Taking Inventory: Should The Kansas City Royals Start the Rebuild?

After one of the roughest first halves on record for the Kansas City Royals, is it time for the 2015 Champs to rebuild?

Welcome to Taking Inventory; a series introduced by Call the Pen’s very own Marc Delucci. It’s a place to talk about the teams potentially making trades this summer.

So, let’s begin.

In baseball, the biggest signifier of a rebuild is usually when a club trades away their top player, like the Marlins did with Giancarlo Stanton. It’s one of the most interesting, yet obvious aspects of this game; why would a team trade away the best player on their roster if they still feel they can contend?

The Kansas City Royals did that, in a way. This past offseason, Eric Hosmer hit the free-agent market and, from the beginning, Hosmer’s decision was really between two teams; his Royals or the San Diego Padres. He chose the Padres, changing uniforms, divisions, and changing leagues.

Kansas City was able to re-sign All-Star Mike Moustakas to a one year deal with an option for 2019, but it seems unlikely that he’ll stay. In fact, he’s one of the many trade pieces the Royals currently have.

On June 18th of this year, they traded their closer, Kelvin Herrera, to the Washington Nationals, in exchange for three prospects. This was a subtle, yet significant move on the part of GM Dayton Moore. The Royals need a rebuild, and they have the roadmap to get there.

This is a team that, just a few short years ago, won the World Series. But now, they find themselves in a difficult, yet unignorable place.

So, which players currently donning a Royals uniform are trade candidates? Mike Moustakas is one of the names being tossed around a lot. MLB Trade Rumors reports that the Yankees are interested in him, potentially at first base. The Braves have been linked to ‘Moose’ as well.

2B/OF Whit Merrifield is another name that will probably breed some trade interest, as he boasts a .307 average with 108 hits for the Royals this year.

The question isn’t if the Kansas City Royals should rebuild, it’s how? They accomplished the goal that every last place team sets out to find, a World Championship in 2015. They beat a Mets team that ranked third in home runs hit in the National League (177), and fourth in ERA (3.43).

But, as they say, nothing lasts forever, not even the Royals dominance in the AL Central. The Cleveland Indians are great. As long as they stay that way, it’s going to be hard for any team to surpass them. Just like in AL West, it’s the Astros who lead it, and probably will lead it for the foreseeable future.

The Kansas City Royals face a long road, but it’s one they can trek with the help of well-made trades and a solid plan for the upcoming June drafts.

Theo Epstein, and the Cubs Way is baseball’s current blueprint for rebuilding. Within 5 years, they went from being a last-place team with a 61 win season, a year in which they allowed 146 more runs than they scored, to World Champions.

Granted, rebuilding doesn’t always mean a ring. Or, sometimes, a ring doesn’t always require a rebuild to precede it.

The Kansas City Royals, however, face a division lead by the Indians with the Twins following behind. A rebuild, at this point, is the best option for the Royals, and they have the major league stars to do it.

Next: Taking Inventory: Baltimore Orioles

So, which player that calls Kauffman Stadium home switch uniforms first, and which jersey will replace their current one?

The answers may be closer than we think.

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