Not that Salvador Perez would’ve been traded anyway http://www.astrosfanproshop.com/authentic-justin-verlander-jersey , but his injury opens up the title of "biggest trade chip" for KC in 2019."to trade veterans on short or expiring contracts at the MLB trade deadline plays a crucial role in rebuilding farm systems. The Chicago White Sox added Yoan Moncada, Eloy Jimenez, and Michael Kopech through trades. Eloy Jimenez is now one of the top prospects in all of baseball and Michael Kopech is one of the top pitching prospects in baseball.Last year, the Royals traded Kelvin Herrera and Jon Jay during the season and acquired four prospects in Kelvin Gutierrez, Blake Perkins, Yohanse Morel, and Elvis Luciano, that would all rate in their top 30 prospects right now (Luciano is currently a Rule 5 player for Toronto). Should Luciano be returned to KC, the Royals would have two elite defensive prospects and two wild card teenage pitchers added to the system after trading an average center fielder and a non-closing reliever.You get the idea. Want to jump start your rebuild? Find assets that other people want and then trade them for prospects.In my opinion, Salvador Perez was the Royals single most valuable trade asset before his elbow injury (assuming younger/controllable assets like Mondesi were off the table). The five time Gold Glove award winner and former World Series MVP would’ve likely returned the Royals a king’s ransom, given his overall profile. He’s marketable, a great teammate, leader in the clubhouse, Gold Glove catcher, and has good power for a catcher. Remove Salvy from the conversation, and I think it’s fair to question what trade assets the Royals have left. For the sake of this conversation Brian McCann Jersey , we’re going to assume that players like Adalberto Mondesi, Brad Keller, Ryan O’Hearn, and any prospect is off the table. With that being said, here’s who is left.#1: Whit Merrifield, 2B/CFWhit Merrifield is pretty clearly the answer here. Coming off of a 5.2 fWAR season, the Royals super-utility man would be a highly coveted asset at this year’s trade deadline, especially given his new, guaranteed contract. I said we weren’t going to put young, controllable players on this list, but Merrifield is not young. Currently entering his age-30 season, I can see a scenario developing that could persuade the Royals to trade Merrifield. Say Nicky Lopez has a great season with AAA Omaha, Bubba Starling makes strides, Brett Phillips hits well, and the Royals are 20 games below .500 come July, Whit Merrifield could be a hot commodity among contenders looking to fill a void at the top of the lineup.#2: Jorge Soler http://www.astrosfanproshop.com/authentic-justin-verlander-jersey , OF/DHJorge Soler was once traded for the best closer in baseball, before he ever proved anything in the big leagues. Imagine if he proves he can handle big league pitching. There are always teams that need bats. If Soler can stay healthy through July, given the Royals glut of outfielders between AAA and the big leagues, I could see a team giving up something worth trading for in July. There’s a huge drop off between my expected (theoretical) return for Merrifield versus Soler, but I think Soler could be worth shopping nonetheless if he’s hitting well (which I expect he will).#3: Kyle Zimmer, RPPut down the pitch forks and hang on a second. Relievers are perhaps the most replaceable and most inconsistent players on any given team. We all know about Kyle Zimmer’s injury history. Zimmer looks healthy for now, but if he’s pitching well in July, the Royals absolutely need to consider taking offers on him. He’s been the most pleasant Surprise (hehe) from Spring Training and I am stoked for him as a Tommy John Surgery recipient. I hope he’s able to have a lengthy career from here on out, but the Royals don’t need to wait around and take that gamble. If he’s healthy and pitching well in July, Zimmer needs to be on another team.#4/5/6: Wily Peralta, Brad Boxberger, Jake Diekman, RPsThus ends the hope of getting anything significant in return at the deadline. Take your pick at who you think returns the most of these three, but they could all feasibly fetch SOMETHING. I don’t expect any of these pitchers to be on the roster on August 1.#7: Alex Gordon, OFAlex Gordon is owed $20M for the 2019 season and has a $4M buyout in the off-season. He’s not going to fetch anything in a trade. However, if Gordon can be slightly above average against RHP through July Tyler Clippard Jersey , stays healthy, and continues playing Gold Glove defense in LF (all things he did in 2018) then maybe someone eats his contract for August and September if you’re willing to send $4M with him for the buyout. The Royals play 52 games between August and September, or 32.1% of their total games for the season. If someone is willing to eat $5+M of his 2019 salary to take Gordon for a playoff push, opening up a spot in the Royals outfield for one of the younger guys, let them have him. It’s been one heck of a ride for Gordon in Kansas City, but I’d like to see him go out in a playoff run.#8: Terrance Gore, OFAnother outfielder that certainly won’t return much in the way of value, Gore could be coveted at the deadline nonetheless. Take an 18-year old lottery arm from the rookie team of a contender and call it a day.The Royals no longer have highly coveted assets that they can use to rebuild the farm system. They’re not going to move a player like Mondesi leaving them with Whit Merrifield and some lottery tickets. Lottery tickets hit every once in a while, but like the stocking stuffer from your Granny every Christmas, I’m not gonna bank on any of the Royals lottery tickets returning anything more than another lottery ticket this year. BALTIMORE–The defending World Series champion Houston Astros close the 2018 season with a trip to Baltimore this weekend, and the first game of their four-game series with the Orioles is set for Thursday at 7:05 p.m. ET at Camden Yards.Houston already has clinched the American League West and will play the Indians in the Division Series. That starts on Oct. 5, and the Astros get home-field advantage there.The only time Houston would not hold the home-field advantage is if it meets Boston in the AL Championship Series as the Red Sox already have that locked up.Article continues below ...David Hess (3-10, 5.14 ERA) will start for the Orioles versus Houston right-hander Gerrit Cole (15-5, 2.92) on Thursday.Cole has given an already-strong Astros’ starting staff even more punch this season. He has won five in a row and last lost on Aug. 10. This will be the first time Cole has pitched against the Orioles this season — and in fact, he’s never gone against Baltimore in his career.Hess has been up and down during this rookie season. The right-hander has gone 1-5 in the past two months but pitched effectively on several occasions.This will be the first time he’s ever pitched against the Astros.Houston (100-58) is coming off of a 3-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday in a game that really meant nothing. The Astros actually clinched the division total very early Wednesday morning when Oakland lost to Seattle.However, Houston officially celebrated in the locker room after the loss in Toronto http://www.astrosfanproshop.com/authentic-justin-verlander-jersey , and now will prepare for this four-game series in Baltimore that really holds little meaning except that the Astros want to go into the playoffs on a good note.“We’re the only team that can repeat, and our team needs to know that,” Houston manager AJ Hinch told reporters. “It’s important for us to have our moment and lock back in. In a week, we’re going to play real baseball.”Baltimore is starting the final series of an historically poor season. To make matters worse, the Orioles have run out of pitchers at times, especially in the starting rotation, which is a big reason they went with a committee approach in Wednesday’s day-night doubleheader in Boston.Plus, most of the pitchers Baltimore is using do not have a lot of major league experience and are being hit hard as they get used to life at this level.“There are better days ahead for those guys,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said of the young pitchers. “But it’s a tough learning curve. (However) it’s never as bad as it seems or as good as it seems.”The Orioles are coming into this series after splitting a day-night doubleheader in Boston on Wednesday. Boston crushed Baltimore 19-3 in the first game — the biggest margin of defeat the Orioles (46-112) have suffered in this forgetful season.However, Baltimore bounced back and pulled out a 10-3 victory in the nightcap, thanks to seven runs in the final three innings.