Royals Rumors: Dodgers could be interested in two Royals relievers

It’s almost prime Royals rumors season and it’s already been reported that just about any Royal could be dealt at the trade deadline. The Dodgers might be willing to trade for Jake Diekman and/or Ian Kennedy.

The Kansas City Royals should be pretty busy taking phone calls over the next month or so, as the Royals rumors really get going. Two names to watch from the Royals are Jake Diekman and Ian Kennedy, both relievers for the boys in blue.

The two relief pitchers have very different journeys in Kansas City to this point with Diekman only being with the team for this season and Kennedy having spent his first three years as a starter and then being moved to the bullpen this year.

With that said, both guys could be nice trade bait and MLB Trade Rumors linked the Dodgers as a potential suitor. 

Diekman was off to an excellent start in the bullpen, but has hit a bump in the road as of late. Prior to Sunday’s game, he was posting a 4.10 ERA in 26.1 innings thrown.

Kennedy’s move to the bullpen looked to be a smart move by the Royals, but he too hit a rough patch. He’s rebounded lately, and prior to Sunday’s game, had an ERA of 3.86 in 25.2 innings pitched.

Kennedy’s four saves could be something that interests other teams and the Dodgers’ bullpen hasn’t been their strongest point this year. If the Royals are willing to eat some of Kennedy’s salary, a team would likely be interested in adding an experienced vet to their bullpen.

The MLB Trade Rumors article notes that the Dodgers have a great farm system and that’s even better news for the Royals because they need all of the help they can get right now.

Diekman is only on a one-year deal, so he’s as good as gone at the deadline. Kennedy, however, isn’t a free agent until 2021, so him being in the Royals bullpen in 2020 is still a possibility. As I previously touched on, he’s expensive too, so the big question there is are the Royals willing to take on a chunk of the salary and ship him off?

Both of these guys are going to get interest because they’re reliable relievers and teams covet that this time of year. Bullpens can be the reason why a team wins a championship (see the 2015 Royals) and the Dodgers have now been to straight World Series and lost both of them.

They’ll likely do whatever it takes to get to a third World Series and hopefully that means doing business with the Kansas City Royals.