Giants Could Cut Ties With $9 Million Veteran In Trade To Royals, Per Insider

For the Kansas City Royals, the time is now for a playoff push to take shape.

Though the offense has been positively brutal all season, the Royals are still right in the thick of the Wild Card hunt. At 38-40, they're two games behind the Cleveland Guardians and Seattle Mariners for the third and final spot.

Though most teams with Kansas City's record would be caught in a middle ground between buying and selling, the Royals seem to recognize that they have a brief title window. Starting pitcher Seth Lugo will be a free agent at the end of the year; Kris Bubic the year after that.

So to beef up the offense, one baseball insider suggests a rental slugger from the San Francisco Giants might be attainable.

In a recent trade deadline preview, Jake Mintz of Yahoo Sports named Giants right fielder Mike Yastrzemski as a potential trade target for the Royals.

"This offense is a mess. Vinnie Pasquantino is heating up and Jac Caglianone’s arrival should help, but this team still needs help. Royals outfielders have posted a combined -0.6 bWAR. Yikes," Mintz wrote. "KC is probably hoping a team like... San Francisco falls out of contention and it can swing a deal for Yastrzemski to help the outfield."

If the playoffs started on Monday, the Giants would be the National League's second Wild Card team at 44-34. And they just traded for Rafael Devers, a long-term move that still ups their odds dramatically of contending this season.

However, there's always a chance something dramatic could happen in baseball, and though Yastrzemski is an essential piece of this Giants squad, if they plummet in the standings, they'll have to consider trading a player who would have a huge market with his affordable $9 million salary.

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