The Athletics need pitching help and they have eyes for one of the most intriguing arms on the market.
Royals left-hander Kris Bubic is a player of interest for the A’s ahead of the August 3 trade deadline, per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. That is a real headline because Bubic is a former All-Star, the Royals are sliding toward seller territory, and the A’s are looking to stabilize a rotation that has been a problem all year.
The 28-year-old Bubic has a 4.11 ERA in nine starts in 2026 and is heading into free agency at the end of the season. That timing matters. If Kansas City decides this isn’t their year, Bubic becomes the kind of rental every contender wants.
The catch? His elbow.
Bubic hasn’t pitched since May 14 because of soreness in his throwing elbow, and that is a flag every front office is paying attention to. He has Tommy John surgery and a rotator cuff strain in his recent history, and he has logged just 213 innings since the start of the 2023 season. The A’s would be buying a high-upside arm with a real injury question.
Kansas City is in an awkward spot too. The Royals entered 2026 expecting to compete for the playoffs. Instead they sit at 27-39 and are battling the Tigers for last place in the AL Central. The American League is so weak this year that even at 27-39 they’re somehow not out of the Wild Card race. That is why GM J.J. Picollo has insisted they are not ready to be sellers.
But every week that goes by, that position gets harder to defend.
If the Royals do sell, Bubic is their most valuable trade chip. A team like the A’s, who are quietly trying to add to a young roster, could put together a package built around prospects. The fit makes sense on paper. The execution depends on Kansas City accepting they aren’t a playoff team in 2026.
The A’s are clearly scouting the lead-up to the deadline carefully. Assuming Bubic returns to the Royals rotation within a couple of weeks, every team that needs starting pitching, and there are a lot of them, will be watching his velocity, his command, and how his elbow holds up.
If he looks healthy, the bidding war is going to be real. Oakland just got out in front of the line.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
