3 teams that should join Royals, trade draft picks for immediate help

The Kansas City Royals had a clear need and addressed it weeks before the trade deadline, acquiring Hunter Harvey in a deal with the Washington Nationals. The trade gives the Royals some much-needed bullpen help, and confirms that the Nationals will be sellers at the trade deadline.

By acquiring Harvey, a hard-throwing reliever with another full season of club control, the Royals had to give up a lot. Not only did they part with one of their best prospects to get a deal done, but the Royals traded what's going to be the No. 39 overall pick in Sunday's MLB Draft.

Normally, MLB Draft picks are not able to be traded, but there's an exception for teams that hold Competitive Balance picks.

"All teams that have either one of the 10 smallest markets or 10 smallest revenue pools receive an additional pick at the end of the first or second round. The groups of teams alternate between the two rounds each year. Competitive Balance picks may be traded and are not subject to forfeiture. However, Competitive Balance picks acquired by another club in a trade are subject to forfeiture."

There are 14 Competitive Balance Picks in this year's draft with six picks coming after the first round and eight coming after the second. The Royals traded their pick to Washington, and it wouldn't be surprising to see any of these three teams hop on the trend before the draft less than 24 hours away.

3. The Twins should trade their pick for immediate help

The Minnesota Twins hold a Competitive Balance Round B pick and will select at No. 69 overall barring a last-minute trade. Adding a prospect is always good, but the Twins would benefit greatly by acquiring a player who can help them right now.

Minnesota's biggest need as of now is their starting rotation. They lost Sonny Gray in free agency, and outside of Joe Ryan and Simeon Woods-Richardson, they've struggled to have any consistency in their rotation. Pablo Lopez is an ace when right, but he's struggled for a good amount of this season and will begin the second half with an ERA over 5.00. Guys like Bailey Ober and Chris Paddack have upside, but have had their ups and downs.

No. 69 overall is nowhere near as valuable as No. 39, obviously, but as a sweetener in a potential deal for a starting pitcher, the Twins might have something here. They're 5.0 games back of the first-place Guardians in the AL Central, but currently hold sole possession of the second Wild Card spot in the AL as of this writing. They'll be buyers at the trade deadline and can start early by making a trade right now.

2. The Brewers should trade their pick for immediate help

The Milwaukee Brewers are a team with two Competitive Balance Round picks in this year's draft. They hold the No. 34 pick which they acquired in the Corbin Burnes deal, but they're unable to trade that one. They can, however, trade their other pick, slated to be No. 67 overall.

The Brewers have shocked many by sitting in first place in the NL Central for virtually the entire season thus far and should do whatever they can to bolster their roster at this year's deadline. They got off to a good start by acquiring Aaron Civale, but Civale can't be the only addition to this team that does have flaws.

Milwaukee's rotation, even with Civale, is very subpar. Their lineup could potentially use another bat as well. Again, the pick itself won't get them the kind of player that No. 39 could, but it does hold a good amount of value, especially when combined with another asset.

1. The Guardians should trade their pick for immediate help

The Brewers and Twins are stuck picking after the second round, but the Cleveland Guardians have a pick after the first round, slated to be No. 36 overall. That, in addition to them holding the No. 1 overall pick, could result in an already good team getting much better in short order.

No. 1 can't be traded and shouldn't be traded even if it could, but this Guardians team without much tradable high-end prospect capital can make a big splash here by trading No. 36 overall.

Cleveland doesn't need bullpen help like Kansas City, but they could look to add some starting pitching. Burnes went for Joey Ortiz and No. 34 overall. There isn't really a Burnes comparable on the open market, but the Guardians could get one of the best starting pitchers available by dangling that pick alongside a prospect.