Royals Rumors: James Shields Could Be An Option
With the MLB off-season in full swing, Royals rumors are everywhere. Some are about Royals players leaving, others are about who the Royals could potentially pick up.
While a majority of the Royals rumors are concerning guys like Alex Gordon and Ben Zobrist, the Kansas City Royals still have to do their part and sign free agents as well.
One Royals rumor that never seems to fully go away is the idea of the Kansas City Royals reuniting with their former ace James Shields.
Shields was traded to Kansas City after the 2012 season along with Wade Davis and Elliott Johnson (the player to be named later) for Wil Myers, Jake Odorizzi, and Mike Montgomery. The trade brought the “Let’s contend” era to Kansas City, and the Royals went on to have three straight winning seasons after this trade was made.
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Shields being in Kansas City was huge. He brought leadership to the rotation and to the entire team. Shields was one of the main reasons the Royals made it to the World Series in the 2014 season. What he brought to Kansas City was something fans of this team hadn’t seen before.
When the 2014 season came to an end, fans knew Shields would be departing for greener pastures. He accepted a four-year deal worth $75 million from the San Diego Padres, and it was bye bye James in Kansas City.
Now, however, the Padres are wanting to trade Shields, according to Buster Olney.
Padres continue to try to push James Shields in the trade market. Owed $63 million over the next three seasons.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) December 3, 2015
While the Royals are never ones to overspend on guys, Shields could be a name they actually go for, as their rotation isn’t very impressive in 2016.
The Royals for sure have Edinson Volquez and Yordano Ventura returning to the rotation next year, but Johnny Cueto is gone. Danny Duffy struggled last year and might be a reliever in 2016. Kris Medlen‘s role hasn’t been determined yet. Chris Young is still a free agent. Jason Vargas won’t pitch likely at all due to needing Tommy John surgery.
That leaves two for sure starters and no one else. Shields could be an easy fix to this problem, but he is an expensive option, which is why the Royals parted ways with him in the first place.
ScottD13 of Royals Review wrote an interesting trade rumors post, and one involved James Shields. Here’s what he wrote,
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"The Padres overpaid Shields on a deal that is back loaded. They are looking to unload his contract and would most likely have to eat some of the cost or provide a promising young player as part of the package. It may also be an opportunity to trade a bad contract for a bad contract i.e. Shields for Infante. This idea is intriguing for a couple of reasons. I love the fact that this trade would bring both Shields and Myers back to KC. Myers was the coveted prospect that a lot of fans were up in arms over trading away for Shields, although in retrospect I think it can be agreed upon that Wade Davis was the biggest piece moved in that deal. It would make Moore look like a genius if he could bring both of those players to Kansas City and have some 2013 like results out of Shields and some potential start to break through in Myers.The Padres would most likely look for a mid range prospect, as well as at least two Major league ready position players or a back of the rotation arm."
The idea of Shields and Myers both coming back to Kansas City is an interesting one, but likely won’t happen. Still fun to ponder though, and it would be cool to see Myers back in a Royals uniform.
Next: Hidden Advantages of Re-Signing Ben Zobrist
Royals fans knew what they had with Shields. He was a guy that was coming in for two years to help boost a struggling organization. He did his job, and now the Royals will likely still have to continue on without him.