Royals Rumors: Players most likely to be traded at 2019 deadline
ONE-YEAR CONTRACTS
Along with Homer Bailey and Jake Diekman, the Royals have several other players on one-year deals that could end up being flipped at the deadline as rentals to another team. The Royals likely won’t get much back in return for these players, but something is better than nothing in most cases.
The other one-year contracts on the books are:
Out of all of these, Hamilton and Maldonado probably have the best shot at getting traded: Hamilton for his speed and Maldonado for his viable defense behind the dish. That could play well for an NL team needing a good backup catcher for a long run through the month of October.
Peralta had a nice season in 2018 as a closer, but he’s struggled with consistency in 2019. Duda might get some buzz as a bench player, but he’s hitting well below the Mendoza line, so will a team really want him on their bench?
If Hamilton gets shipped off, that’ll likely allow Bubba Starling to get called up to take his place in center field. Maldonado departing could give a young catcher in the minors a chance to backup Cam Gallagher for the duration of the season.
None of these guys are certainties to be traded, but they’d be rentals to whatever team acquired them, so that could come into play at the deadline.