Royals Rumors: MLB.com predicts Royals will extend Trevor Rosenthal

The trade deadline is fast approaching and with that, so are the Royals rumors.

The Royals rumors are going to start piling up, but one intriguing one that surfaced was via Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com in a bold prediction. Flanagan predicted that not only would the Kansas City Royals stand pat and not trade anyone at the deadline, but that they’d also look to lock up Trevor Rosenthal to a long-term deal.

Per Flanagan,

"The logic of a multiyear deal is obvious: Rosenthal is only 30 years old, is still hitting 100 mph and could team with fireballer Josh Staumont, Scott Barlow and Tyler Zuber to give Kansas City a lockdown bullpen, which was the trademark of the club when it made back-to-back World Series appearances in 2014 and ’15 and won a title."

This seems odd, but again, it is a bold prediction. Teams are already looking into acquiring Rosenthal from the Royals and why wouldn’t they be? The guy has been incredible this season, notching six saves and posting a 1.59 ERA through 11.1 innings and once again, the Royals have shown they can be a nice place for former dominant relievers to find their command again.

The point Flanagan makes about the team wanting to recreate their lockdown bullpen that helped them get to two World Series is an interesting thought and they have the talent to do it, as he also mentions. Keeping Rosenthal past 2020 would ensure that they have their closer for the next three or four years.

While this is an interesting idea for the Kansas City Royals, it’s not likely to happen.

Scott Boras is Rosenthal’s agent and we all know the reputation Boras has around the league. He wants to make sure his client gets as much money as humanly possible and the Royals aren’t an organization that can really throw a boatload of money onto a reliever (though Ian Kennedy might say otherwise).

Rosenthal is 30 years old and just a year ago was struggling mightily between two teams. He’s had a lot of success this year and that’s great, but the Royals need to try to get some bats to help them in the future because that’s what they’re truly missing for this next wave of contention.

Hopefully Rosenthal continues to pitch well and the team can land a decent prospect or two for his services. If the Royals did indeed ink him to an extension, however, hopefully they wouldn’t be giving him more money than they can afford to give.