All of this is to say: hugging prospects is not a strategy that the Royals can use if they want to capitalize on four years of Bobby Witt Jr. It’s not a strategy they can use if they want to turn four more years of Bobby Witt Jr. into five, or six, or seven, or ten even. Witt is the type of player you make a career Royal, and instead the Royals are on the same path they were with Carlos Beltrán and Zack Greinke.
George Kirby has a 3.31 FIP in five big league seasons. He’s amassed 15.7 fWAR before his age-29 season. His command is exceptional, and there’s truly ace upside as he enters his prime. He’s exactly the type of known commodity that you should want to acquire for a prospect like Chourio.
At the end of the day, it still comes down to perspective. Do you think the Royals can contend in the next two years? Do you think their window opens in 2029 and beyond when someone like Chourio could be reaching the big leagues? On the surface, this should seem to matter when it comes to trades. However, neither of these things is true until they are.