Blue Jays: If they trade him, where could Estrada go?

Kansas City Royals

The Kansas City Royals were the team that knocked the Blue Jays out of the 2015 playoffs, and the majority of their core from that group is still together. However, that’s about to change this offseason, as Lorenzo Cain, Mike Moustakas, and more will be eligible for free agency, which may close the window in Kansas City for a little while.

At the moment the Royals are just 1.5 games back in the Wild Card race, so they’re right in the thick of things. If the Dayton Moore and the front office were going to throw in the towel on the season, they would have been selling at the deadline. Instead they chose to roll the dice with this group one more time, hoping to have a strong final two months and have a chance to return to the World Series.

The biggest achilles heel for the Royals has been their starting pitching, as they’ve dealt with a variety of injuries and underperformance. Jason Vargas was an All-Star, but has largely struggled in the second half and currently sports a 13-6 record with a 3.40 ERA. Danny Duffy has been serviceable with a 7-7 record and a 3.48, but Jason Hammel and Ian Kennedy has mostly struggled, with 4.83 and 4.68 ERA’s respectively. They traded for Trevor Cahill prior to the deadline, but he’s currently on the DL deadline with a shoulder impingement.

They also had reported interest in Estrada before the deadline and weren’t really able to land a significant rotation upgrade, so some of the ground work could be laid already between the two clubs. For that reason, they seem like the most likely fit, if the Blue Jays decide to move him.