Royals Trade Rumors: Teams 'Closely Scouting' KC's $45 Million All-Star

Major League Baseball teams can sense when an opponent is in danger, and the Kansas City Royals are certainly hovering on the edge.

With a 42-48 record entering play on Sunday, the Royals remain 5 1/2 games out of a potential playoff spot. It's somewhat remarkable they're still that close, yet they'd still have to hop over five teams in order to nab that spot.

So the Royals find themselves in a classic buy/sell trade deadline debacle. With only 25 days to go until the deadline, Kansas City has a huge poker chip they have to decide whether or not to cash in.

That refers, of course, to starting pitcher Seth Lugo, who can opt ouf of his $15 million salary for 2026 and pursue free agency heading into his age-36 season. Lugo might be the number-one starting pitcher traded if the Royals decide to wave the white flag.

On Sunday, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported that Lugo was drawing significant interest from teams looking to buy at the Jul. 31 deadline.

"Teams are starting to closely scout Kansas City Royals starter Seth Lugo (6-5, 2.65 ERA), believing that if the Royals are out of the race, he’ll definitely be placed on the trade block," Nightengale wrote.

"Lugo, in the middle of a three-year, $45 million contract, has an opt-out after this season that he’d likely exercise instead of returning for $15 million in 2026."

Without confirmation that any of these teams are hot on Lugo's tail, it certainly would make sense for the Chicago Cubs, New York Mets, and Los Angeles Dodgers to take a stab at the veteran righty. All three of those big-market teams have well-rounded farm systems that the Royals would certainly be lucky to plunder.

The next few weeks will determine everything, and if Lugo keeps pitching well, he'll somewhat paradoxically be boosting his trade stock while possibly moving the Royals closer to avoiding a sale.

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