Kansas City Royals: 4 possible trade destinations for Whit Merrifield
By Jacob Milham
Not long ago, the Royals were viewed as a glorified farm team for the New York Yankees. Is Merrifield another Royal who makes the jump to pinstripes?
To be fair, I think most people dislike Yankees fans, not the Yankees themselves.
This trade has been speculated for a while now, including FanSided’s Adam Weinrib, who was calling for Merrifield to Kansas City in 2020.
Weinrib called Merrifield a “perfect antidote to a roster constantly in flux”.
"“Basically, he’s a leveled-up pest with pop who can play anywhere, and his versatility is perhaps the most important thing he’d bring to the Yanks in a hypothetical.” – FanSided’s Adam Weinrib"
Like other teams on this list, the Yankees have been hit with the injury bug hard and Merrifield would provide that quality utility player needed for the team to get healthy. Also, Merrifield provides contact hitting and base-running prowess. Merrifield’s 25 stolen bases in 2021 is nearly more than all Yankees players, who have totaled 28 stolen bags.
Whether it be filling in for outfielders Aaron Judge or Miguel Anduajr, or to take the underperforming first baseman Luke Voit off the field, Merrifield would reluctantly fill the need cheaply.
Cheap on the contract side, hopefully not on the return to the Royals.
On July 21, 2021, mlb.com’s David Adler proposed a trade to the Yankees. The Royals would receive Estevan Florial and Ezequiel Duran, the 10th and 15th ranked Yankees prospects respectively. It would not be crazy to see a reliever packaged with Merrifield to bring in a higher-end pitching prospect, such as Alexander Vizcaino or Luis Medina.
While seeing a long-time Royal go to New York, it is hard to root against Whit. Don’t be mad if I cheer for him if he ends up on the Yankees.