MLB Trade Rumor: Luis Valbuena To The Kansas City Royals

After losing Mike Moustakas to a season-ending injury, the Royals are in desperate need of a third baseman. As of right now, Cheslor Cuthbert is their only viable option, but he isn’t cutting it. Cuthbert is batting .277, with two home runs, six RBIs, nine runs, and a .294 OBP in 85 plate appearances. His numbers aren’t terrible, but the Royals are going to need more production at third base if they want to retain their lead in the American League Central.

There are multiple potential third base options that will be discussed near the trade deadline, but Luis Valbuena could be a very good option for the Kansas City Royals. As of right now Valbuena is the starting third baseman for the Houston Astros, but their top prospect, Alex Bregman, is making a very good case in the Minor Leagues that he is ready for the bigs. If the Astros decide to promote Bregman, Valbuena could find his way on the trade block immediately.

 

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Daily Fantasy MLB DFS Picks For Draft Kings 4/25/16

P- Madison Bumgarner (vs. San Diego Padres): $12,000. What is not to love about this match-up? One of the best pitchers in baseball, against one of the worst offenses in baseball. The San Diego Padres offense is currently ranked at the 27th best offense in baseball. Madison Bumgarner has started 4 games this year and 3 of them were against elite offenses (Dodgers x2 and Arizona). In these four starts, he has thrown 23 innings, with a 3.91 ERA, 29 strikeouts, 8 walks, and a 1-2 record. He is back at his home stadium, which is a great park for pitchers, and I’m sure he is ready to take care of business. The Padres lineup has struggled against Bumgarner throughout his entire career. In 140 at bats against him, they are hitting .200 with 43 strikeouts, and only 2 home runs. This could be a huge game for MadBum, who is averaging 18.5 points per game on Draft Kings.

P- Noah Syndergaard (vs. Cincinnati Reds): $11,400. Syndergaard has been an absolute beast this year. In 3 starts in 2016, he has thrown 20 innings, with a 0.90 ERA, 29 strikeouts, and only 4 walks. He is currently averaging a massive, 31.9 points per game on Draft Kings. He will be facing the 23rd best offense in Major League Baseball, the Cincinnati Reds, on Monday. Syndergaard will also be pitching in his home stadium, which is always a plus to have your hometown crowd behind a pitcher. Considering what Syndergaard has done this season, it is near impossible not to start him on Monday.

 

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MLB Power Rankings 2016: Week 2 – April

Hunter Stokes (BBBA Featured Writer) Follow @stokes_Hunter21

Follow The BBBA On Twitter Follow @baseballblogs

Disclaimer:  We based these rankings on best strength to win the World Series.  Therefore some teams that have an easier division to play in, with the least path of resistance to the postseason overall may be ranked a lot higher than a club who is equally talented, yet may play in a juggernaut of a division.

The Cubs will top our list for a second straight week despite losing 2 out of 3 games to the Rockies at Wrigley Field this weekend.  The biggest reason is the pitching.

Jake Arrieta is 3 – 0, and has picked up right where we he left off in 2015, and Jon Lester has thrown awesome too.  The Bullpen has also been good.

The bats are too solid not to come around and gel as the season moves along.  They are playing .750 baseball after a 4 – 2 week still.

Bryce Harper is the best player on the planet, and has homered in 6 straight contests at Citizens Bank Ball Park (4 overall in a row for the MLB this year.)

Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg. Bryce Harper and Daniel Murphy are their top players – and all performing like it, the rest of the club is following through in their secondary roles.  This team is scary.

I have the Royals as the top American League club.  This squad is 8 – 1 in games that are not started by back end of the rotation man Chris Young.

The reigning 2 time pennant winners have company on the top of the Division to make it interesting, however this team has the better pedigree the last few years.

Some may say with a weekend series win – that the Dodgers should be put in front of the Giants, yet they are still only one game ahead of San Francisco.

With the Giants – there is no real weakness, while with the Los Angeles team, the Bullpen is not giving everyone confidence in the back half of games.

The Dodger Blue is still in the top 5, so I am high on them. Kenta Maeda could be the steal of the winter with how this guy is throwing so far.  Reinforcements are starting to come back.

Kansas City Royals State Of The Union For 2016

Back to Back AL pennants and this years World Series Winners. They are the biggest favorite to win their respective division so far on the board. The KC franchise has most of the core nucleus all heading for Free Agency before the 2018 season. If I were a fan of this club – I would be okay with the team rebuilding after this, but for now to throw all chips in and try to cash in on a chance for a small dynasty. Dayton Moore and the Brass should use any one of their Minor League Players to acquire the next piece or 2 to make that happen in 2016 and 2017.

Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer) Follow @stokes_hunter21

Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports

The Royals are back to back AL Pennant winners and the reigning World Series Champions right now.  Furthermore, they are playing in the most winnable Division in the Majors right now.

Kansas City were the 1st real small market club to win the World Series since the 2003 Marlins club took home the Fall Classic that year.

Just like the 2014 winter, the club will sustain losses between the end of the year to Spring Training the following year.

The door is not closed on Alex Gordon yet, however I don’t think it is in the clubs best interest to pay a 9 figure salary to a guy who is already 30.

KC has already seen Ben Zobrist sign with the Cubs, Johnny Cueto with the Giants, and Greg Holland will not pitch at all in the 2016 season with Tommy John Surgery recovery, and certainly not for the Royals.

Dayton Moore has done a decent job acquiring talent though.  The team resigned Starter Chris Young, and they added one time Royals Closer Joakim Soria.

The window is not just for 2016 – as the club only stands to lose back up Catcher Drew Butera following next year, but also for 2017.