Royals might have 'no choice' but to trade away pair of All-Star pitchers at deadline

The Kansas City Royals have had a very disappointing 2026 season so far. While Bobby Witt Jr. might be putting together an MVP-caliber season, the rest of the team is struggling mightily.

They're 21-31 on the season, and nine games behind the Cleveland Guardians for the AL Central lead. But simply avoiding winding up as trade deadline sellers is going to be a difficult task this season.

USA Today's Bob Nightengale, while giving the Royals a lousy, bus deserved, "F" grade for their 2026 season, warned that the Royals might not have a choice but to trade away a pair of All-Star pitchers at this year's deadline.

Royals might have no choice but to trade 2 All-Star pitchers

"The season has badly unraveled, and unless their fate dramatically changes, they could have no choice but to trade starters Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo at the deadline. And rebuild. Once again," Nightengale writes.

The Royals winding up as sellers at this year's deadline would mean things went very wrong, but so far, through the first 52 games of the season, that's exactly what's happened.

At 21-31, the Royals are well outside of the playoff hunt, and unless they can turn things around quickly, a sell-off at the deadline is very possible for this team.

If they do sell, starting pitchers Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha, both All-Stars in their careers, might have to be traded.

MORE: Ex-MLB GM projects White Sox to sell at trade deadline despite 2026 success

Lugo is 36 years old and is under contract through the 2027 season on a $46 million deal with a club option for 2028. They don't have to trade him, but they might not be able to get better value than they could right now for Lugo.

Wacha is very similar, as he's also under contract through the 2027 season on a $51 million deal with a club option in 2028. He also doesn't have to be traded, but this year might be the best time to recoup the most value out of Wacha.

Lugo has a 3.68 ERA this season, while Wacha has a 2.70 ERA. Both would fetch fairly strong returns at the 2026 trade deadline, especially if they maintain their strong pace from now until the August 3rd deadline day.

Nightengale writing that the Royals might not have a choice but to trade Wacha and Lugo is a little bit of an exaggeration, but it might be the best path forward, to have a soft reset, or rebuild, to plan for a future with younger and better players.

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