Royals Rumors: Looking at a potential Mike Moustakas trade

The Dodgers’ acquisition of Manny Machado opens the door for the Royals rumors to begin on Mike Moustakas. Could the Royals and Phillies work out a trade?

Did the Kansas City Royals do the right thing by holding off on trading away their ‘pieces’ last season? Perhaps, we will never know and quite frankly, regardless of the side you take in that argument, you would be correct. However, Mike Moustakas returned, and now all signs point to him being traded. The question is to where and what can they get in return.

Some of the questions and issues that limited Moustakas as a free agent are still present. While he hits a good amount of home runs, he doesn’t get on base at a good clip (.306) for the season and currently isn’t hitting very well either (.249 batting average). However, he can hit home runs and likely won’t be awed by the lights of postseason baseball.

Numerous teams have been mentioned as possible landing spots, but in reality don’t make great fits. The Braves were the first and foremost, but they are getting quality production out of Johan Camargo currently (.246/.346/.422/.768), who is a 25-year old lefty infielder. Waiting in the wings at AAA Gwinett is Austin Riley, sporting a slash line of .298/.363/.427/.790. The Braves likely are more inclined to target pitching at this point, both bullpen and starting.

The Yankees appeared as a fit to fans, but with the Bronx Bombers having Miguel Andujar at third and Greg Bird producing and concerns about the luxury tax, it’s hard to see how or why the Yankees would target Moustakas. The Yankees would likely have more interest in Whit Merrifield as a utility player down the stretch due to his control and salary number.

Boston has been mentioned as potential landing spot for Moustakas, but the Red Sox make less sense than the Yankees do. Boston has an every day third baseman in Rafael Devers and Mitch Moreland at first is perhaps the best signing of any kind this past off season. With their concerns over David Price in the rotation and building up the bullpen, not sure how or where Moustakas truly fits.

That brings us to Philadelphia. While they may not be the greatest of fits, they are about on schedule from their rebuild and could possibly use help at third base. They also have a very deep farm system.

So while the Royals won’t get A LOT in terms of high end talent, at a very minimum, they could add some depth to a farm system that is still not good in either depth or true top end talent. So what would a deal look like? I explore what could make sense (in my opinion at least).

Phillies Get:

More from KC Kingdom

3B Mike Moustakas

PTBNL/Cash

Phillies get a third baseman with postseason experience with power that may play up due to a smaller park then the cavernous Kauffman. Royals may need to either pick up portions of the Moustakas salary or add lower level type prospects to make the deal happen.

Royals Get:

LHP Cole Irvin (#22 in Phillies organization per mlb.com)

SS Luis Garcia (#23)

RHP Kevin Gowdy (#25)

Garcia is a 17 year old, switch hitting very athletic short stop that has just started playing minor league ball in the states with the Phillies A level affiliate after signing a year ago out of the Dominican Republic. Irvin is a back of the rotation, ground ball lefty currently at AAA and could theoretically appear for the Royals this season. Gowdy is the Philles 2nd round selection in 2016 and is currently recovering from Tommy John and will miss the 2018 season.

Both Gowdy and Garcia are a long, long way off from every appearing in a major league game. Garcia does not project to hit for a lot of power, but does display really good defensive tools. (Something that would likely be attractive to a defensive first oriented organization like the Royals in the middle of a long rebuild).

Gowdy, if he recovers, could be another pitching option in 2019 for an organization that even still, could use more pitching depth. Irvin likely has the lowest ceiling of the three prospects but, could be an effective mid- late rotation option next season along with Keller and Junis.

Do I have the Phillies paying to high a price for Moustakas in this scenario? Maybe. No one really knows what or how valued the rest of baseball views the lefty slugger. But the Royals have to find a new home for the third baseman by the end of the month.

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