Royals' need for an outfielder presents perfect opportunity for SF Giants

The SF Giants need starting pitching this offseason and the Kansas City Royals need an outfielder. Perhaps the two teams could help each other out with a swap that would send an outfielder to the Royals in exchange for some pitching.

The Giants have one starting outfielder they may be willing to trade in Heliot Ramos. He was an All-Star in 2024 and followed that up with another solid offensive campaign in 2025 although his defense leaves a lot to be desired.

SF Giants could swap Heliot Ramos with a Royals starter

Not only that, but the Giants also have a glut of outfielders who would be fighting for a roster spot in spring training. From Luis Matos to Marco Luciano, Wade Meckler, Justin Dean, Joey Wiemer, Jerar Encarnacion, and Drew Gilbert, the Giants have too many outfielders to enter next season with, especially with several of them being out of minor league options.

The Royals also have a surplus of starters, both high-end and more borderline, who could pique the interest of the Giants. Cole Ragans is the crown jewel of the staff although he is coming off a lackluster 2025 campaign in which he had a 4.67 ERA in 13 starts.

There are other options like Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo, but they seem less likely to be traded. The Royals also have some promising younger arms who could be rotation pieces but cannot be considered reliable options.

Would trading Ramos for Ragans be enough for both sides? Ragans is 27 and has a few more years of team control left as does Ramos so it is not like either of these players would be a rental. Both were All-Stars in 2024 so one could argue that it would be a fair swap, but the Royals may want more.

Maybe including someone like Matos or Luciano along with Ramos would be enough to get a deal done.

Of course, by trading Ramos the Giants would be creating a hole in their lineup that they would have to address somehow. It is doubtful that they would turn to an internal option as an everyday starter so they would probably have to address the need through free agency or some other trade.

The Giants and Royals made a minor swap earlier this offseason so they have done business recently and they also worked out a deal at the trade deadline in 2025 that sent Mike Yastrzemski to Kansas City.

Maybe that familiarity and Kansas City's acute need for an outfielder could help the Giants get a deal done as they try to address their need for rotation arms.