Yankees, Red Sox trade targets’ stock dramatically decreases with Royals’ laundry list of unvaccinated players

The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox now have to be wary of trade targets from the Kansas City Royals after seeing their huge unvaccinated list.

The New York Yankees have a double-digit lead in the AL East as of July 13. The Boston Red Sox, meanwhile, have proven like in previous years, that they will be a thorn in the side of their rivals in the Bronx. With both teams having postseason aspirations, they obviously will check out the trade market leading up to the Aug. 2 deadline.

One team that were expected to be huge sellers are the Kansas City Royals. But, the odds of the Yankees and Red Sox getting one of their other players like Andrew Benintendi and Michael Taylor have plummeted.

The Royals are heading up to Toronto to face the Blue Jays. The thing is, they placed 10 of their players on the restricted list because they are unvaccinated against COVID-19, and thus cannot enter Canada. Among those names are Benintendi, Taylor, and Whit Merrifield.

Yankees’, Red Sox’s odds of trading for Royals stars takes a hit

Benintendi is the position player who carried the most trade value at the deadline. He is Kansas City’s only representative at this year’s All-Star Game. The former Red Sox outfielder was linked to the Yankees by MLB insider Jon Heyman.

Oh, and Benintendi was also linked to the Blue Jays as well, per MLB Network’s Jon Morosi.

For the Yankees and Red Sox, they will have to go into Toronto at the end of the season, and they will carry huge playoff implications. New York heads to Toronto for three games (Sept. 26-28), while Boston makes the trip for three contests (Sept. 30-Oct. 2).

Given that the Red Sox and Yankees have to play the Blue Jays in Toronto late in the regular season and potentially in the postseason, the odds of one of the Royals players on the restricted list ending up in the AL East for the second half of the season have taken a hit.