Kansas City Royals whiffed on most recent trade deadline
By John McCarty
Whit Merrifield
Whit Merrifield is a good baseball player in every sense of the word, but he’s also 31 years old. While he still has trade value, the likelihood that Merrfield is still good when the Royals are ready for the next run is highly unlikely.
The Royals have enjoyed the best of Whit Merrifield, the prime and best value. It’s time to cash in on that value, but since the organization chose not to move him this deadline, let’s hope they are smart enough to do so this offseason.
While I like Merrifield, losing games with him does nothing to serve the organization.
Jorge Soler
Jorge Soler is a free agent after the 2021 season meaning the last point of his trade value is this offseason. Will the Royals reach an extension with him this offseason? Do they want to?
Yes, he hits majestic home runs, but he will turn 29 before the start of next season, meaning the Royals will get a player with injury history, contact issues and limited defensive abilities into his decline years.
Is that something the team wants to put a monster contract in for? Needless to say, if the Royals show up to spring training next spring (assuming they do) with Jorge Soler but without an extension, that is not a good sign.
Greg Holland
After the #Royals dealt Trevor Rosenthal, teams talking with them expected them to also move Ian Kennedy & Greg Holland.
— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) August 31, 2020
But Kennedy just strained a calf so that cooled his market.
And other clubs say KC has been adamant it won't move Holland unless they get a legit prospect.
What in the world were the Royals thinking? ANYTHING in a return for Greg Holland is a positive, it’s a win, but they didn’t trade him.
Look, this is the organization’s M.O., it was a mistake before and will continue to be stupid. Wanting to keep Holland in 2021 or beyond has zero impact on the intelligent decision to get something for him now.
Big name prospects were not moved at the deadline, but the Royals certainly could have picked up a low level power relief arm (or two) for Holland. Imagine this: In 2024, two power relievers find themselves in the bullpen, and we look back, saying to ourselves, ‘all of this for a few weeks of Greg Holland’.