A Royals-Marlins trade to add more speed and power to the Kansas City lineup

Last season, the Kansas City Royals lost over 100 games. They were horrible. It seemed as though their rebuild was going to take another three, four or even five years to come all the way to fruition. But fast forward a year and Kansas City has already won the same amount of games this year as they did all of last year.

Their offense is paced by a resurgence from Salvador Perez and an MVP level season from their superstar shortstop, Bobby Witt Jr. After that though, their offense is either average or below average in terms of OPS.

They could look to dive into the trade market, conservatively, in the next week. If they get aggressive in the coming days, it should be for players with team control beyond 2024. One name that instantly comes to mind is the Miami Marlins utility man Jazz Chisholm Jr.

Chisholm is almost certainly going to get traded this week.

(For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders, and join the discord to get the inside scoop as we near the July 30 MLB trade deadline.)

A surprising Royals-Marlins trade to send Jazz Chisholm Jr. to Kansas City

Chisholm, 26, is slashing .251/.325/.412 with 13 home runs and 21 stolen bases on the season. He's a well above average runner that provides defensive versatility as well. Chisholm is under team control through the 2026 season, meaning he would fit well in the Royals rebuild over the next few seasons.

He's the exact type of player that Kansas City can afford to dive into their farm system to acquire.

This hypothetical deal is sending three top 15 prospects in the Royals organization to the Marlins in exchange for their young star.

Wolters, 19, was the Royals second round pick last year. He has an impressive fastball and slider combination that works well at Low-A. He will need to continue to develop more pitches as he climbs the ladder of the minor leagues, but the tools are all there for this teenage pitching prospect.

Charles, 20, is the exact type of prospect that the Marlins are looking to acquire. Young and projectable. He's slashing .241/.340/.369 with 19 extra base hits and 27 stolen bases on the campaign. He has solid tools for being a 20-year-old prospect.

Arronde, 21, has a 3.45 ERA across 22 starts and 32 appearances in his pro ball career. His fastball and changeup are both impressive, but his slider needs some work as he moves past Low-A.

The Royals are in the perfect position to get aggressive on controllable players ahead of the deadline. Jazz Chisholm makes a ton of sense as a piece for them to look to acquire.