Kansas City Royals: Early season trade scenarios for four players

In one of the league’s early surprises, the Pittsburgh Pirates are in the thick of things in the packed National League Central. At 21-18, the Pirates are only four games back of the Chicago Cubs. But then there’s this: despite the solid record and being that close to first place, there are two other teams separating the Pirates from the Cubs. Again: that division is loaded.

The Pirates, whose run differential is a ghastly -37, needs an offensive boost. Much like the Indians, the Pirates are a small-market team that would need to acquire not just any player, but a player with club-control for the next couple of seasons, at least. That’s what makes Pittsburgh a match for Soler, who would be returning to the N.L. Central after starting his career in Chicago.

Also, the Pirates desperately need power, as the team ranks 28th in the Majors in home runs (35) and 25th in slugging percentage (.382). The team’s outfield at the moment consists of rookie Bryan Reynolds (more on him in a second), Starling Marte, and ex-Royal Melky Cabrera. Gregory Polanco is also on the roster.

Of those four, Cabrera is the only one with a decent sample size who is hitting well, and his slugging percentage (.479) is dwarfed by Soler’s (.525). Plus, the Melk man is only under contract through the end of this season.

In exchange for Soler, the Royals would acquire Reynolds, a 24-year-old switch-hitter capable of playing center field in addition to the corner spots. He’s the Pirates eighth ranked prospect, according to 2080 Baseball, as they project him to land in more of a “role player” role, a fourth-outfielder more than anything. Still, as they write, “Reynolds fares much better from the left side [of the plate]—giving him favorable [match-ups] more often than not.”

Clay Holmes is a 6’5″ right-handed starting pitcher whose had brief stints in the Majors, including appearing in 11 games in 2018, four of them starts. While his Major League numbers weren’t great, MLB.com writes about him that  “Hitters have never squared up his heavy, hard-sinking fastball that he could crank up to 96-97 mph in shorter relief stints, leading to a career 2.29 groundout-to-airout ratio in the Minors.”

He has the flexibility to start for the Royals, or come firing out of the bullpen.

https://twitter.com/MLBPipeline/status/977655598929010688

Rounding out the Royals’ return package is Will Craig, a 6’3″ right-handed masher who plays first base. Once upon a time, the Royals drafted Craig in the 37th round of the 2013 draft. He instead played college ball at Wake Forest, and the Pirates took him in the first round back in 2016.

Craig provides plenty of power while providing adequacy at first base. Like most power hitters today, Craig strikes out plenty while not walking. If the Royals are good with that, the 24-year-old could start manning first base as soon as this September.