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Royals Rumors: Whit Merrifield unlikely to be traded at 2019 deadline

By Leigh Oleszczak

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - JUNE 14: Whit Merrifield #15 of the Kansas City Royals catches Max Kepler #26 of the Minnesota Twins stealing second base during the first inning of the game on June 14, 2019 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - JUNE 14: Whit Merrifield #15 of the Kansas City Royals catches Max Kepler #26 of the Minnesota Twins stealing second base during the first inning of the game on June 14, 2019 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /
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Royals rumors will start heating up in the next few weeks, but Whit Merrifield might not be a huge part of them. Dayton Moore has pretty much nixed the chance of Merrifield being flipped at the deadline.

A few weeks ago, there was news about the Kansas City Royals willing to trade just about anyone on their roster. The article that first spread that news had mentioned that the only untouchables for the Royals were Hunter Dozier and Adalberto Mondesi.

One name that wasn’t grouped in there was Whit Merrifield, but Dayton Moore recently spoke with Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com and expressed his interest in keeping Merrifield in Kansas City.

"Now, with the Trade Deadline less than six weeks away, once more Merrifield’s name is being tossed about by national observers as a possible trade chip.But just like Moore once said about catcher Salvador Perez, the Royals do not envision any scenario in which they would trade Merrifield.“I’m still the same on that,” Moore told MLB.com on Thursday. “It’s our job to do our due diligence with any proposal and listen. But we’re motivated to keeping our good players here.”"

Honestly, I would have been okay with either scenario when it came to trading Whit Merrifield. If he was traded, the Royals would probably get a massive haul in return, as he’s signed for three more years, can play multiple positions, and is a solid hitter at the plate. He’s also great at stealing bases, something playoff teams obviously covet.

On the other hand, Merrifield is the kind of guy a rebuilding team wants around. He’s versatile, which gives the Royals a chance to plug some of their younger guys into the lineup and they can put Merrifield just about anywhere on the diamond and their plans aren’t foiled as a result.

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Flanagan’s article also mentioned that Moore “couldn’t imagine Alex Gordon in another uniform” meaning that Gordon is likely staying a Royal for the duration of the 2019 season. Gordon has 10-5 rights anyway, so he’s able to veto any trade, but it’s doubtful the Royals would even attempt to trade him unless it’s a scenario the former second overall pick would entertain.

Back to Merrifield though.

The Royals utility man is slashing .301/.347/.502 with ten home runs and 39 RBI in 309 at bats (prior to Thursday’s game) while stealing 11 bases. He deserves to be the Royals’ representative in the All-Star Game next month.

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Royals rumors are going to start spreading like wildfire, but it appears that Whit Merrifield is safe as a member of the Kansas City Royals. I understand both sides with trading him, but for now, Merrifield will continue to be the face of the Royals in 2019.

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