{"id":85897,"date":"2025-07-23T12:27:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T12:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/85897\/"},"modified":"2025-07-23T12:27:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T12:27:11","slug":"rosenthal-what-im-hearing-about-the-royals-twins-and-astros-trade-deadline-plans-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/85897\/","title":{"rendered":"Rosenthal: What I\u2019m hearing about the Royals, Twins and Astros\u2019 trade deadline plans and more"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the trade deadline eight days away, here is the latest information from major-league sources:<\/p>\n

The Kansas City Royals, 4 1\/2 games back in the AL wild-card race, are making it clear to clubs that if they trade right-hander Seth Lugo, they will want controllable outfield help in return.<\/p>\n

The Royals aren\u2019t at that point yet. Lugo, 35, is likely to turn down his $15 million player option for 2026 and become a free agent. The Royals not only would consider giving him a qualifying offer, but also believe they would be competitive in trying to re-sign him. So, they are in no rush to disrupt the relationship.<\/p>\n

The thin state of the Royals\u2019 rotation, as exemplified by their choice to start 45-year-old lefty Rich Hill<\/a> on Tuesday night, is another reason the front office is hesitant to act. Righty Michael Lorenzen, recovering from a left oblique strain, likely is two rehab starts away from returning, maybe more. And lefty Cole Ragans, dealing with a strained left rotation cuff, is not expected back until mid-to-late August.<\/p>\n

A losing streak and\/or injury prior to the deadline obviously would alter the Royals\u2019 thinking. And even if they stay in the race, trading Lugo would be tempting if it brought a strong enough return.<\/p>\n

The athleticism of Boston Red Sox left fielder Jarren Duran makes him attractive to the Royals, as does his three additional years of club control. The Red Sox would not trade Duran for a pitcher who likely would amount to a rental. But the Royals could sweeten the deal with prospects, and teams are targeting their young catching<\/a>, in particular.<\/p>\n

For what it\u2019s worth, Red Sox manager Alex Cora is familiar with Lugo. Cora was the GM for Team Puerto Rico in the 2017 World Baseball Classic. Lugo was one of the pitchers on that squad.<\/p>\n

The Royals do not appear to line up for Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Bryan Reynolds. The Pirates also are pursuing offense. The Royals, who entered Tuesday ranked next-to-last in runs per game, have precious little to spare.<\/p>\n

If the Royals end up buying, they likely will pursue pitching help as well, both starting and relief.<\/p>\n

The disappointing Minnesota Twins are open to discussing ace right-hander Joe Ryan as well as their top relievers, righties Jhoan Duran and Griffin Jax. But with the team for sale, the front office will proceed with perhaps even more caution than it might normally.<\/p>\n

Ryan, Duran and Jax all are under club control for two additional seasons. If the Twins are sold \u2013 commissioner Rob Manfred said at the All-Star break, \u201cthere will be a transaction\u201d<\/a> \u2013 the new owner presumably will ease the Pohlad family\u2019s payroll restrictions. So, trading one or more of the pitchers without clarity on the team\u2019s future might be a decision the team regrets later.<\/p>\n

As first reported by the New York Post\u2019s Jon Heyman, the Twins are open for business on their potential free agents \u2013 right-hander Chris Paddack, infielder Willi Castro, center fielder Harrison Bader and first baseman Ty France.<\/p>\n

Castro is a logical backup plan for the Seattle Mariners and other teams pursuing Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman Eugenio Su\u00e1rez.<\/p>\n

Two developments with the Houston Astros on Tuesday \u2013 righty Lance McCullers Jr. becoming their 17th player on the injured list and manager Joe Espada calling third baseman Isaac Paredes\u2019 right hamstring strain \u201ca pretty significant injury<\/a>\u201d \u2013 could alter the team\u2019s deadline plans.<\/p>\n

The Astros were looking for a top-of-the-rotation starter even before McCullers hit the IL with a finger blister, and even with righties Spencer Arrighetti and Cristian Javier expected to rejoin the rotation in August. Of course, it is unclear whether an ace-type pitcher will become available, much less one with the additional club control the club would prefer as lefty Framber Valdez approaches free agency.<\/p>\n

If the Astros can\u2019t get a starter, they likely will pursue a high-leverage reliever. They already were looking for a left-handed hitting second baseman. With Paredes out, they could explore options at third as well.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s The Athletic\u2019s Chandler Rome had more on the Astros\u2019 situation.<\/p>\n

All you need to know about the Mariners\u2019 pursuits is this: Their first and third basemen this season have combined to hit only 21 home runs \u2013 and 10 of those were struck by Rowdy Tellez, whom the team released on June 26.<\/p>\n

Rookie third baseman Ben Williamson entered Tuesday with only one homer in 265 plate appearances. Luke Raley and Donovan Solano each have three homers while playing first.<\/p>\n

The Mariners started the night ranked eighth in runs per game in large part because of Cal Raleigh\u2019s 38 homers (he hit No. 39 Tuesday night) and .983 OPS. Randy Arozarena was second on the team with 18 homers, and 10 of those came in his last 17 games.<\/p>\n

Most of the trade speculation around the Miami Marlins revolves around two right-handed starting pitchers \u2013 Sandy Alcantara, who seems unlikely to move because of his 7.14 ERA, and Edward Cabrera, who left his July 11 start with elbow discomfort, but returned Tuesday night to hold the San Diego Padres to one run in 5 2\/3 innings.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Sandy Alcantara\u2019s continued struggles in his first year back from Tommy John surgery have impacted his standing as a trade target. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)<\/p>\n

Center fielder Dane Myers, 29, is another name to add to the list of Marlins who could go. Teams are showing interest in Myers, a plus defender who has an .878 OPS in 163 career plate appearances against left-handed pitching.<\/p>\n

The Marlins aren\u2019t going to part with Myers easily, not when he is earning just $9,000 more than the $760,000 minimum and is under club control for four additional seasons. But he could play a role for a contender, and the Marlins have a potential replacement, Jakob Marsee, tearing it up at Triple A.<\/p>\n

Marsee, 24, was part of the Marlins\u2019 return from the Padres for first baseman Luis Arraez.<\/p>\n

The odds of Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno authorizing an all-out sale are exceedingly slim, but imagine if it happened.<\/p>\n

The Angels could all but control the deadline, peddling righty Jos\u00e9 Soriano (three additional years of club control), lefty Yusei Kikuchi (owed $42 million in 2026-27) and lefty reliever Reid Detmers (three more years of control, and a number of clubs would want him to return to starting). They also could trade outfielder Taylor Ward (free agent after 2026) and perhaps even sell high on Jo Adell (free agent after \u201827).<\/p>\n

The more likely scenario for the Angels is to trade potential free agents such as lefty Tyler Anderson, closer Kenley Jansen, infielder Luis Rengifo and third baseman Yoan Moncada. If they somehow buy \u2013 you never know with Moreno \u2013 they could upgrade virtually any part of their roster.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With the trade deadline eight days away, here is the latest information from major-league sources: The Kansas City…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":85898,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2382,1284,1285,1286,1287,1266,1288,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-85897","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-houston-astros","9":"tag-kansas-city-royals","10":"tag-los-angeles-angels","11":"tag-miami-marlins","12":"tag-minnesota-twins","13":"tag-mlb","14":"tag-seattle-mariners","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-unitedstates","18":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114902548052768395","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85897"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85897\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}