Vahe Gregorian writes about what prompted the Royals spending this month, and how they considered a proposed swap for Marlins pitcher Jesus Luzardo.
It was a deal the Marlins repeatedly insisted they’d only make in exchange for 26-year-old Vinnie Pasquantino — widely seen as a core part of the Royals’ immediate future. The potential trade, first reported by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and confirmed to The Star, never exactly was imminent. But it was established that it would take nothing less than Pasquantino if the Royals determined that was their best path to the essential further upgrade of starting pitching to go with the earlier signing of Seth Lugo.