Royals Rumors: Exploring three potential Whit Merrifield trades
By Cody Rickman
Whit Merrifield is arguably the most valuable position player on the Kansas City Royals roster. Entering his age 31 season, is now the time to listen to the Royals rumors and trade Whit Merrifield for maximum return value?
The Kansas City Royals organization is undergoing several big changes this offseason and they are coming off back-to-back 100 loss seasons. Whit Merrifield has been the Royals’ most valuable player and one of the MLB’s best players in 2018 and 2019.
Merrifield has three years remaining on his very team friendly contract with a fourth year team option available. He presents a payroll friendly, versatile, and extremely productive solution for contending teams with voids at second base or in the outfield.
Merrifield’s value to the Royals can’t be understated if he remains on the roster or generates a fantastic trade return.
The past three seasons, Merrifield has been worth 10.8 WAR generating 567 hits (led MLB in 2018 & 2019), 116 doubles, 19 triples (led MLB in 2019), 47 home runs, and 99 stolen bases (led AL in 2017 & 2018) typically hitting out of the lead-off spot for the Royals. The 2019 All-Star has shown exceptional versatility playing average to above average defense at second base, first base, and each of the outfield positions.
Royals general manager Dayton Moore has called Whit Merrifield “one of the best players in all of baseball right now,” and Whit has done nothing but display how valuable of an asset he is with his performance on the field the past three seasons.
A valuable trade chip like Whit Merrifield would bring back a hefty haul for an organization looking to rebuild quickly and be competitive by the 2021 season.