Minnesota Twins Division Spotlight: Deals and Rumors in the AL Central
Kansas City Royals: Moves already made
May 16: Christian Colon selected off waivers from Miami Marlins
May 16: Peter O’Brien selected off waivers from Cincinnati Reds
June 23: Signed Neftali Feliz
June 24: Released Chris Young
July 24: Traded Esteury Ruiz, Matt Strahm, Travis Wood, and cash to the San Diego Padres for Ryan Buchter, Trevor Cahill, and Brandon Maurer.
The Royals entered the season needing to decide if they were making one final run with their core group or blowing things up, and with a recent run, they’ve definitely decided to pursue the final run. Their first move was to shore up their pitching, and they’ve pursued the tried and true path of building a ton of monster arms in their bullpen again. A bullpen with Kelvin Herrera, Mike Minor, Joakim Soria, Neftali Feliz, Brandon Maurer, and Ryan Buchter is a bullpen with hard throwers that can all strike batters out.
Cahill rounds out a deep staff that will be able to mix and match in the playoffs among a staff full of #3/4 starters behind the one starter with frontline “stuff” in Danny Duffy.
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Kansas City Royals: Players/needs still to address
The offense has really been balanced in individual performances, but until recently, none of those individuals have performed all at the same time. The two big holes right now are Alex Gordon, who won’t likely be replaced, and Brandon Moss at DH. The play of Whit Merrifield and presence of a number of options in the minor leagues to fill the spot makes second base an unlikely spot to pursue.
It would not surprise if the Royals pursued another player who could play outfield and/or DH, unless they feel confident that Jorge Soler could come up from the minor leagues to perform, and he’s showing well at AAA, but struggled at the big leagues this year. The Royals could get involved with their in-state neighbors, the St. Louis Cardinals, who have recently been rumored to make Tommy Pham and Randall Grichuk available for trade.
Next: Jermaine Palacios Scouting Report
It will be a very fun week to watch around the division. Keep your eyes open to see how the Twins and their closest competitors handle this next four days!