Kansas City Royals news: Cole Ragans not likely to be traded

Anne Rogers writes the Royals aren’t likely to deal Cole Ragans.

“It would be really difficult for us to trade Cole,” general manager J.J. Picollo said Monday. “When Cole is right, he’s as good as anybody in the game. It’s rare that you get an opportunity to have somebody like that, and we have him for three more years. It’s fun to talk about, but the reality is, if we didn’t have Cole Ragans in our rotation, we’d feel like we’re missing something really big. When you think about our four pillars, it starts with pitching.

“… We’re in a really good spot [with depth], so if the right trade comes along, and it costs us a starting pitcher, we have to look at it. It’s just not going to be Cole.”

She also reports that the Royals may be looking at some bullpen help.

Jaylon Thompson writes about J.J. Picollo’s willingness to make a trade.

Picollo will welcome trade conversations. However, there is a balance between striking the right deal and remaining competitive. The Royals are expected to compete in the American League Central and any potential deal won’t deviate from that course.

The Royals are seen as an intriguing potential trade partner. They have starting pitching depth, with Kris Bubic and Noah Cameron, mainly, drawing interest as trade candidates. Teams are also drawn to Ragans, but it will likely require a massive haul to move him.

“You want to be as well-rounded as a team as you can possibly be,” Picollo said during an appearance on MLB Network’s Hot Stove telecast. “Right now, the depth in our position is with the starting pitching. We are fortunate that we have that depth that we can even consider moving a starting pitcher.”

Harrison Bader is on their radar, reports Jon Heyman.

Craig Brown looks at the pitching surplus the Royals are considering trading from.

If I had a say (and be very thankful that I do not), I would be looking to spin Noah Cameron. The rookie had a solid debut campaign, but his expected ERA was 4.08, a full run over Cameron’s 2.99 ERA. He had an 84 percent strand rate, which was an insanely inflated number. And his strikeout rate of 7.4 SO/9 and 20.5 percent was underwhelming. As Petriello notes, Cameron is a candidate to regress.

As we’ve already seen this offseason, teams have clearly moved beyond ERA when evaluating results and are focusing on metrics like expected ERA. When numbers like xERA and FIP are used to evaluate Cameron, there’s no way teams would surrender a solid-regular position player that the Royals would be looking for in a trade. I just don’t think they are going to be “wowed” enough to move Cameron.

J.J. Picollo wants a well-rounded club.

Matt Quatraro likes the possibility of Harrison Bader.

Pitcher Mike Soroka signs with the Diamondbacks on a one-year, $7.5 million deal.

The Tigers sign reliever Drew Anderson to a one-year, $7 million deal after a stint in Asia.

The Rays are signing pitcher Steven Matz to a two-year deal.

The Rangers sign infielder Tyler Wade to a minor league deal.

The Mets are interested in slugger Kyle Schwarber.

The Blue Jays are interested in free agent reliever Robert Suarez.

The Nationals are receiving a lot of interest in infielder C.J. Abrams.

Framber Valdez meets with the Mets, Giants, and Orioles.

Free agent Pete Alonso meets with the Red Sox and Orioles.

The Padres plan to keep Mason Miller in the bullpen.