7 (or more) trade targets from the Kansas City Royals for the Colorado Rockies

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI - JUNE 15: Whit Merrifield #15 of the Kansas City Royals is congratulated by teammates in the dugout after scoring on a wild pitch during the 3rd inning of the game against the Detroit Tigers at Kauffman Stadium on June 15, 2021 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI - JUNE 15: Whit Merrifield #15 of the Kansas City Royals is congratulated by teammates in the dugout after scoring on a wild pitch during the 3rd inning of the game against the Detroit Tigers at Kauffman Stadium on June 15, 2021 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /
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Colorado Rockies, Kansas City Royals, MJ Melendez
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – JULY 20: MJ Melendez #70 of the Kansas City Royals connects for a single during the 9th inning of an exhibition game against the Houston Astros at Kauffman Stadium on July 20, 2020 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /

The Kansas City Royals have a quandary that the Colorado Rockies could alleviate

Realistically, the Colorado Rockies do not need a starting catcher. After all, they don’t think they do either since they extended Elias Díaz to a three-year deal this offseason. However, the Rockies don’t have a clear-cut backup catcher since Dom Nuñez struggled, especially in the second half of the season.

The Royals, in a similar manner, have Salvador Perez as their starting catcher and they just extended him as the new four-year contract (plus a team option) starts this upcoming season. Perez, a seven-time All-Star, five-time Gold Glove winner, and four-time Silver Slugger winner, led the majors in both home runs (48) and RBI (121) in 2021 and he came in 7th in AL MVP voting.

But the Royals could have a problem.

The Royals #4 prospect (MLB.com’s #67 prospect) is catcher MJ Melendez (oddly enough, the Royals #2, #3, and #4 prospects are #65, #66, and #67 for MLB.com’s overall prospects) and Melendez is going to be in the majors in 2022.

Melendez, 23, split the season between Double-A and Triple-A in 2022 and he combined to have 41 homers, 103 RBI, and he had a slash line of .288/.386/.625. In Triple-A, he was actually better than he was in Double-A (1.033 OPS in Triple-A and .999 OPS in Double-A).