Royals Rumors: Bleacher Report predicts Whit Merrifield to Reds
Royals rumors will soon begin to takeover, especially for the Kansas City Royals.
With the MLB trade deadline fast approaching, the Kansas City Royals will be looking to sell off some of their players. Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report mentioned a few that could be sent elsewhere, but his “bold prediction” was that Whit Merrifield would be traded to the Cincinnati Reds.
Rymer also noted that Jorge Soler is someone the Royals should consider trading and threw in that they had an abundance of talented relievers that could become trade bait as well. Here’s what he had to say about Merrifield,
"Merrifield may be 31, but he’s carrying on as a late-blooming star, and he’s on a club-friendly deal that runs through 2022 with an option for 2023. Soler isn’t quite on last year’s 48-homer pace, yet he’s nonetheless a dangerous slugger with control through 2021."
It wouldn’t be shocking to see the Royals part ways with either of these players, but at the same time, the team needs bats for their next wave of contention and these are two of the best bats they currently have. If Merrifield and Soler are no more, this offense is going to have a hard time scoring runs not only this year, but next year and in 2022 as well.
Unless the Royals can ensure they get a young and promising bat (or several) by trading Merrifield, they should hold onto him. He was on the trade block last year, but the Royals asked for a king’s ransom and no teams bit, so he remained a member of the team. It should be a similar asking price this time around.
The Reds likely will come calling, but if anything, they’ll likely be interested in acquiring a reliever from Kansas City, as their bullpen ranks as one of the worst in the league with a combined ERA of 5.60. Trevor Rosenthal would make a lot of sense for the Reds, but maybe they try to get both him and Merrifield to really push the scale in their favor.
Merrifield has had yet another impressive season for the Royals. He’s currently slashing .317/.374/.519 with five home runs and 18 RBI in 115 plate appearances. The fact that he’s affordable is yet another reason why teams would want to trade for him and he’s also versatile, starting all over the outfield as well as at first and second base this season.
The Royals rumors are only getting started and Whit Merrifield is going to be a hot contender in that category, as he’s been the past few years, but will the Royals actually trade him? I guess we’ll find out in the next week.