle Harrison and others. Crawford and Sandoval are big wild cards after spending 2025 on the IL, while the others are young guys still looking to get fully established in the big leagues.
Reportedly, the Sox are focused on the lineup after the Gray trade but that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t be interested in further bolstering the rotation if they get a chance. Perhaps the Royals and Red Sox can line something up but there are many other possible paths. If Ragans is available, then the Royals will presumably discuss him with dozens of other clubs and not just the Red Sox. Boston, meanwhile, would surely get plenty of calls if they were willing to deal Duran.
Photo courtesy of Jerome Miron, Imagn Images
Just don’t trade Cole Ragans for Jarren Duran.
That is pretty much the entire article subject. Of the two who would you like more?
of course Wyker and Abreu are redundant…
Who shouldn’t? Seems like risk on both sides but plenty of upside also on both sides. Duran is a terrific spark plug but Ragans would give them a formidable (if healthy) (not to mention very affordable) #2.
Yeah,I think “Wilyer and Abreu are redundant”. How about Jarren and Duran?
Duran to the Royals seems like a perfect fit but I don’t know which SP goes back to the Red Sox in that trade. If they got a deal done and resigned Yastrzemski, and if Cags can live up to some of his potential then KC starts to get real interesting IMHO.
Losing Ragans would be rough. But getting offense every day might be worth more.
I’ll give you Blake Perkins
I’ll give you Kendrick Perkins.
I’ll give you Elizabeth Perkins.
Because trading starting pitching for a bat worked out so well for the Royals last offseason.
The good news is they can’t trade for Jonathan India again
India was a jaw-dropping recent signing; after putting ink to paper he may have dropped to his knees and kissed the ground when leaving the complex… (lifelong Reds fan here)
He SHOULD be spending the winter at DriveLine to learn how to hit again instead of seeing nothing but nail biter situations every winter going forward.
No but we can just waste 8 million on bringing him back to play poorly all over the field
Trading a starting pitcher for an outfielder. What a concept!
Most of the league is looking to do the opposite, so it should work out for them.
Jays have a log jam of outfielders how about a trade involving a bullpen piece for a Joey Loperfido or Nathan Lukes (sell high there). And sometimes it pays to be the one team doing the opposite as everyone else again look at the jays and their high contact approach compared to everyone else chasing power
Bubik for loperfido +
I think that’s a poor move all round. Jays don’t need a back end starter
Maybe the Royals would like Santander after missing out on him last year.
“Wilyer and Abreu feel a bit redundant, so it’s those two who often appear in rumors most often.”
Oops. They’re the same guy. Obviously, you meant Duran and Abreu.
Having two of the exact same player could make the other guy redundant unless it’s judge or someone lol
You can never have enough Max Muncys
Or Will Smiths. Especially if you want to win the World Series
It’s funny calling them redundant when the only common thing is they hit left handed. Duran is the superior threat on the bases and has been an all star. Wilyer plays better D, has a better arm, (2× GG) has more pop and is younger. Duran is confined to LF where Abreu can hypothetically play all 3 OF spots but if best in right
123 – Your overall point is valid, one is a slugger while the other is a prototypical leadoff guy.
Duran was basically equal defensively last year, but he did struggle this year.
Duran is absolutely not confined to LF, he plays a solid CF. Rafaela is one of the very few OF’ers who Duran doesn’t measure up to in CF. Again though, I’m including Duran’s defense play prior to this year. The guy was 2nd in MLB for DRS last year, well ahead of Abreu. He was also 9th in OAA, again well ahead of Abreu. Same with Range, FRV, etc.
Pretty sure all the trade rumors got to Duran this year.
Playing right field in Fenway is not for your average outfielder to command. Abreu is a defensive stud,.
Ragans to the braves for profar, cash, waldrep and lower prospects to even it out?
AA needs to pivot after seeing these FA starter contracts
Definitely not. Would make no sense to subtract from your rotation depth to acquire a pitcher. AA’s goal is to add to the depth and that trade doesn’t do it. And after Ragans had an injury riddled, down year you could easily argue it makes the rotation worse, not better. There is no guarantee Ragans will make as many starts as Waldrep or be any better than him in 2026. Not to mention you then create a need in the outfield + you want to send money and additional prospects?
Ragans is so much better and projects to continue to be better than Waldrep.
Added it is much easier and cheaper to fill an OF hole than it is get a frontline starter.
You must be a Braves fan 😉
K.C. should have used some of that SP surplus to upgrade over Jonathan India but its too late now.
They need an immediate upgrade in LF over Caglianone, but Yaz seems like a perfect fit for Kauffman stadium. The man was a doubles machine in a park that’s an extra base hit haven and played respectable defense. Ownership should really just pony up and offer him a 1 year deal.
That assumes both that the player wants to play on only a 1 year deal, and that the player wants to be on a KC team that lacks depth and money to upgrade elsewhere.
It’d be a tough job to crack the wild card in the AL for KC when you look at the quality of the likes of TOR/BOS/NYY and figure two of those 3 need wild card slots to make the playoffs.
Cags plays RF thus far. We reportedly offered Yaz a one year deal but he wants two
Heard something someplace about a Jake Meyers guy not sure where
lol, I was about to text the same thing. Figured I’d scan the comments first in order not to plagiarize someone. Due diligence payed off.
You’d be first but I just upgraded my modem 28.8k
The literal next article reads: Astros wanting to trade Jake Myers for a starting pitcher. Seems like a fit to me
I guess the Royals don’t know Jake. 😁
The 2 writers should get a room so they can save on copy and not write over each other
Maybe they look at Baltimores stockpile of young cheap OFs?
Which of them are good ,young and cheap?
Good is still a big ??? for that group. When you’re crunched for money those are the types of players available
Dylan Beavers is the one
Jasson Dominguez, Wil Warren + for Ragans.
At first glance it sounds reasonable but the Kauffman has one of the largest outfields in game. IMO, Dominguez would really struggle there defensively.
That’s fair. He’s working on his trade on Winter Ball, hence the extra piece(s) we could include that have value to make this work. I love Ragans as he reminds me Cole Hamels and it might be worth swapping Jasson for Jones here making it a one for one.
I think kc wants someone with more of an mlb track record..thus duran or abreau are more appealing
If need be, with the red sox stacked farm system, they could easily beat that trade.
Greetings, my name is Nick.
I play for the Philadelphia outfit and I AM your man….
I’m half expecting Nick back with the Cincinnati outfit, with a sizeable donation from the Philadelphia outfit.
@this one, me too and I’m not sure how to feel about it.
Challenge accepted!
Still want a Santander? Jays can get you one at a discount. Don’t even need a pitcher back…
I noted the same above. But I’m not sure the Jays will trade Santander for nothing though. They are in on everyone but usually have trouble signing guys. There are lots of rumours about Bichette and Tucker but if neither signs they will need Santander.
They didn’t need Santander this year.
And, one of Bichette or Tucker will surely sign, or they’ll go out and get one of Kwan or Marte via trade. Either way, Santander is redundant IF they can find a trade partner so I suspect they’ll willingly take nothing in return.
Let’s do it. Mid rotation starter for the cost controlled, power hitting Jo Adell.
They already traded an outfielder, who else is around
They traded a left fielder but kept 3 guys who play RF or DH. Meanwhile there are holes all over the diamond and rotation.
They won’t trade Adell, but moving 1 of the 3 RF’ers for help elsewhere would be fine and nobody is trading for Trout or Soler.
Instead they’ll put Trout in left and be shocked when a lower body injury puts him on the shelf in May.
If Wacha was a bigger strike out pitcher, he might have gotten some votes for CY Young any of the past four years because his ERA and W-L record is decent or respectable with his low K numbers.
This is the one Breslow and company are interested in. It will happen in a week, during the winter meetings.
Seth Lugo for Romy Gonzalez & Masataka Yoshida
The cash is a wash, basically even.
Not unreasonable, but pretty sure the Red Sox say no.
Lugo isn’t an upgrade from what they already have in their rotation and Romy would be missed.
Hard to say WC…
Yoshida takes up a spot on the major league roster. There’s value in that spot. You no longer have a duran/abreu/anthony/rafaela logjam with DH open, and the knowledge guys will get banged up over the 162…
You’d say Lugo needs a spot too, but, you could bump a younger arm into the minors in his case to make up for it until the typical pitching issues rear their heads as often happens.
@GASoxFan
I don’t mind bumping the younger guys to the minors, but with Sandoval and Crawford that’s probably already the case. Feels like this would just move excess from one spot to another while adding a slight bit of salary and losing a valuable platoon bat.
If there’s a run of injuries in the rotation they could always revisit this, but in the meantime not a great fit.
It all depends. Yoshida cant be moved without attaching… something.
Could one of the backend starters bumped from the 26 man bring back a better platoon bat than romy, that’s the question. I think it could, given the SP market.
Id rather give up romy to solve the yoshida problem than a legitimate prospect.
I think how much someone likes this proposal depends on how much they want to see the yoshida issue solved by shipping him out.
Is he a comeback player of the year candidate? Maybe. But he could also be an expensive player with low usefulness just as easily.
@GASoxFan
You say ‘the Yoshida problem’ but I don’t see the problem. As of right now, he’s the team’s best DH.
If you ran this trade to acquire Lugo then the guy getting pushed would be Crawford or Sandoval. Sandoval certainly has negative value, I would think. Crawford could probably get you something, but would it be better than Romy? I’m skeptical. Also, Crawford has that extra year of control.
So even if they get a player as good as Romy (which seems unlikely) in return, they added payroll while likely losing years of control (depending on the player they receive in return).
And keep in mind, if Lugo, who is 36, gets any worse than he was last year (0.5 fWAR), then he gets cut and you’re stuck eating the entire contract. At least we have expectations that Yoshida will be useful for the next two years (even if he doesn’t match his salary in production).
The Red Sox can always easily move Yoshida, they just need to add money.
Romy had a career year. His babip was .378!! Mlb average is .292. Is that sustainable? Im not sure.
Don’t get me wrong, I dont dislike romy. He’s a good utility depth piece. But I see yoshida as a problem in the way of proper roster management, and, I dont consider him to have any guarantee of usefulness. If you want a guy who is banged up or coming off injury to use the DH slot… you cant. Yoshida is in the way. And if you sit yoshida to use the dh like that, there is negative value in yoshida as a bench player. So its a wasted 26 man spot that game, every bit playing shorthanded.
Its such a small sample for a guy who put up his first season of any appreciable value at 2.0 war, which, isnt exactly earthshattering. He’s good, but only in the platoon split. There is a limit you could bump that to because he is a strictly platoon guy, and wouldnt hack it as a everyday player – rather than getting more than 2 war production, you’d go backwards and get less production by playing him more because he cant hit every day.
The idea of shipping yoshida with cash attached… doesnt help finances (although neither does lugo). But, it absolutely isnt a guy like Lugo who could always be flipped himself, its just more unalterable dead money on the books that has no hope of becoming anything else.
Ideally id like yoshida gone, and, a bigger move that brings in a non-platoon infielder at the expense of Lugo or a bumped sp with more prospect capital attached. Solve the actual problems – yoshida in DH and lack of competent infield defenders who can swing the bat everyday. The problem is finding a team that could find a role for yoshida, and that’s *HARD*
I do find it funny we’ve run with the romy/yoshida idea though and the OP hasn’t been heard from since lol
@GASoxFan
There are at least 10 teams (including the Red Sox) who would have a roll for Yoshida. An above average bat who may be even better if strongside platooned. He hasn’t been platooned for most of his career (~24% of his at-bats have been against lefties, which is only ~2% below average for a LHH) so calling him a ‘platoon’ bat, also must acknowledge how much better he would be IF platooned.
There is no roster construction issue with Yoshida. Ideally the Red Sox would have a LH OF, a RH OF, a LH IF, a RH IF and a C as their DH and 4 bench slots, Yoshida filling one of those slots would only be an issue if the Red Sox were to sign a pure-DH (Scwarber/Alonso) player which hasn’t happened yet (and I would be very much against).
The Red Sox could always elect to trade Yoshida while his value is low, in a salary dump (eating 22-24mil,) which would suck but still be much better than the Lugo trade as it would open up a bit more room to make other moves while not removing a valuable bench piece who would need to be replaced. So trading him and eating money is the way to go if you want to get rid of him, otherwise, trade him for a bad contract which could be in some way useful – Lugo is not the guy.
GA- I think the big factor with Yoshida is whether they are going to put money into a true power bat at DH. If they do, Yoshida would really need to go. If not, it makes more sense to trade someone with more value to try to get the potential ace they need to back up Crochet. I don’t see a deal for Lugo making sense unless it is one of many moves that will open up a #5 spot in the rotation for someone like him. Seems unlikely.
My guess is the Sox are going to be very active in the offseason. They are finally in a position to really compete in the offseason, and could use a World Series title to build the fan base and bring in more money through advertising and television deals. I will be very disappointed if that is not the case.
What they actually do is the big question as the rumors go all over the place.
Imagine how good Nick Castellanos would look in your OF ( say all Phillies fans). For only $5 million.
heliot ramos/bubic trade?
I still think a Duran for Bubic/Carter Jensen/Single A pitcher would be great. I know Royals fans won’t want to give up Jensen after his great September but I believe Blake Mitchell will be an even better catcher than Jensen.
Presuming the Royals don’t trade Ragans or Garcia, Jensen is the guy. Lefty who can catch and hit the ball real hard. Maybe he could get a little work at 1B as well.
Red Sox would need to make another deal to open a 40-man spot.
As a Red Sox fan I could get behind this deal. It gives Boston another really good pitcher for one year and I do like Jensen he seems to check the boxes of what Boston lacks in catcher depth and he does hit the ball ridiculously hard. I think I would make that trade.
Ragans for Abreu wouldn’t actually be “selling low” as Abreu did hit 20 HR’s and has won back-to-back Gold Gloves. Both have tremendous upside and fills a need on both teams
The selling low would be Ragans not Abreu.
Except it wouldn’t be
Hey Astros , royals can help. If you can work out something I get 2% finders fee. Bang the trash can once for yes twice for no.
I hear Tyler O’Neill is on the block. Give Mike a call….
The Red Sox could always pay-down some of Duran’s contract if that’s the hold-up. Or they could include an India for Romy swap to sweeten the pot (Romy is better, cheaper and has more control).
The Astros might be part of this.
Was connected to Anthony Santander, you say…
So Kris Bubic for Jake Meyers?
I think it will be Bubic, India & $2.5m in cash for Meyers
Ragans for Brendon Donovan, Jordan Walker, and Tink Hence? A guaranteed quality infielder/outfielder with a good attitude and reasonable salary and 2 super high ceiling lottery tickets?
I think KC is really pushing for a leadoff hitter who plays a competent or better defensive outfield.
Power wouldnt be a must, but should be at least a 10-25hr guy. But OBP and tablesetting, hopefully with plus baserunning, that’s important for whoever KC brings in.
as a fan of both teams, If I’m the Royals, this doesn’t even move the needle for me. id hang up on Bloom
If KC is dangling a guy as good as Ragans, it makes me mighty suspicious.
“Meanwhile” should START the sentence, not come in the middle between commas.