The Royals should be willing to trade Michael Massey

Kansas City Royals second baseman Michael Massey just had one of the better moments of a disappointing season on Sunday, hitting a go-ahead home run in the top of the eighth inning against the Detroit Tigers. Here’s a clip in case you missed it:

The 28-year-old has put together a really nice bounce-back season, hitting .274/.312/.440 while playing above-average defense at second base. He has also been healthier this year, already surpassing his 2025 plate appearance total. Overall he has been worth 1.5 fWAR and is on pace for the best season of his career.

As I’m sure you are aware, the Royals have had an extremely disappointing season. Even after Sunday’s victory, they are 45-62 and sit 11.5 games behind the division-leading Chicago White Sox. Despite this, I expect the Royals to try and actually compete next year instead of resetting for a future year. The fact that they don’t seem interested in moving either Seth Lugo or Michael Wacha reinforces that belief.

Although Massey will still be under team control and could help the Royals next year, I think this trade deadline is the time to move him. I will admit that I’ve always been a bit of a Massey skeptic; if I was running the Royals I probably would have just cut bait after his difficult 2025 season. He’s been better than I’ve expected this year and I’m happy that he’s put together a positive season. Still, I think this is the right time to see if the Royals can get a good return for Massey, and these are the three biggest reasons why I think that is the case.

This is likely Massey’s ceiling

The second baseman is having a good season, but when I look at his overall numbers and career trajectory, I think we are witnessing the realistic peak of what Massey has to offer. He is hitting 4% above league-average, which is exactly the mark he was at in his previous best season of 2024. Nothing in his .304 BABIP and .166 ISO look particularly flukey; he might be able to tap into a little more power, his career high is .190. Players can grow, change and prove us wrong, but I think this is what Massey at the peak of his hitting powers is going to look like.

The left-handed hitter does not draw very many walks which does limit how effective he can be as a hitter. His 5.7% BB% is the second-lowest mark among Royals hitters with at least 200 plate appearances, only better than Salvador Perez. His free-swinging tendencies seem unlikely to change at this point in his career. Massey has also posted the best defensive numbers of his career this year, which is great to see but hard to project happening again moving forward.

Massey still has some significant downside potential in his game. He has battled back injuries in the past, which can be a chronic problem for some players. His offensive game also craters if he struggles to make solid contact; Massey had a 57 wRC+ last season. I think 2025 will end up being the worst season of Massey’s career, but the downside of him being a below-average hitter is very much present. I think we are seeing the best of what Massey has to offer, and he’s not likely to make you look foolish by developing into an All-Star second baseman if you move on from him.

Massey is more than a rental

Traditionally, losing MLB teams will trade players in the final year of their contract to teams that are still chasing postseason success. More and more teams, including the Royals, are putting a major emphasis on team control and how many years someone is under contract to determine trade value. We don’t know for sure, but I wonder if the Royals were unimpressed with offers that teams put forward for Lugo last offseason, since he was a rental player at the time, which led to them choosing to re-sign him to a two-year extension.

After this season, Massey is under team control for two more years. He will not be eligible to be a free agent until after the 2028 season is completed. Even if a front office is worried about the possibility of the 2027 season being shortened or lost, Massey still offers more than just a rental because of his remaining team control. He is also still arbitration-eligible, so while his contract will increase, it’s likely to not be as expensive as signing him as a free agent would be.

Massey could have the same season that he is having now in 2028, but the Royals are likely to get more in return if they are willing to trade him now.

Nick Loftin is a good in-house replacement

I have missed watching Maikel Garcia play baseball, but one of the positives is that Nick Loftin has gotten a chance to have regular at-bats. Loftin is hitting .249/.331/.407, which is also good for a 104 wRC+. He gets there a different way than Massey; the right-handed hitter is willing to take a walk. Loftin has a 9.3 walk rate, and he also has a lower strikeout rate than Massey, although both are good at making contact. I think Loftin’s approach at the plate is more sustainable and likely to repeat itself moving forward. I think Loftin is more likely to start hitting for more power than Massey is to draw walks, which makes his ceiling in my mind a tad higher. He is also a right-handed hitter, which the team has been short on at various times.

The 27-year-old has two more years of team control compared to Massey, so the Royals aren’t in danger of needing to find another second baseman if they decide to move on from Massey. Loftin admittedly looks more natural at third base than he has at second base this year; his small sample size second base defensive numbers are dragging his overall defensive numbers down significantly. I think Loftin has looked fine at second base previously and am willing to take the gamble that if you made him the full-time second baseman he would be okay there, but that admittedly could be an issue.

I would also be willing to hear arguments that the Royals should trade Loftin if they really believe in Massey. I felt like the team just needed one of them to do well this season; the fact that both are above-average hitters right now is one of the few success stories this season. If the Royals can trade one, and my preference would be Massey, to get some pieces that will help the team not have one of the worst bullpens in team history next year, then I think that is a trade worth making.

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