Royals Predicted To Cut Ties With Two-Time All-Star In Trade To Rival Tigers

The Kansas City Royals, like the rest of the teams in the American League Central, have bent the knee to the Detroit Tigers in 2025.

Detroit owns an 11.5-game lead over the second-place Minnesota Twins and a 12-game lead over the Royals in third. It's the largest division lead by far of any team in the sport, and the Tigers will surely look to increase their powers with some trade deadline acquisitions.

Detroit's farm system is one of the best in the game, so sellers will likely jump at the opportunity to grab some of their prospects. But what are the odds the Royals become one of those sellers?

Kansas City doesn't have a long list of names to sell, but they have high-quality pieces. That could include closer Carlos Estévez, who is under team control through 2027, including a club option.

On Wednesday's episode of the "Talkin' Baseball" podcast, Jomboy Media's Jack Oliver (a.k.a. "Jolly Olive") predicted that the Royals would do what some might consider a sin: trade their two-time All-Star closer to a division rival.

"I know he (Estévez) just signed, he's got that club option, but he's been good for a while now, and I don't know how many pieces they have to sell," Oliver said. "I don't know if everything's in the cards this year for your Kansas City Royals. They've been playing some pretty bad baseball"

"I don't know how much better the Tigers can get, especially with the bullpen, but I'll put him on the Tigers. I think they're already rich with talent, and maybe they could use somebody that's a little bit more proven. They've got a lot of young guys."

In 42 innings this season, Estévez sports a 2.36 ERA. He's 25-for-28 in save opportunities, and he just appeared in his second All-Star Game in three years with a scoreless seventh inning in Atlanta on Tuesday.

Trading Estévez should only be on the table if the Royals are committing to a full trade deadline sale, which means starting pitcher Seth Lugo has to be on the move as well. That doesn't seem like the most likely scenario as of this moment, but it's not far-fetched if the team struggles coming out of the break.

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