Reports: Kansas City Royals are Set to Add Two Highly-Sought-After Aces to Their Team!

According to Athletics reporter Jayson Stark (as cited in Ken Rosenthal’s most recent column), the Royals are in the market for a right-handed batter. Lane Thomas of the Washington Wizards, Luis Rengifo of the Angels, and Taylor Ward of the Angels are all being considered.

When Rengifo switches to his right side, he deals extra damage. Neither Ward nor Thomas bat with either of their left hands. Of the three, Rengifo is worth the most. His versatility on defense is unparalleled, and he’s having the finest season of the bunch. Although Rengifo struggles at shortstop, he is versatile enough to play second, third, and even moonlight as a defense.

In Kansas City, he wouldn’t have to fret over the second job. At the hot corner, Maikel Garcia has failed to provide much offense for the Royals. Earlier in the season, left-handed second baseman Michael Massey was on fire, but he’s been struggling as of late.

A huge improvement to the offense would be the 27-year-old Rengifo. He enters tonight’s game with a slash line of.308/.352/.432 in 285 plate appearances. His attacking output is above average for the second game in a row.

Like the rest of the Royals’ hitters, Rengifo makes a lot of contact. His 2022 and ’23 home run totals were over fifteen. With a career-low 13% strikeout percentage, his output this year has been more on-base orientated. He has a tremendous.328/.368/.555 slash against left-handed pitchers over the last 2.5 seasons. In their roles as corner outfielders, Thomas and Ward are less prominent defensively. Since MJ Melendez was underwhelming before going on the disabled list, the Royals might consider adding a left fielder to their roster. A platoon could be more likely to target Thomas.

When facing right-handed pitchers, he smashes the ball, but when facing left-handed ones, his numbers drop. His tattooing rate for lefties is.310/.371/.525 since he arrived in Washington at the 2021 trade deadline. During that span, he has a batting line of.231/.294,.398 against righties. Similar lopsided splits have befallen Thomas this season, who has a league-average slash of.247/.323/.397.

In his best moments, Ward has played like an All-Star, as seen by his.281/.360/.473 season from two years ago. Over the last two seasons, he has been less impressive, with a line that is roughly average for the league.

The former first-round pick’s line this season is.226/.309/.396 in 424 plate appearances. Ward, like Thomas, takes use of the platoon advantage to do an excessive amount of damage. Starting in the year 2022, he has a.294/.365/.468 batting line against lefties.

Over that span, his slash against right-handed pitchers was solid rather than great, at.243,.328, and.423 respectively. Team control extends beyond the current season for all three players. (As MLB.com’s Anne Rogers pointed out earlier today, the Royals would be hesitant to trade their best prospects due to their limited farm system.) While Thomas and Rengifo can be arbitrated until next year, Ward can be kept under team control until the 2026–27 offseason. In terms of money, they’re both expensive.

Among the group, Thomas earns the greatest money at $5.45MM, while Rengifo earns the least at $4.4MM. Given the market’s dearth of infield talent, Rengifo should command the highest prospect cost due to his widespread popularity.