Kansas City Royals: Six players most likely to be traded at deadline

5. Ian Kennedy

The Royals should have traded Ian Kennedy last year when he was posing as a lights out closer. Kennedy notched 30 saves last year and was finally starting to cement his role with this team.

Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case for Kennedy in 2020. No longer a closer, Kennedy is simply a regular reliever this season and has struggled mightily, currently saddled with a 7.24 ERA through 13.2 innings pitched. He’s been hit hard, allowing six home runs while striking out 15 batters.

Kennedy is off the books after this year and the Royals will finally be rid of his horrible contract. Even with him being in the final year of his deal, it’s doubtful they’re able to trade him unless he’s a throw-in piece with another player.

4. Maikel Franco

Maikel Franco is the only position player the Royals will realistically look to trade, as 2020 has been a weird season so trading Whit Merrifield and Jorge Soler doesn’t make much sense unless they get a king’s ransom for either player.

Franco has been fine in 2020, currently slashing .239/.281/.451 with five home runs and 15 RBI in 113 at bats. He’d likely be sought out by a team looking for bench depth and wouldn’t command much in exchange, but hopefully they could get some sort of young prospect out of a deal here.