MLB Trade Deadline 2017: 5 best spots for Yoenis Cespedes
By John Buhler
Kansas City Royals
AL, Central
The Kansas City Royals may have seen their World Series window close last season. Kansas City beat everybody to the punch with bullpen dominating, but has lost its back-end guys elsewhere in recent years. However, the Royals do find themselves in tight division race in the AL Central.
Kansas City is 46-47 through 93 games, but two games back of the first-place Cleveland Indians and the second AL Wild Card berth. This is a baseball franchise that has shown a great ability to take flight during a postseason race in recent years. Adding a powerful bat to the offense in Cespedes could be a huge get for Kansas City.
While the Royals have a bunch of star players in the field, only third basemen Mike Moustakas and catcher Salvador Perez have been rock solid this year. Moustakas will be a free agent this winter, so despite being as popular of a player he is for him, the Royals might end up losing him in the midst of his greatest power surge in his big league career.
By trading for Cespedes, the Royals would know he’d be on the books through 2020 at $27.5 million a season. For a premier right-handed, power bat in the outfield, that’s about what the market is. Kansas City is a small market franchise, but adding a slugger in the outfield like Cespedes would indicate to fans that the Royals aren’t going to go away quietly in the American League postseason discussion.