Royals Urged To Cut Ties With $45M All-Star; Dodgers, Blue Jays Named As Fits

Starting pitching is the strength of the Kansas City Royals, which also means it's what they have to sell at the trade deadline.

The Royals don't want to sell, but they might have no other choice. They're now 40-46, 4 1/2 games out of a potential playoff spot, and aside from one blazing hot stretch in late April and early May, they've been consistently bad all season.

However, the Royals have a starting pitcher in Seth Lugo who could be the prize of the deadline. The 35-year-old owns a 2.74 ERA in 15 starts this season, coming on the heels of his second-place Cy Young Award campaign in 2024.

ESPN's David Schoenfield believes the Royals have little choice but to cut bait with Lugo at the Jul. 31 trade deadline.

"It's starting to look a little desperate in Kansas City," Schoenfield wrote. "The emergence of Kris Bubic as a likely All-Star pitcher plus rookie Noah Cameron give the Royals some rotation depth to deal from, and Lugo remains an extremely attractive trade option...

"Aside from (outfielder Jac) Caglianone, the Royals' system lacks impact hitters in the upper minors. Trading Lugo gives them the chance to help their offense for the future."

Then, as an added gut punch to Royals fans, Schoenfield also named two big-market teams he thought would be perfect fits for Lugo: the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays.

Lugo has a $15 million player option for next season, which would mark the end of his three-year, $45 million contract. There's almost no chance he opts in, given how effective he's been, which means his next contract will likely have a much higher average annual value.

So the Royals have to be honest with themselves. Is it worth keeping Lugo around in a playoff chase that might prove unfruitful? Or is it better to raid the farm system of one of these big-market powers?

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