Royals Could Cut Ties With Likely All-Star Pitcher, Suggests MLB Insider

The Kansas City Royals' five-game losing streak is putting a huge damper on any plans of buying at the trade deadline.

All season, the Royals have struggled to generate any offense, and being shut out by the Tampa Bay Rays on both Wednesday and Thursday has to be considered the low point. Something dramatic needs to change for this Royals team to turn into a contender, regardless of whether or not it happens this year.

According to one insider, the best solution may be to trade the team's most likely All-Star pitcher for a big bat.

On Thursday, MLB Network insider Jon Morosi suggested that there was at least an outside chance the Royals would trade lefty starter Kris Bubic during his breakout season, especially if they could get two promising young bats in the return.

"I don't think Bubic is going to get traded, but I will say this," Morosi said. "The Royals have lost four in a row (now five). Their pitching overall is quite good. Bubic, importantly, is under control for one more year at a very reasonable number.

"So my general reasoning is this: There should be at least as much conversation surrounding this possibility as there was for Tarik Skubal a year ago, because Bubic is actually closer to free agency now than Skubal was last year... If the Royals can get 2 impactful young bats, I think this is something they'd at least have to consider."

Bubic, 27, is finally living up to his first-round pick promise from 2018. In 15 starts, he has a 6-5 record, 2.18 ERA, 96 strikeouts in 91 innings, and 3.0 bWAR.

It would be painful on some level for Royals fans to lose Bubic just as he was finally breaking out. But in the long run, if he netted them some bats to finally fix the offense, they'd come around.

There's never a guarantee that any trade for young, unproven players pans out, though.

More MLB: J.J. Picollo's Latest Trade Deadline Comments Show Royals Have No Direction