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MLB Trade Deadline: 15 trades that need to happen

By Joshua Sadlock

OAKLAND, CA - JUNE 30: Sonny Gray #54 of the Oakland Athletics (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CA - JUNE 30: Sonny Gray #54 of the Oakland Athletics (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /
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OAKLAND, CA – JULY 15: Jed Lowrie #8 of the Oakland Athletics fields a ground ball against the Cleveland Indians during the first inning at the Oakland Coliseum on July 15, 2017 in Oakland, California. The Oakland Athletics defeated the Cleveland Indians 5-3. (Photo by Jason O. Watson/Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CA – JULY 15: Jed Lowrie #8 of the Oakland Athletics fields a ground ball against the Cleveland Indians during the first inning at the Oakland Coliseum on July 15, 2017 in Oakland, California. The Oakland Athletics defeated the Cleveland Indians 5-3. (Photo by Jason O. Watson/Getty Images) /

9. Jed Lowrie to the Royals

The Kansas City Royals are stuck between a rock and a hard place this season. They have played too well to sell players like Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Jason Vargas and Lorenzo Cain. On the flip side, they haven’t really played well enough to climb much more than a few games over .500. If the front office is set on holding onto their pending free agents until the bitter end, the Royals are going to have to find a way to get better at the deadline.

Alcides Esocbar was a fun story for the Royals when he was leading off in the World Series and swinging at literally every single first pitch for an entire postseason. It’s not so fun now that he is batting .233/.253/.319 on the year with an OPS+ of 51. Escobar has walked a grand total of seven times in over 350 plate appearances.

The Royals cannot win with Escobar continuing to do his best impersonation of an NL starting pitcher hitting four times a night. Shortstop options are limited on the trade market, but Jed Lowrie is a name to consider.

While he has been shifted to second base, Lowrie has played over 500 games at shortstop in his MLB career. He’s no wizard with the glove, but he’s also carrying an OPS+ that is over 60 points better than Escobar’s. The price for rental position players has been set very low by the Tigers, and the Royals can afford to try to upgrade at their weakest position.

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