Prior to his trade to the Padres, the Royals expressed interest in the All-Star infielder.
The Marlins made an unusual and significant trade in May last Friday, sending infielder Luis Arraez to San Diego in return for a package of four players, giving them an unexpected early advantage in the offseason trade market.
Given the Marlins’ terrible start to the season and the fact that the hyper-aggressive Padres—whose president of baseball operations, A.J. Preller, doesn’t spare any detail when a big-name player is even slightly available—were their trade partner, it’s hardly surprise. Despite Arraez’s early arrival into the trade market, it appears that other teams were also keeping an eye on him. This is according to the Padres. Prior to the Padres pulling off that trade, the Royals reportedly had interest in Arraez, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.
Rosenthal stresses that the discussions with Kansas City were only beginning and did not go very far. Even yet, Kansas City’s interest is telling. The Royals had a busy winter, spending $109 million on a number of free agent acquisitions. As the team is off to a 20-15 start this season, it appears they are interested in adding more players to the team.
Arraez is a restricted defender who can play designated hitter responsibilities because of his bat, but he is also below average at second base and has a decent first base arm. Because of Vinnie Pasquantino, the Royals probably wouldn’t have utilised Arraez at first base too often. Arraez would have spent the most of his playing time as a designated hitter and second baseman for Kansas City.
Rather than that, the Royals will attempt to bring DH/outfielder Nelson Velazquez back to his 2023 form and hope that 26-year-old second baseman Michael Massey maintains his recent hot streak. After being acquired by the Royals in a deadline trade with the Cubs, Velazquez blasted 14 home runs in 147 plate appearances for them the previous season. However, in his first season as the team’s primary designated hitter, he is only hitting.215/.284/.344 with a 30.4% strikeout rate.
The fact that Kansas City was searching for one of the presumably few players who were actually available on the trade market at such an early point in the season, even if not specifically for Arraez, suggests that the Royals won’t be satisfied with their offseason additions and any potential in-house reinforcements. It probably also indicates that the upper echelons of their agriculture system are open to negotiate. Since Miami isn’t especially impressed with the Royals’ system, they would have needed to part with some of their most prominent prospects to get their attention.
In the end, there’s only so much significance to reports of interest from a team that decided not to trade for a player. When Arraez becomes a free agent, the Royals’ interest in him will essentially remain a minor detail to be remembered. It also provides some support to the notion that the Royals will be in the running when other prominent hitters become available this summer, and it is a sign of how the team may perform in the coming weeks and months. It’s unclear if the Marlins told the Royals that they would be happy to settle Arraez’s outstanding contract balance. According to Roster Resource, Kansas City’s salary began the season at about $116 million, and it had previously reached as high as $143 million (during the previous ownership regime).
According to Roster Resource, Kansas City’s salary began the season at about $116 million, and it had previously reached as high as $143 million (during the previous ownership regime).