$30 Million Royals All-Star Linked To Cardinals As Trade Deadline Nears

The Kansas City Royals are quickly falling out of postseason contention. They are six games below the .500 mark at 40-46.

Kansas City is already buried in the American League Central, down 13 1/2 games. They also have fallen to 4 1/2 games back in the Wild Card race.

As such, we may see the Royals sell off some pieces at this year's trade deadline. They have a few pieces that teams may show interest in.

Right-hander Seth Lugo is on an expiring contract. Thomas Gauvain of Redbird Rants predicts that Lugo could be an under-the-radar piece the Royals cross-state rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals could target.

"Lugo has a player option for 2026, but he's likely to opt out of the deal that would pay him only $15 million next year," Gauvain writes.

"Due to his player option, teams trading for Lugo would treat him like a rental pitcher. The Royals wouldn't be able to ask for much from the Cardinals, but they could weasel their way into a top-10 organizational prospect or a couple of lottery tickets lower in the system."

Lugo is 5-5 with a 2.74 ERA and 2.7 WAR in 15 starts with the Royals. Kansas City could bring back a solid haul for him.

St. Louis has plenty of young position players that are showing promise at the plate and could help the Royals offensively, as that has been their achilles heel this season.

It will be interesting to see if the Royals can find any takes for Lugo.

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