{"id":717955,"date":"2026-06-05T12:09:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T12:09:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/717955\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T12:09:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T12:09:12","slug":"kansas-city-royals-news-time-to-start-thinking-about-the-trade-deadline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/717955\/","title":{"rendered":"Kansas City Royals news: Time to start thinking about the trade deadline"},"content":{"rendered":"

Maikel Garcia<\/a> is close to returning<\/a>, writes Jaylon Thompson.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot better,\u201d Garcia said before the game in Minneapolis. \u201c(I was) running yesterday at like 65% and today was like 80-something. Just ready to come off the bench and try to help the team.\u201d Garcia did defensive work in Cincinnati<\/a>. He admitted that the injury doesn\u2019t bother him in the field or at the plate. It\u2019s just a matter of tolerating the pain. \u201cIt\u2019s like, I can run but not hard,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cSo it\u2019s just managing how we\u2019re going to run in the game. And yeah, defense is normal and (I can) run a little bit. Hitting, no pain, so I\u2019m close.\u201d<\/p>\n

More injury updates from Anne Rogers.<\/p>\n

Jaylon also writes how Jeremy Guthrie<\/a> has integrated into the broadcast booth<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cJeremy embraced that from the very beginning,\u201d Lefebvre said. \u201cHe\u2019s not in the clubhouse talking to major-league coaches and teammates. So the way he communicates has to be different from that. And I think he\u2019s found the perfect balance of taking his knowledge and being able to express it in a way where any kind of a fan can absorb it.\u201d<\/p>\n

At ESPN, Jeff Passan has an early look at the trade deadline for each team.<\/a><\/p>\n

The Royals can\u2019t totally tear things down, not with Bobby Witt Jr.<\/a> and Maikel Garcia locked up long term, but the magic they found in 2024 has dissipated into a puddle of meh. This deadline is an opportunity to turn the team over and figure out how to replicate \u201924, when Kansas City went from 56 to 86 wins.<\/p>\n

Most of their top prospects are at the lower levels, so focusing on near major-league-ready talent \u2014 ones who will be there when the Royals move into their new stadium in 2030 or \u201931 \u2014 makes sense. And the list of desirable veterans is plentiful. Wacha<\/a> has been tremendous and is under control for two more seasons. Same with Seth Lugo<\/a>. Kris Bubic could be the best of the bunch \u2014 and the least costly. Kansas City should listen on Cole Ragans. Even Vinnie Pasquantino<\/a> and Daniel Lynch IV<\/a>, two years from free agency, could be options.<\/p>\n

David Lesky writes that Vinnie Pasquantino may be warming up<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Pasquantino has quietly come alive lately. It hasn\u2019t helped much, but since getting a day off in the series finale against the Red Sox<\/a> and then getting the team\u2019s off day off, he\u2019s hit .289\/.396\/.422 in 12 games. That home run last night was his first of the stretch, but he also has eight walks and five strikeouts in 53 plate appearances. In a bigger sample, he\u2019s actually hit .242\/.331\/.420 in his last 42 games (after his low-water mark in OPS) and .254\/.356\/.419 in his last 35 games (after he broke a four-game hitless streak). The power just hasn\u2019t really been there, which is an issue, but he\u2019s been better than you might realize.<\/p>\n

Pete Crow-Armstrong<\/a> loses a flyball in the lights for an inside-the-park home run.<\/a><\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

The Padres cut ties with outfielder Nick Castellanos<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Red Sox demote pitcher Brayan Bello to the minors<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Aaron Judge<\/a> is out indefinitely with a rib fracture<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Eno Sarris and Brittany Ghiroli at The Athletic evaluate injuries in each organization<\/a> and find the Royals to be the second-healthiest team in baseball over the last three seasons. [$]<\/p>\n

Who are the early favorites to be selected to the All-Star Game<\/a>?<\/p>\n

Why Shohei Ohtani<\/a> may be the best player we\u2019ve ever seen<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Diamondbacks<\/a> are looking for left-handed bats.<\/a><\/p>\n

Can the Cubs<\/a> withstand their storm of injuries<\/a>?<\/p>\n

Roki Sasaki<\/a> is putting it all together<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

The Pirates are looking for bullpen upgrades<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Francisco Lindor is in a commercial<\/a> for the upcoming Stephen Spielberg movie Disclosure Day.<\/p>\n

Rob Manfred admits he is concerned about a potential work stoppage<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Baseball America has NCAA Super Regional previews<\/a>. [$]<\/p>\n

Texas<\/a> wins back-to-back titles in NCAA softball.<\/a><\/p>\n

Ranking each player\u2019s importance to Team USA\u2019s men\u2019s soccer roster<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Flesh-eating screwworms are here<\/a>!<\/p>\n

Why does your dog eat grass<\/a>?<\/p>\n

SNL comic Marcello Hern\u00e1ndez will host the ESPYs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Your song of the day is Wilco with Jesus, Etc.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Maikel Garcia is close to returning, writes Jaylon Thompson. \u201cA lot better,\u201d Garcia said before the game in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":717956,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[106,26504,5,1351,5172,1092,535,230,161,14419,227,1628,9636,5924,72570,2123,55,309,2162,4,8639,35,89,110,65,2002,468,1567,2245,2126,6058],"class_list":["post-717955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-aaron-judge","tag-anne-rogers","tag-baseball","tag-bobby-witt-jr","tag-brayan-bello","tag-carlos-estevez","tag-cincinnati","tag-cole-ragans","tag-cubs","tag-daniel-lynch-iv","tag-francisco-lindor","tag-getty-images","tag-icon-sportswire","tag-jeff-passan","tag-jeremy-guthrie","tag-kansas-city","tag-kansas-city-royals","tag-kris-bubic","tag-maikel-garcia","tag-mlb","tag-nick-castellanos","tag-pete-crow-armstrong","tag-red-sox","tag-roki-sasaki","tag-seattle-mariners","tag-seth-lugo","tag-shohei-ohtani","tag-texas","tag-the-diamondbacks","tag-vinnie-pasquantino","tag-wacha"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116697429659776440","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=717955"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717955\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/717956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=717955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=717955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=717955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}