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Royals Rumors: FanGraphs predicts Ian Kennedy to Atlanta at deadline

By Leigh Oleszczak

CLEVELAND, OH - JULY 20: Kansas City Royals pitcher Ian Kennedy (31) delivers a pitch to the plate during the ninth inning of the Major League Baseball game between the Kansas City Royals and Cleveland Indians on July 20, 2019, at Progressive Field in Cleveland, OH. (Photo by Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH - JULY 20: Kansas City Royals pitcher Ian Kennedy (31) delivers a pitch to the plate during the ninth inning of the Major League Baseball game between the Kansas City Royals and Cleveland Indians on July 20, 2019, at Progressive Field in Cleveland, OH. (Photo by Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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The Royals rumors are continuing on as the baseball season gets closer to the trade deadline. FanGraphs published a piece on some trades that could happen before the deadline and had Ian Kennedy landing with the Braves.

This time last year, if someone had told me that Ian Kennedy would be a trade candidate at the 2019 deadline, I’d have laughed in their face. That was before Kennedy was moved into a reliever role for the Kansas City Royals and he’s become quite the closer during his limited time in the position.

Dan Szymborski of FanGraphs has the Royals current closer being traded to the Atlanta Braves at the deadline in exchange for pitcher Kyle Muller and cash considerations. Here’s what was said on the hypothetical trade,

"Yes, it’s weird to me too, but Kennedy has been a legitimate plus as the closer for the Royals in 2019. His step forward as a reliever has been significant enough to get a decent pitching prospect in return, something that would have sounded absolutely impossible to me four months ago.~~~Muller is a bit buried by Atlanta’s pitching prospect depth, and he’s close enough to the majors to entertain Kansas City’s delusions that they’re going to be a contender again very soon."

Szymborski noted that the Braves don’t necessarily need a closer, but Kennedy would still be a decent option for them. By trading away Muller, they give the Royals a former second round pick who is just 21 years old.

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Muller currently has a 3.30 ERA and 1.32 WHIP during his time in Double-A while striking out 116 batters and walking 65 through 106.1 innings thrown. He’s Atlanta’s tenth best prospect, according to MLB.com  and would provide the Royals with yet another potential starter for their future rotation.

As Szymborski noted, Muller is Major League ready and the Royals would pounce on the opportunity to bring him up to the bigs. They need starting arms.

Shipping off Kennedy would be a dream come true for the Royals. He hasn’t lived up to the massive contract he signed prior to the 2016 season, so if the organization can get a major league ready player in exchange, that’d be a good trade for the Royals.

Sure, they’d have to eat some of that salary, but that’s to be expected with how much Kennedy is making. That’s unfortunately going to have to be a part of the deal or teams won’t be interested in acquiring the Royals closer.

Early Look at Royals Trades So Far. dark. Next

Kennedy has 18 saves this year and has pitched to the tune of a 3.48 ERA in 41.1 innings. Contending teams will certainly be interested in him and if the Kansas City Royals can get a top ten prospect in exchange for Kennedy’s services, it’s hard not to call that a win.

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