Let’s start with a story about Horace Stoneham.
Stoneham owned the New York Giants starting in the mid-30s through the mid-70s. After the 1957 season, Stoneham and Brooklyn Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley moved both of their teams out of New York and into California, settling in San Francisco and Los Angeles, respectively.
Before the move, though, Stoneham received an offer from the owner of the St. Louis Cardinals, August Busch Jr. The offer: an ungodly amount of money in exchange for the team’s star
center fielder, Willie Mays.
The move tempted Stoneham. After all, the amount of money offered would enable Stoneham to keep the Giants in Manhattan for the foreseeable future. No, the team would never be as popular as the Yankees, but with the Dodgers leaving for the West Coast, the Giants would be the only National League team in town. Plus, the team had enjoyed recent success, reaching the World Series in 1951 before taking home the crown in 1954.
Still, the team’s success—let alone its relevance—depended on Mays.
Would the Giants still be the Giants without him?
It didn’t take long for Stoneham to answer that question.
As Willie Mays goes, so go the Giants.
***
As Cole Ragans goes, so go the Kansas City Royals.
This isn’t to say that the Royals wouldn’t be the Royals without him. No, Cole Ragans is not the face of the Royals, nor is he the team’s most popular player, nor is he the team’s most valuable player. I am not comparing him to Willie Mays, the greatest player to ever grace the diamond.
And yet: as Ragans goes, so goes the team.
He’s not untouchable. No one on the Royals is untouchable. No one in baseball—save a certain player on the Dodgers—is untouchable. If one of the other league’s general managers or baseball czars or team presidents or whoever picked up the phone and called J.J. Picollo with an offer for Bobby Witt Jr. or Salvador Perez, J.J. Picollo would listen. It would take a lot to pry such a player away, not to mention, in his case, Salvy’s approval, but Picollo would listen.
Brian Cashman would listen on Aaron Judge.
Chaim Bloom is willing to make him offers on Nolan Arenado, Brendan Donovan, and others.
Arte Moreno, I imagine, couldn’t care less if Mike Trout finished his career outside of Anaheim.
Want Jackson Chourio? Nick Kurtz? Paul Skenes?
Matt Arnold will listen, please hold for Mr. Forst, Ben Cherington is on the line.
Need a left-handed ace? Sure, Picollo will palaver with you, but you’d better have a godfather offer, a king’s ransom, because a deal straight-up for a 29-year-old left fielder won’t get it done. Or, at least, it shouldn’t get it done.
Yes, I’m talking about Jarren Duran, the starting left fielder for the Boston Red Sox. Much to my chagrin, rumors continue to swirl about a potential Duran-for-Ragans swap between the Sox and Royals. I’d hoped that the incredible—and confusing—trade the Royals swung with the Brewers would’ve put these rumors to bed, especially when coupling said move with the signing of Lane Thomas, but alas: it’s the offseason, which feeds on one thing and one thing only: rumors.
Rumors, yes. Not facts. I have no idea if trade talks are truly still happening between the Royals and Red Sox that involve Ragans. An insider, I am not.
The fact that others, though, continue to mention such a trade—that fact worries me.
The Royals can trade Cole Ragans, sure. He’s not untouchable. If they trade him, though, they need a substantial return, not merely a guy who struck out 109 more times than he walked in 2025, a guy whose slugging percentage dropped 50 points from 2024, whose OPS plummeted 60 points.
As Ragans goes, so go the Royals.
That means:
- If Ragans remains with the Royals and deals as he did in 2024, the Royals will strongly compete for a playoff spot.
- If Ragans remains with the Royals and falters or deals with injuries, the Royals will compete for a playoff spot.
- If Ragans moves for a left fielder, the Royals will compete for a playoff spot.
- If Ragans moves for a package of players, including another pitcher, the Royals will strongly compete for a playoff spot.
Or: if Ragans stays and pitches well or is traded and returns multiple pieces, the Royals will be in a better position than the one in which they found themselves last year.
If he’s ineffective or is traded for just another player, well, if you enjoyed the slog that was 2025, I have some good news for you about 2026.
A buddy of mine asked me, “Is Ragans an ace? Or has he had one good year?”
My answer: “Both.”
He is the Royals’ ace and during his one good year, they reached the playoffs for the first time since 2015.
As Cole Ragans goes, so go the Kansas City Royals.
