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Royals Rumors: Royals Should Not Trade For James Shields

By Leigh Oleszczak

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Royals rumors are still swirling despite the Kansas City Royals acquiring two big names already.

There has been talk of the Royals possibly reuniting with James Shields and those talks increased after Shields cleared waivers and is now available to be traded. Don’t get me wrong, I love James Shields and what he did for the Royals, but a reunion of him to KC just isn’t the answer.

Shields is loved by Kansas City Royals fans. He helped lead the Royals to two consecutive winning seasons and to their first postseason appearance in 29 years last season.

Fans knew as the incredible October run continued on, that James Shields likely wouldn’t be returning to Kansas City, and we came to terms with that. He was going to demand a lot of money and the Royals wouldn’t be able to afford him. Story of Royals fans’ lives, right?

Now as the Royals rumors continue to spread, Shields back to KC seems to be engraved in a lot of people’s minds. John Viril of Kings of Kauffman wrote several weeks back during the trade deadline that Shields would be a great addition to help the rotation (this being before the Royals acquired Johnny Cueto).

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As much as I like Shields, I just don’t see the point in acquiring him.

For one, the Royals went out and got Johnny Cueto. Cueto is easily the ace of the rotation (especially after his complete game on Monday night against the Detroit Tigers) and Shields likely wouldn’t be anything more than a number three starter in the rotation.

The second and biggest reason why Shields coming back to Kansas City isn’t a good idea is because of his massive contract. While he’s only owed $2.25 million for the rest of this season, Shields is due to make $21 million a season until 2019 where then the club has a $2 million buyout option.

The Royals simply cannot afford to pick up a contract like that, especially when their biggest off season priority will hopefully be re signing Alex Gordon to a large contract that keeps him a Royal for the remainder of his career. The Royals also will need to find replacements for Cueto, Ben Zobrist, Alex Rios, Chris Young, and others, and that won’t be easy or cheap.

While the Kansas City Royals have proved they’re all in this season, I don’t think acquiring James Shields is the best idea. He’s expensive and hasn’t performed well enough to merit targeting him in free agency.

James Shields will be Forever Royal to the fans, but unfortunately he should not be apart of the journey this season.

Next: The Curious Case of Rex Hudler

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