Danny Duffy, Kansas City Royals
Hearing Duffy’s name in the trade rumor mill hasn’t been an uncommon occurrence over the last couple years. He’s been open about not wanting to get traded, but for a Royals team also in the midst of a rebuild, he’s one of their most attractive trade assets, all things considered.
Similar to Myers, the southpaw enjoyed a two-year run of above-average production from 2016-17 for Kansas City, yet has failed to reach those levels since. Despite an 18.9% strikeout rate that’s on pace to decrease for the third year in a row, Duffy’s been much more productive overall based on his 4.28 ERA through 75.1 innings.
But the thing is that he’s been inconsistent. The only five innings he threw in March/April yielded a 5.40 ERA. He followed that with a solid 3.86 ERA through 35 May innings before watching it balloon up to 4.97 through 29 innings last month. His first 6.2 frames of July have been good, at least (2.70 ERA).
The Royals need to be investigating all options available to help them raise the performance floor of their next contending club. Although they do have some exciting players in Adalberto Mondesi and Hunter Dozier, it’s hard seeing them ready to compete for an American League playoff spot prior to 2021, which is the final guaranteed season of Duffy’s five-year, $65 million extension.
He could use new surroundings and with his postseason experience, could very well be an asset for a contending team that has October aspirations.
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