GM J.J. Picollo on MLB writers saying the Royals should be trade-deadline sellers
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- GM J.J. Picollo dismissed national writers’ trade-deadline sell talk on June 9.
- Picollo said the Royals are 5½ games out of the wild-card race and not focused on trades.
- Picollo expects few moves before the Aug. 3 deadline because the race is wide open.
The Major League Baseball trade deadline is not until Aug. 3, but a few national writers are already looking ahead to that date.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan shared his view for all 30 MLB teams and suggested the Royals “start a retool.”
“The Royals can’t totally tear things down, not with Bobby Witt Jr. and Maikel Garcia locked up long term, but the magic they found in 2024 has dissipated into a puddle of meh,” Passan wrote last week. “This deadline is an opportunity to turn the team over and figure out how to replicate ‘24, when Kansas City went from 56 to 86 wins.
“Most of their top prospects are at the lower levels, so focusing on near major-league-ready talent — ones who will be there when the Royals move into their new stadium in 2030 or ‘31 — makes sense. And the list of desirable veterans is plentiful. (Pitcher Michael) Wacha has been tremendous and is under control for two more seasons. Same with Seth Lugo. Kris Bubic could be the best of the bunch — and the least costly. Kansas City should listen on Cole Ragans. Even Vinnie Pasquantino and Daniel Lynch IV, two years from free agency, could be options.”
USA Today’s Bob Nightengale wrote last week about the “delusional wave of optimism” among teams, and said the Royals won’t make the playoffs.
“The Kansas City Royals and Minnesota Twins, two more teams going nowhere, say they aren’t ready to sell considering the AL absolutely stinks,” Nightengale wrote, “and they are somehow still alive in the wild-card race.”
Some might say more than just alive. After beating the Texas Rangers 5-3 on Tuesday night at Kauffman Stadium, the Royals are just 4 1/2 back in a crowded American League wild-card race.
Royals general manager J.J. Picollo dismissed the talk from the national MLB writers.
“I don’t worry about what they say,” Picollo said Tueday. “It’s June 9, I mean that’s their job is to create news. Our job is to worry about the baseball team. It’s june 9. There are so many teams that are still in this. If you look at where we are right now, we’re 5 1/2 games out of a wild-card race. Last thing we’re thinking about is the trade deadline right now.”
Picollo expects few moves in the next month because the race is wide open and the deadline is not until Aug. 3.
“I can’t speak for all the clubs, but ... you’re going to the All-Star break to figure out where your team’s at,” Picollo said.
Recent history suggests the Royals would be wise to wait. The 2024 Detroit Tigers were sellers at the trade deadline, but finished the season by winning 31 of 44 games and made the playoffs. They won a wild-card series before losing to the Guardians in a division series.
Cleveland was 69-70 and 11 games out of first place in the Central last Sept. 4 before ripping off a 19-4 stretch and winning the division.
“I felt like last year — I’d have to go back and confirm it — but 12 out of the 15 (teams) when we were going into July, you didn’t know if they were, which way they were going to go. Some of that’s the additional wild-card team. You have six teams that can make it and we’ve seen teams do it. In our own division in the last two years, we’ve had two teams make incredible runs, one team after they sold at the trade deadline, and then they go on this incredible run.
“And I think what we take out of that is, if you have a good run for two to three weeks, don’t worry about how many wins you get, but if you go on a really good run for two to three weeks, you’re gonna find yourself back in the middle of it, and that’s where we have to be optimistic.”
