Royals Rumors: Royals could potentially trade for Francisco Liriano
The Kansas City Royals are winners of seven straight games and it appears they’re not cooling down in the Royals rumors department. They are now looking at Francisco Liriano as an option to add to their rotation.
The KC Royals made headlines on Monday when they traded three of their players to San Diego in exchange for three pitchers who can help them chase a playoff berth. It doesn’t look like the Royals are done with the trade market at the moment, as Bob Nightengale tweeted they’re interested in Blue Jays starter Francisco Liriano.
Liriano is currently sporting an ugly 5.99 ERA in 17 starts, but does have a winning record at 6-5. He’s pitched 76.2 innings to this point and it makes sense for Toronto, who is in last place in the American League East, to start sending some of their players away at the deadline.
Liriano will be a free agent after this season, so the cost of acquiring him probably wouldn’t be as steep as going after someone who has a few more years of club control. With how little the Royals really had to give up to get the three Padres pitchers, could Dayton Moore strike another good deal to land Liriano?
The #Royals, after picking up 3 pitchers from #Padres, now in talks with #Bluejays for starter Francisco Liriano. https://t.co/MVyunxfhWJ
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) July 26, 2017
If I’m being entirely honest here, I say no thanks on trading for Francisco Liriano. He has not been good this year and the Royals are on a roll right now.
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I was content with the recent trade because Trevor Cahill can be a fifth starter and Ryan Buchter and Brandon Maurer are controllable bullpen options. Maurer is basically a back-up closer for the Kansas City Royals.
While adding a second starter via the trade deadline makes sense for Kansas City, Liriano is not the answer. His 5.99 ERA is downright brutal and if the Royals think that’s the solution, they might as well just roll with what they have, which at this point isn’t too shabby at all.
The current rotation will be (listed by their current order): Danny Duffy, Ian Kennedy, Jason Vargas, Trevor Cahill, and Jason Hammel. That’s a pretty darn good rotation to get this team where it needs to go, which is back to the postseason.
Trading for a guy with a near six ERA is not a good idea and hopefully this will stay as a part of just the Royals rumors and not become a reality.
What do you think, Royals fans? Is Francisco Liriano worth adding to the team?