Braves Could Ship 3x All-Star To Royals At Trade Deadline, Per ESPN Insiders

The Kansas City Royals need a surge of offense if they want any shot at a playoff spot.

It's been the story of the season so far in Kansas City: no big hits when the team needs them. The Roayls have taken the fewest walks in baseball, they're second-to-last with 56 home runs, and bottom five in OPS and runs.

Royals designated hitters have also been an offensive plight this season, ranking 28th in the sport with -1.5 fWAR. Rather than continuing to rotate players in and out of the DH spot, perhaps a big-name trade deadline acquisition could be a last-minute fix.

ESPN insiders Kiley McDaniel and Jeff Passan have one possible solution in mind, though the probability of the Royals pulling it off might not be all that high.

On Tuesday, McDaniel and Passan's trade deadline preview loosely linked the Royals as fits for Atlanta Braves DH Marcell Ozuna, who they assigned a 25 percent chance of being traded amid Atlanta's first-half struggles.

"Ozuna is a stone-cold DH, playing two games in the field in 2023 as his last regular-season experience defensively. Ozuna is also in a contract year, but his power numbers are down a notch from his standout .302 average and 39-homer performance last season," the authors wrote.

"His on-base percentage remains among the highest of potential trade candidates. If anyone is moving from Atlanta, he's the likeliest candidate, with free agency beckoning."

Ozuna is playing through a hip injury this season that seems to be sapping some of his power. But the 34-year-old still has a .792 OPS and 121 OPS+, and FanGraphs has him as the sixth-most valuable DH this season at 1.0 fWAR.

The Braves, like the Royals, are sending lots of outward signals that they don't intend to sell at the deadline. But if push comes to shove, and their record is far enough in the negatives, they'll be forced to rethink their course of action.

It's not certain what that threshold may be, but until the deadline, the Royals should have their ears open for possible whispers of Ozuna's availability.

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