Kansas City Royals: 4 Post-Deadline Moves Royals Could Still Make

As the Kansas City Royals continue their surprising push for the playoffs, there are a few moves post-trade deadline that the team could make to improve their chances. 

The big move that general manager Dayton Moore made at the deadline was trading minor league pitching prospect Kyle Smith to the Houston Astros for outfielder Justin Maxwell. 

The addition of Maxwell paid off early for Kansas City, as his pinch-hit home run against the Mets gave the Royals a win in the 12th inning on Aug. 3. 

Here are four moves that the Royals could make to keep up the hot streak they've been on lately. 

Replace Wade Davis in the Rotation with Danny Duffy

Danny Duffy is set to make his first major league start on Wednesday since undergoing Tommy John surgery last June, per Sam McDowell of The Kansas City Star. 

He'll take the place of Wade Davis in the rotation who, according to McDowell, is away from the team following the death of his stepbrother. 

Duffy is a great pitching prospect for the Royals who is certainly hungry to make an impact for this team. However, Davis has struggled this season with just a 5-9 record and a 5.42 ERA. 

It's hard to imagine that Duffy, a pitcher that nobody in the majors has seen in over a year and who is starving to get back to the show, could do worse than Davis. 

So maybe permanently replacing Davis with Duffy would be a nice burst of life into the team. 

Start Justin Maxwell at Right Field

Since Justin Maxwell joined the Royals at the deadline, he's appeared in five games and made nine plate appearances. 

In those nine appearances, according to ESPN, Maxwell's batting average rose 12 points, from .241 to .253. It even reached .259 before he went 0-for-3 on Tuesday against the Twins. 

Since Jeff Francoeur joined the San Francisco Giants following his designation for assignment by the Royals, Kansas City has been looking for some stability at right field. 

They've tried a lot of different options, including starting David Lough there as well as moving Lorenzo Cain to right and starting Jarrod Dyson at center field. 

While Lough and Dyson are certainly quality players that deserve to be on the 25-man roster, Maxwell has the most talent, and it would be a great move to put Maxwell at right field and keep Cain at center field. 

Send Chris Getz Down, Call Up Johnny Giavotella

Second baseman Chris Getz has been one of the least productive players on the team. He's hitting just .209 this season with one homer and 14 RBI. 

However, Johnny Giavotella has tore up Triple-A Omaha this season, batting .292 with 39 RBI.

He made a brief appearance in the majors this season where he hit just .206 in 10 games. But four of those games were at Yankee Stadium, and another four were against the Cleveland Indians. Eight games against teams slated to reach the postseason isn't a fair sample size for a prospect. 

if the Royals gave Giavotella another chance when Chris Getz comes off the DL, surely he would have a more consistent outing. 

Send Down Chris Getz, Call Up Pedro Ciriaco

Since the Royals claimed shortstop Pedro Ciriaco off of waivers from the San Diego Padres on July 16, he's been one of the best players for Triple-A Omaha. 

In the minors, Ciriaco has hit .299 in 19 games with 12 RBI. As a backup for the Padres this year, he hit .228. 

While Ciriaco couldn't maintain a consistent level of production with the Padres, he's proving that he could be a quality middle infielder in the minors. If the Royals give him a shot by replacing Getz on the 25-man roster with Ciriaco, he should at least prove to be a better bat than Getz.