Could the Boston Red Sox and Kansas City Royals Fill Each Other's Needs?

[Matthew Lenz]

In the last couple of days, it's been reported that the Boston Red Sox could be looking to upgrade from outfielder Jarren Duran and will prioritize a frontline starter behind ace Garrett Crochet.

Jon Morosi of MLB Network is reporting that sources have indicated that the Kansas City Royals are seeking outfield reinforcements and that the Boston Red Sox are potential trade partners.

The Red Sox have been rumored to be looking for an upgrade over outfielder Duran, while MLBTR also identifies Wilyer Abreu as a trade candidate. Duran, who has an $8 million club option, carried an OPS of .774 with 16 home runs and 24 stolen bases across 696 plate appearances in 2025. Abreu, controllable through 2029, played in only 115 games, yet the 26-year-old still mashed 22 home runs to go along with six stolen bases. The Red Sox are looking to upgrade their pitching rotation, which makes a deal between the two even more sense.

The Royals have solid options as rotation upgrades in Cole Ragans and Kris Bubic. Ragans appeared in 13 games in the 2025 season, pitching 61 2/3 innings for the Royals. He posted a 4.67 ERA (3.00 FIP) with a strong K-BB rate of 29.7%. Bubic was an All-Star in 2025, throwing 116 1/3 innings with a 2.89 FIP and a 16.2% K-BB rate.

Do you think the Red Sox should trade for Ragans or Bubic? Let us know in the comments!

View full rumor

[JoeBrady]

Bubic probably not.  I'm looking for more control.  Ragans yes, but he'll be hugely expensive and "rotator cuff strain" is troublesome.

[notin]

On 11/11/2025 at 9:57 PM, JoeBrady said:

Bubic probably not.  I'm looking for more control.  Ragans yes, but he'll be hugely expensive and "rotator cuff strain" is troublesome.

Bubic is likely, but the one year means Duran/Abreu is a lot.  Maybe if the include C prospect Blake Mitchell and RHRP Lucas Erceg…

[Duran Is The Man]

meh.

 

[notin]

8 minutes ago, Duran Is The Man said:

meh.

 

I want wild about out it either.  KC seems like a reach as a partner…

[Deja Doh]

The only player on KC I would want is Witt.  Trade Duran,, Rafaela and x for him.

[moonslav59]

Not saying I'd do this, and KCR might say no, but how about Jh Garcia for Bubic?

We can bring Ref back as the RHB OF/DH platoon option, and we don't want Garcia on the ML roster as a short-side platoon, anyway, so maybe... 

We also have Campbell as a RHB option, but like Garcia, we'd only call him up as a FT player- not in a platoon role.

Would we offer Campbell for Ragans? He's 27 and has a 117 ERA+ and 2.87 FIP from '24-'25. (3 years: 120 ERA+ and 2.96 FIP.) Campbell and Sandlin? Ragans has 3 years of control and a $4.4 AAV for the next 2 years. He's not the #2 I want, and I'm usually against trading for mid-rotation starters but he could jump Bello in the rotation order and be a decent #2. Maybe we can trade for him and someone like Ryan- making Bello/Ragans our 3 & 4s.

[Larry Cook]

The royals have some really good prospects! Bubic and ragans are not very exciting 

[moonslav59]

28 minutes ago, Larry Cook said:

The royals have some really good prospects! Bubic and ragans are not very exciting 

2023-2025

ERA

2.71 Bubic (just 163 IP)

3.32 Ragans (322 IP)

FIP

2.69 Bubic

2.79 Ragans

ERA-

64 Ragans

79 Bubic

Here is an eye-opener: 200 MLB pitchers with 130+ IP as a SP'er since 2023 rankings:

ERA-

5th Bubic (tied with Yamo & Woodruff) IP is low

28th Ragans

(Top 30 can be considered as #1 quality)

FIP

4th Ragans (just ahead of Crochet!)

7th Bubic (just below Crochet & Yamo!)

ERA: Bubic 6th and Ragans 29th

 

No excitement, now?

[notin]

57 minutes ago, Larry Cook said:

The royals have some really good prospects! Bubic and ragans are not very exciting 

Not really.  A couple good catching prospects.  And a bunch of pitching prospects either worse than what Boston already has or too far away to predict beyond wild guesses…

[notin]

3 hours ago, Deja Doh said:

The only player on KC I would want is Witt.  Trade Duran,, Rafaela and x for him.

Not even Roman Anthony?  
 

Do you really think KC trades a perennial MVP candidate on a long term contract for a handful of controlled bottom-of-the-order hitters?

[moonslav59]

2 minutes ago, notin said:

Not even Roman Anthony?  
 

Do you really think KC trades a perennial MVP candidate on a long term contract for a handful of controlled bottom-of-the-order hitters?

If Anthony is not in that deal, it would have to start with Mayer, Campbell, Tolle and probably Early or Arias, too.

What does BTV say on any deal for Witt without Anthony, Duran or Abreu?

Am I close?

[notin]

13 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

If Anthony is not in that deal, it would have to start with Mayer, Campbell, Tolle and probably Early or Arias, too.

What does BTV say on any deal for Witt without Anthony, Duran or Abreu?

Am I close?

Not really.

On BTV, if you eliminate Anthony , Duran and Abreu, you cannot acquire Witt without including Crochet.  And even then, the package is Crochet, Mayer, Early, Bello and Password for Witt…

[moonslav59]

1 minute ago, notin said:

Not really.

On BTV, if you eliminate Anthony , Duran and Abreu, you cannot acquire Witt without including Crochet.  And even then, the package is Crochet, Mayer, Early, Bello and Password for Witt…

I suspected it might come to that.

Even if you include Duran, you can't eliminate Crochet.

[notin]

6 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I suspected it might come to that.

Even if you include Duran, you can't eliminate Crochet.

Duran and Bello, and then you can eliminate Crochet.

That also puts Boston at the 6 player limit on the website…

[moonslav59]

Just now, notin said:

Duran and Bello, and then you cannot acquire eliminate Crochet.

That also puts Boston at the 6 player limit on the website…

So, basically, you cant take the best 6, not counting Anthony & Crochet and acquire Witt.

[notin]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

So, basically, you cant take the best 6, not counting Anthony & Crochet and acquire Witt.

Not without really good blackmail on Royals’ CBO JJ Picollo.  Witt is signed for like 11 more years with a &26mill AAV. They’re not looking to trade him…

[harmony]

2 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

If Anthony is not in that deal, it would have to start with Mayer, Campbell, Tolle and probably Early or Arias, too.

What does BTV say on any deal for Witt without Anthony, Duran or Abreu?

Am I close?

At one point Baseball Trade Values assigned Bobby Witt Jr. a surplus value of $200.7 million:

https://www.baseballtradevalues.com/player-value-timelines/bobby-witt-jr/5930

[Larry Cook]

8 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

2023-2025

ERA

2.71 Bubic (just 163 IP)

3.32 Ragans (322 IP)

FIP

2.69 Bubic

2.79 Ragans

ERA-

64 Ragans

79 Bubic

Here is an eye-opener: 200 MLB pitchers with 130+ IP as a SP'er since 2023 rankings:

ERA-

5th Bubic (tied with Yamo & Woodruff) IP is low

28th Ragans

(Top 30 can be considered as #1 quality)

FIP

4th Ragans (just ahead of Crochet!)

7th Bubic (just below Crochet & Yamo!)

ERA: Bubic 6th and Ragans 29th

 

No excitement, now?

None for bubic! I have seen him pitch and his stuff does not excite me! 
ragans has really good stuff, but I stay far away from pitchers with any type of shoulder problems!  
 

 

[Larry Cook]

8 hours ago, notin said:

Not really.  A couple good catching prospects.  And a bunch of pitching prospects either worse than what Boston already has or too far away to predict beyond wild guesses…

Last time I checked, I think we are short on catching in our minor league system! 
 

and, I saw shields pitch. Love the stuff!  He could be special in our system 

[moonslav59]

7 minutes ago, Larry Cook said:

None for bubic! I have seen him pitch and his stuff does not excite me! 
ragans has really good stuff, but I stay far away from pitchers with any type of shoulder problems!  
 

 

How does he put up numbers like that?

[Larry Cook]

4 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

How does he put up numbers like that?

I honestly do not know! And I realize numbers do not lie. 
his numbers say he is as good as crochet! But when I watch him pitch, I have flashbacks to springs type stuff 

[moonslav59]

21 minutes ago, Larry Cook said:

I honestly do not know! And I realize numbers do not lie. 
his numbers say he is as good as crochet! But when I watch him pitch, I have flashbacks to springs type stuff 

Man, he had nasty stuff!

How often have you seen Bubic. His main issue is limited time as a SP.

[harmony]

2 hours ago, Larry Cook said:

None for bubic! I have seen him pitch and his stuff does not excite me! 
ragans has really good stuff, but I stay far away from pitchers with any type of shoulder problems!  
 

 

This poster saw Kris Bubic pitch once this year:

https://www.mlb.com/gameday/royals-vs-giants/2025/05/19/777855/final/box

[moonslav59]

It's the one year of control on Bubic that turns me off- not his skill level.

[notin]

35 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

It's the one year of control on Bubic that turns me off- not his skill level.

But - easier to extend than Skubal!

[Larry Cook]

11 minutes ago, notin said:

But - easier to extend than Skubal!

Who is bubic’s agent?? 

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, notin said:

But - easier to extend than Skubal!

Agreed. He'd also cost way less.

As far as I can tell, Bubic has a 12.1 BTV, and when you figure a $6M final arb estimate, they think he's worth $18M/1.

Would you do any of these exchanges?

13.5 Casas

12.5 Romy

11.6 Perales

9.5 Harrison + 1.3 Winckowski

5.5 Sandlin + 5.5 Eyanson

I'd say no to Romy and depending on who we add at 1B, maybe no to Casas. Probably yes on Perales of the last one. Probably no on Harrison.

[notin]

1 hour ago, Larry Cook said:

Who is bubic’s agent?? 

Apex Baseball.  Know them?

[notin]

13 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Agreed. He'd also cost way less.

As far as I can tell, Bubic has a 12.1 BTV, and when you figure a $6M final arb estimate, they think he's worth $18M/1.

Would you do any of these exchanges?

13.5 Casas

12.5 Romy

11.6 Perales

9.5 Harrison + 1.3 Winckowski

5.5 Sandlin + 5.5 Eyanson

I'd say no to Romy and depending on who we add at 1B, maybe no to Casas. Probably yes on Perales of the last one. Probably no on Harrison.

KC needs an OF.  Minor overpay with Garcia is possible, but probably not what KC wants. They do have their own untried OF prospects.

Abreu for Bubic and C prospect Blake Mitchell?