Royals Rumors: Ian Kennedy Might be Traded With Wade Davis
By Joel Wagler
Kansas City Royals rumors can sometimes surprise. This one may be a little shocking. The Royals may be trying to include Ian Kennedy in a deal with Wade Davis.
As the team has slipped down the standings of late, Kansas City Royals rumors have taken them from buyers to sellers.
If this rumor is any indication, the Royals may be in full sell and rebuild mode!
Jess Passan of Yahoo! Sports is reporting, via Twitter, that the Royals are trying to include starter Ian Kennedy in a deal with Wade Davis.
Sources: Royals trying to package Ian Kennedy in a potential Wade Davis deal. Dodgers a strong match. Covet Davis and can take on Kennedy $.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 28, 2016
Passan thinks the Los Angeles Dodgers may be a fit since they evidently like Davis a lot (who wouldn’t) and have the bankroll to absorb Kennedy’s salary.
The Royals signed Kennedy this last offseason to a five-year, $70 million deal. Kennedy can opt out of the contract after the 2017 season (but why would he).
Kennedy pitched well early. After ten starts, his Earned Run Average sat at a solid 3.03. Since then, it has skyrocketed. In the ten subsequent appearances, his ERA is a frightening 5.89. He has surrendered 18 home runs in those ten games.
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Overall, Kennedy leads the league in Home Runs surrendered with 26, according to Fangraphs. This has been an issue for him in the past, but even last year, he gave up just 31 all year.
When the Royals signed him, you got the feeling that maybe they thought they could fix him. Dave Eiland was his pitching coach when both were with the Yankees.
Davis is seemingly the key here. He could make a devastating late-inning combination with Dodgers’ closer Kenley Jansen. Davis is under contract, at an affordable $10 million for next year (no-brainer club option).
The Dodgers may have some options to trade back as well. While Julio Urias probably won’t be included, maybe Dayton Moore could pry away Jose De Leon in the deal. Cody Bellinger and Alex Verdugo might also be possibilities.
Kenndy seemed like a good fit for Kauffman Stadium, which can be forgiving for flyball pitchers, but his struggles of late have to be making the Royals’ brass feel like they’ve made a big and costly mistake.
Kennedy displays a toughness on the mound, but if you can’t keep the ball in the yard, that won’t help much.
This is an interesting development and one that makes sense if the Royals are trying to free up some payroll.
Losing Davis is still a saddening possibility, but the Royals have hopefully learned their lesson about hanging on to closers too long when you aren’t going to make the playoffs.
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There will probably be a host of Kansas City Royals rumors in the coming days. Stay tuned for all of them right here on KC Kingdom! With the Royals looking to sell, they may have some pieces to help other clubs down the stretch.