Could Brett Phillips’ or Bubba Starling’s time with the Royals be up?
The Royals made a trade with the Padres this week. In the deal the Royals acquired outfielder Franchy Cordero and pitcher Ronald Bolanos for pitcher Tim Hill. I can guess Cordero was the centerpiece of the trade for the Royals. The Royals have been trying to fill the hole in centerfield since Lorenzo Cain left for the Brewers. The Royals were originally hoping that Bubba Starling would be able to take Cain’s spot in center. That hasn’t worked out up to this point. If Starling wasn’t a hometown player, I would have bet the Royals would have let him go by now. For me, however, I believe Brett Phillips has shown more promise at the plate. But at Kauffman Stadium, I believe defense is a little more important than the pop in someone’s bat.
The downside to this trade I see is that Cordero has battled multiple injuries. But at the same time when the Royals acquired Jorge Soler from the Cubs he had the history of injuries too. We’ll just have to see if Cordero can stay healthy. Besides his injury history I believe he can play a major role with the Royals in 2020 and beyond. If he doesn’t get much playing time in 2020 I would expect him to play on a game basis in 2021. I don’t think there is a way the Royals could be on the losing end of this deal.
