The Royals should be a better team than they are. Looking from the outside in, their corner outfielders and 2B are atrocious. They don’t need to upgrade to elite players at these positions to see a huge on-field improvement. Just getting to replacement level play would help a lot. This trade sends the Royals C.Morel, a player the Rays liked enough last year to make him the headliner in the Paredes trade. He’s a RHB with reverse splits that the Rays rarely play because of all their lefty outfielders. He needs a change of scenery and while he’s not a game changer, a 100 wRC+ bat (or better) would help stabilize one of the Royals’ outfield positions. Palacios is the real “get” here for the Royals, as he can play 2B and all 3 outfield positions. His splits are neutral (roughly 100 wRC+ last year from both sides of the plate). Considering he plays the two worst positions for the Royals and is a solid bet to put up 1-2 fWAR when healthy, he’s a huge improvement to what the Royals currently have. The cost to the Royals is their 3rd best catching prospect and a couple pitching prospects. A trade like this should be a no-brainer for the Royals. Just getting positive contributions from 2 positions that are deeply negative would dramatically improve their team, and both Morel and Palacios have multiple years of control remaining, making this a trade for 2025 and future years.

Royals fans - If you don't like this trade, what exactly are you hoping for? Your team is horrendous offensively, same as last year.