Royals Rumors: Could Danny Valencia Return To Kansas City
Even though the MLB trade deadline has passed, Royals rumors are still circulating.
The Royals rumors mill may not be closed for the season just yet.
The Kansas City Royals made a splash in the trade deadline, but could make a few more moves if need be. One of these moves could be going after former Royal Danny Valencia, who was designated for assignment by the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday morning (Source: Keegan Matheson of Jays Journal).
The move to DFA Valencia comes as a bit of a surprise honestly, as he was hitting .296/.331/.506 with seven home runs. Valencia also had 29 RBI batted in and was a solid option for the Blue Jays against left-handed pitchers.
Valencia was a member of the Royals just last season when he was traded from Baltimore for David Lough. Valencia mainly filled in for Mike Moustakas during his time in KC, as Moose was really struggling then (and was even sent down to the minors as a result).
The Royals then traded Valencia away last July for pitcher Liam Hendriks and catcher Erik Kratz, neither of whom are on the team anymore.
It is indeed a surprising move for the Blue Jays to designate Valencia for assignment, but they had recently acquired Ben Revere. Mark Zwolinksi of the Toronto Star tweeted out that Chris Colabello is better against lefties than Valencia, and thus, a decision was made.
AA said Gibby wanted to use revere every day; with colabello hitting lefties better than Valencia, the decision fell on Valencia
— mark zwolinski (@markzwol) August 1, 2015
Valencia played in 36 games when he was with the Royals and had a .296 batting average with two home runs, eight runs, and 11 RBI. He was well liked by Royals fans in his short time here, and it was disappointing when he was traded.
Royals could probably use a lefty masher. No knock on Cheslor Cuthbert, but Valencia is better right now. Wonder if we'll see a reunion.
— Royals Review (@royalsreview) August 1, 2015
Had the Royals not just acquired Ben Zobrist from the Athletics, I would be saying that the Kansas City Royals should be all over getting Valencia. Zobrist, however, is spending his time in left field for the injured Alex Gordon, so maybe there’s still a chance that this reunion happens.
As Royals Review tweeted above, Valencia is a good batter against lefties, an area where the Royals have struggled with at times this season. He could be yet another missing piece to the KC Royals puzzle.
It’d be surprising though to see the Kansas City Royals get three guys during the trading season, but Valencia is a familiar face. The Royals know what they’d be getting with Valencia, and he’d definitely be the type of guy who could start games frequently.
Would you want to see a Danny Valencia reunion happen in Kansas City?
Next: Chris Young Going Back to the Bullpen
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