Royals urged to 'capitalize' on starting pitching trade market

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Royals urged to 'capitalize' on starting pitching trade market image

May 14, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Kris Bubic (50) delivers a pitch against the Chicago White Sox during the first inning at Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

The Kansas City Royals are sitting near the bottom of the standings this season, and look likely to be trade deadline sellers by the August 3 trade deadline later this summer.

With the team trending towards selling, all of the players who are in the final years of their club control will be legitimate trade candidates. But the Royals will have the option of trading others who are under control beyond 2026.

MLB.com's Thomas Harrigan is urging the Royals to trade some of those players. More specifically, capitalizing on the trade market for starting pitchers, with two possible trade chips in the Kansas City rotation.

Royals urged to sell pitchers from rotation in seller's market

"With starters Cole Ragans (controllable through 2028) and Kris Bubic (pending free agent) both injured, their best chance to do that is dealing veteran hurlers Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha, each of whom is signed through 2027 with a '28 club option," Harrigan writes.

With the Royals in need of what Harrigan called a "retool," and not a total rebuild, parting with Lugo and Wacha would make a lot of sense.

Both veterans are older and would surely have a ton of interested teams willing to pay a reasonable price to add them this summer.

With both under club control beyond the 2026 season, the Royals don't have to trade them right now. But if the Royals want to retool this roster, they're going to have to move on from some good players.

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Thanks to what's likely to be a very strong seller's market for starting pitchers, the Royals should look to move on from Wacha and Lugo, along with Bubic if he's healthy by the deadline and a team is interested.

The Royals can trade Bubic, Wacha, and Lugo this summer to capitalize on a strong market for starting pitching. Harrigan is calling on the Royals to sell, as they "badly need to retool" this season, and trading these starters would be a great way of doing so.

While it would mean a small step back, it's worth it in the long-run for this Royals team that's clearly not ready to contend right now.