Michael Massey’s latest big swing came in a season that has gone nowhere for the Royals, and that’s exactly why he’s becoming a trade-deadline name to watch.
Kansas City’s second baseman delivered one of the club’s few bright spots on Sunday, drilling a go-ahead homer in the top of the eighth inning against the Detroit Tigers. It was the kind of moment that reminds you why he matters. It also doesn’t change the bigger picture: the Royals are 45-62, 11.5 games back of the division-leading Chicago White Sox, and still staring at a lost year.
Massey has done his part to rebuild his value. The 28-year-old is hitting .274/.312/.440, playing above-average defense at second base and already topping his 2025 plate appearance total because he has simply been healthier. His 1.5 fWAR puts him on pace for the best season of his career.
That’s also the reason this feels like the right time to talk about moving him.
The case for trading Massey starts with the idea that what you’re seeing now may be close to the full package. He has been 4% above league average at the plate, which matches the level he reached in his previous best season in 2024.
His .304 BABIP and .166 ISO don’t scream fluke, and while there’s room for a little more power - his career high is .190 - the overall offensive profile looks pretty well defined. This may just be peak Michael Massey.
The walk rate is part of the problem. Massey’s 5.7% BB% is the second-lowest among Royals hitters with at least 200 plate appearances, ahead of only Salvador Perez.
He’s a left-handed hitter who doesn’t take many free passes, and that doesn’t look like something that’s suddenly going to change. Even the defensive jump he’s made this year is tough to bank on repeating.
There’s also the downside. Massey has dealt with back injuries before, and his bat can disappear when the contact quality slips.
Last season he posted a 57 wRC+, and while 2025 should finish as the worst year of his career, the possibility of him sliding back into below-average territory is very real. He doesn’t look like the kind of player who is about to turn into an All-Star second baseman if Kansas City moves him now.
The timing matters too because Massey is not just a short-term piece. After this season, he remains under team control for two more years and won’t be eligible for free agency until after the 2028 season is completed.
He’s still arbitration-eligible, so his salary should rise, but not to free-agent levels. That gives him value beyond a rental, and it also means the Royals could get more back now than they would later.
There’s a reason that part matters for Kansas City. Teams are putting more weight on control when they evaluate trade value, and the Royals seem to be thinking that way too.
The club apparently wasn’t thrilled with the offers it got for Seth Lugo last offseason when he was a rental, and that may have helped lead to the two-year extension he signed instead. The current front office doesn’t seem eager to move Lugo or Michael Wacha, which suggests it still plans to try to compete next year rather than start over.
If the Royals do decide to deal Massey, they do have a built-in answer. Nick Loftin has taken advantage of regular at-bats and has hit .249/.331/.407, good for a 104 wRC+.
He gets there differently than Massey does, with a more patient approach and a 9.3 walk rate. Loftin also strikes out less, and while both players make contact well, Loftin’s offensive profile looks more sustainable.
There’s even a case that his ceiling is a little higher, especially if the power keeps coming. He’s also a right-handed hitter, which has value for a roster that has been short on that side at times.
Loftin has two more years of team control than Massey, so Kansas City would not be left scrambling for a second baseman if it chose to move on. The defensive fit is a little less certain - he has looked more natural at third base this year, and his small-sample second-base numbers are dragging him down - but he has looked fine there before, and the Royals could reasonably bet on him handling the job.
There’s even an argument the other way: if the Royals believe more in Loftin, they could trade him instead. But the broader point is that both players have been above-average hitters this season, which has been one of the few positive developments in a rough year. If Kansas City can turn one of them into help for a bullpen that could badly use it next season, Massey is the one who makes the most sense to move.
In Other News...
Salvador Perez Just Sent A Powerful Message About His Royals Future
Salvador Perez has spent so long as one of the faces of the Royals that any conversation about his future in Kansas City carries real weight. Even with his role behind the plate trimmed to 39 appearances this season, he remains a familiar presence in the lineup and a veteran bat the club has leaned on for years, which is why his name naturally draws attention whenever the market for catchers starts to heat up.
And the market is heating up, with clubs such as the Yankees, Red Sox, Rays and Dodgers all said to be in the hunt for help behind the plate. Perez has still shown some pop with 15 home runs in 100 games, but his overall production has been uneven, and the bigger question now is whether the Royals would even entertain the idea of moving a player who has been such a central part of the franchise for so long. [Read more 🡒]
Royals Suddenly Have A New Worry With Vinnie Pasquantino
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Manager Matt Quatraro said the issue is more noticeable for Pasquantino when he swings, which is the kind of detail that can make a routine maintenance concern feel a lot bigger. The Royals planned to monitor him closely, and for a player whose bat matters so much to their offense, the next few days will say plenty about whether this is just a brief pause or something that could linger. [Read more 🡒]
Royals May Have Just Lost Their Best Bullpen Trade Chip
The Royals have been surveying the relief market with an eye on retooling for 2027, and for a while Alex Lange looked like the cleanest bullpen piece to move. The one-year closer had shown enough improvement earlier in the season to make him a realistic trade chip, which matters for a club trying to turn short-term bullpen depth into longer-term value.
Langes recent stretch has complicated that picture, leaving Kansas City with a less obvious headliner at the deadline. John Schreiber, Matt Strahm and Daniel Lynch IV remain in the mix as possible trade candidates, and Lynch in particular has given the front office another arm to weigh as it sorts out which relievers can bring back the best return. [Read more 🡒]