Royals $30 Million Starter Predicted To Be Traded At Deadline

The Kansas City Royals are struggling this season. They managed to win a series against the Arizona Diamondbacks over the weekend, but are still five games below the .500 mark.

At 43-48, they are 14 games out of first place in the American League Central and 5 1/2 back in the Wild Card race. They may end up being sellers at the trade deadline instead of buyers.

Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report recently made a power rankings list, and the Royals ranked 23rd on that list. However, Miller predicted that trade rumors around one of their top pieces will continue to swirl.

"The Royals entered the week as losers of seven of their last eight, as well as 15 of their last 21. A West Coast road trip that included a 10:10 pm ET start on Thursday in Seattle and a game in Arizona less than 24 hours later threatened to bury their season once and for all. But they stopped the bleeding, at least a little, even winning both halves of that brutal back-to-back sequence. They still have the lowest-scoring offense in the majors, though, and the Seth Lugo trade talk is getting louder by the day," Miller wrote.

Lugo is 6-5 with a 2.65 ERA and 3.0 WAR in 16 starts this season with the Royals. The right-hander was an All-Star last season, but did not make the cut this year.

Still, contending teams will be showing interest in him over the next few weeks leading up to the deadline.

More MLB: Royals Send Bobby Witt Jr., Kris Bubic To All-Star Game, With One Massive Snub