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MLB MLB Offseason Despite adding two outfielders this offseason, the Royals could be looking for more, with Jarren Duran among their targets. Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Even after signing free agent Lane Thomas and trading for Isaac Collins, the Kansas City Royals are open to adding another outfielder – most notably Jarren Duran, if the Boston Red Sox lower their asking price. The Royals are under the impression Duran would cost them left-hander Cole Ragans, though the Red Sox view the initial talks as more informal and exploratory, according to people briefed on the conversations. Advertisement Both Ragans, 28, and Duran, 29, are under club control for three more seasons, with Ragans under contract for a combined $12 million in 2026-27 and Duran for $7. 75 million in ’26. The Royals, though, see Ragans as a player with greater value, a potential Game 1 starter in a postseason series. The St. Louis Cardinals’ Brendan Donovan is another Royals target, but The Athletic’s Katie Woo reported Saturday that the Seattle Mariners and San Francisco Giants are the front-runners for the super-utility player. The path for those teams to Donovan is cleaner than it is for the Royals. To make a deal happen, the Royals probably would need to orchestrate a three-way swap, trading left-hander Kris Bubic for prospects they could redirect to the Cardinals. Bubic, projected to earn $6 million in arbitration before becoming a free agent, is of little interest to St. Louis, a rebuilding club. The defensive versatility of Collins, who played mostly left field for the Milwaukee Brewers but also is experienced at both second and third base, is the reason the Royals can keep thinking big. Collins, 28, satisfied the Royals’ long-standing desire to acquire a switch-hitter. His . 779 OPS last season would have ranked fifth on their club. And while he will need to prove his breakout was not an outlier, he reminds some Royals officials of Whit Merrifield, a productive member of the team from 2016 to ’22. If the Royals acquired Duran, he would play left with Jac Caglianone getting most of the at-bats in right. Thomas could play center against left-handers, Kyle Isbel against righties. Collins spell Caglianone against tough lefties, and second baseman Jonathan India against tough righties. For now, it’s all hypothetical, and maybe it stays that way. But so far this offseason, the Royals have added Thomas, signed Maikel Garcia to a five-year, $57. 5 million extension and traded lefty reliever Ángel Zerpa for Collins and righty reliever Nick Mears. They plan to stay aggressive. Advertisement The Arizona Diamondbacks’ two-year, $40 million agreement with right-hander Merrill Kelly, coupled with their one-year, $7. 5 million signing of Michael Soroka, changes little in the team’s approach to trading second baseman Ketel Marte, according to a club source. The only difference now is that the Diamondbacks are more settled in their rotation. Ryne Nelson, Eduardo Rodriguez and Brandon Pfaadt are in place with Kelly and Soroka, and Corbin Burnes is expected back from Tommy John surgery at some point during the summer. The DBacks, wanting to avoid getting caught short again, almost certainly will seek young pitching in any package for Marte, a switch-hitter and three-time All-Star. But the question remains: Will any team meet their price for a player whose contract is so affordable, The Athletic’s Eno Sarris estimated its surplus value might be $100 million. Marte, 32, is owed $102. 5 million over the next six seasons, including $41 million in deferrals that do not get paid out until 10 years after the money is earned. Factoring in the deferrals, his average annual value for luxury-tax purposes is $14. 6 million, making him particularly attractive to big-market teams trying to stay under certain thresholds. No free-agent hitter offers better value, though Marte’s clubhouse issues last season might give some teams pause. Those issues resulted in large part from him spending the first three games after the All-Star break in his native Dominican Republic after his home in Scottsdale, Ariz. , was burglarized. Marte still finished with the second-highest f WAR among second basemen. His career OPS is . 823. The Diamondbacks want young major-league ready players for Marte, but also would consider prospects they could spin to a third club for the right talent. Lining up a two-team trade, though, will be difficult enough. Involving a third club might complicate the process excessively. Advertisement In addition to their quest for pitching, both starting and relief, the Diamondbacks will need to upgrade their infield if they trade Marte. None of their internal options at second and third – Jordan Lawlar, Blaze Alexander and Tim Tawa – are established major leaguers. Marte has a five-team no-trade list – the Athletics, New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates, Giants and Cardinals, according to people briefed on his contract. He will gain full no-trade protection as a player with 10 years of major-league service, five consecutive with the same team, on the 10th day of the 2026 season. Corner infielder Munetaka Murakami’s boom-or-bust potential makes him the most fascinating of the Japanese free agents. His 45-day window to negotiate with a major-league team expires on Dec. 22 at 5 p. m. ET. And his destination remains a mystery. Murakami is tantalizing because of his age (26 in February) and massive power (265 home runs in eight NPB seasons, including 56 in 2022). But major-league executives continue to express concern about his swing-and-miss tendencies. Murakami’s 25 percent strikeout rate is actually lower than Shohei Ohtani’s 27 percent mark during his ages 18 to 22 seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). But it’s also significantly higher than Seiya Suzuki’s 16 percent rate in NPB before he signed with the Chicago Cubs in 2022. Suzuki has been a productive major-league hitter. Ohtani has developed into an otherworldly one. But another Japanese free-agent infielder, Kazuma Okamoto, is viewed as perhaps a better bet than Murakami to succeed in the majors. Okamoto, whose negotiating window expires on Jan. 4, has a career strikeout rate in Japan of 18 percent. Information from league sources: • Merrill Kelly received a three-year offer for more than $50 million from a West Coast team before agreeing to his two-year, $40 million deal with the Diamondbacks. Advertisement The team that made the offer has not been disclosed, but it almost certainly was in California. The only West Coast team outside of that state, the Mariners, is not in need of a starting pitcher. Kelly, who played for the Diamondbacks from 2019 until they sent him to the Texas Rangers at the trade deadline, made no secret of his desire to return to Arizona. The cost of living and state taxes in Arizona also are lower than they are in California. • At least one club talking to the Washington Nationals about shortstop CJ Abrams is under the impression that new president of baseball operations Paul Toboni is not especially motivated to move him. Toboni repeatedly has said he believes several of the Nationals’ young players have “another gear” to find in their performance. Abrams’ past two seasons have been almost identical. In both, he was about 10 percent above league average offensively. •Brewers president of baseball operations Matt Arnold told reporters the team is open to trying Ángel Zerpa as a starter. No great surprise there – the Brewers are always trying to create starting pitchers, knowing how expensive they are in free agency and how difficult they are to acquire in trade. All but eight of Zerpa’s 148 major-league appearances have been as a reliever, but he started in the minors. The Brewers will be deep in starting pitching even if they trade Freddy Peralta. Robert Gasser, Aaron Ashby and DL Hall are their other potential left-handers. Ken Rosenthal is a senior baseball writer for The Athletic who has spent nearly 40 years covering the major leagues. In addition, Ken is an Emmy-award winning broadcaster for Fox Sports’ MLB telecasts. His peers voted him National Sportswriter of the Year in 2022 and 2024. Follow Ken on Twitter @Ken_Rosenthal