*This is a prediction*
As the MLB offseason progresses, there will continue to be major trades that happen for teams to improve or modify their rosters, and for the Kansas City Royals, one major move they could be looking to make is trading Kris Bubic.
With the potential of trading Kris Bubic, there is one team that makes sense to trade for him, and that team is the Houston Astros.
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Kansas City Royals Trade Kris Bubic to the Houston Astros
The Houston Astros are coming off a season in which they didn’t make the playoffs, which for their standard as a team in unacceptable. They need to make major modifications to their team, and one way in which they can do so is by making improvements to their pitching staff. The Astros have their ace in Hunter Brown, but need more depth around him as they are losing Framber Valdez to free agency.
Outside of that, they saw Spencer Arrighetti and Lance McCullers Jr. see multiple stints on the injured list, and Cristian Javier struggled after returning from Tommy John surgery. The Astros will also need to fill out their depth as Hayden Wesneski and Ronel Blanco will miss the start of the 2026 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery as well.
For the Astros to not only fill out their depth, but to get another capable starter behind Brown in the lineup, they can turn to trading with the Royals for Kris Bubic.
Kris Bubic’s career has taken plenty of turns early on as well. He had Tommy John surgery in 2023 and then when he returned in 2024, it was as a relief pitcher. 2025 was his first time returning to the lineup, and Bubic was impressive with posting a 2.55 ERA and 1.178 WHIP, with only six home runs allowed while adding on 116 strikeouts.
With Kris Bubic being just 28 years old, and still having another year of team control, his upside and contract makes him an attractive trade target. Pairing Bubic alongside Brown would give the Astros the one-two punch they need at the top of their rotation for the future.