MLB Trade Rumors: Royals Trading Wil Myers for Justin Upton Is Bad Move

Justin Upton is the biggest bat on the trade block as the July 31 deadline approaches, but the Kansas City Royals need to refrain from swapping Wil Myers for him.

Arizona Diamondback’s general manager Kevin Towers is definitely fielding calls on his All-Star outfielder, according to the Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro. Piecoro writes that Towers is looking for major league help and not necessarily prospects, but could seek someone who’s close to being major league ready.

Several other MLB writers believe that a deal involving Upton could happen as well. FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal writes that rival executives say team officials aren’t convinced that he’s a winning player. Rosenthal predicts that Upton goes to a team that could offer Arizona a young left-side infielder and major-league help.

ESPN’s Jim Bowden considered five teams that could work out a deal for Upton, including the Royals. Bowden writes that the Royals would have to give up prospect Wil Myers, who projects as a middle-of-the-order bat. Bowden thinks adding Upton would make the Royals’ lineup one of the best for years to come while not costing them too much.

Based off of these reports, it seems that Kansas City would have to give up Myers and a good shortstop or third baseman in order to acquire Upton from Arizona.

The Royals have several good left-side prospects including Cheslor Cuthbert, Orlando Calixte, Mike Antonio and Humberto Arteaga, but they are all in the low levels of Kansas City’s minor league system, which might not interest Towers.

Forgetting about giving up any of those four prospects, losing Wil Myers is a path that the Royals shouldn’t even consider. Kansas City has two great minor league outfielder prospects—Myers and Bubba Starling. If the deal was for Starling that would be a different story, but Myers is much too valuable to trade.

In ESPN prospect Guru Keith Law’s latest rankings (insider subscription required), he puts Myers at No. 4 in all of baseball. As a side note to show how good Starling could be, he’s No. 13 on that list. Law also said that among all of the players in the Futures Game, Myers has the best hit tools. In that game Myers went 2-for-4 with a run and three RBI while hitting third for Team USA.

In 35 games with Double-A Northwest Arkansas earlier this season, Myers hit .343/.414/.731 with 13 home runs, 30 RBI and 32 runs. He was then promoted to Triple-A Omaha where he’s hit .315/.395/.636 with 14 home runs, 42 RBI and 40 runs. He could be major league ready by the end of this season, and is as close to a lock for starting 2013 on the Royals’ roster as it gets.

Myers is a special talent that the Royals can’t afford to trade. Even with the tools that Upton would bring to the Royals in a trade, there’s a chance that Myers is a MVP candidate in his rookie season. Kansas City was terrible for so many seasons and has finally produced a group of young stars through the draft process.

Why would they all of the sudden go the “New York Yankees” route and deal their prospects for major league talent? It makes no sense. They’re not completely out of the hunt in the AL Central just yet and by adding another pitcher, they could go on a big run in the second half of the season.

Adding Justin Upton isn’t the answer at the moment, especially if it means giving up Myers. Bowden said that Upton would give the Royals one of the best lineups for years to come. But they are still going to have a great lineup if they don’t get Upton.

In a few seasons, this Royals lineup could feature Eric Hosmer, Alex Gordon, Mike Moustakas, Salvador Perez, Bubba Starling and Wil Myers. It doesn’t get much more exciting than that if you ask me.

Trading for Justin Upton would provide a spark to the Royals, but it won’t come close to what Wil Myers will do in the next few years.