Recent Royals move gives Pirates reason to thank Kansas City ahead of trade deadline

The Kansas City Royals just delivered the Pittsburgh Pirates their second gift of trade season. The first one was sending a power-hitting shortstop for Adam Frazier, while the second was involved extending Seth Lugo to a two-year contract Sunday night.

Although it may seem completely irrelevant to the Pirates at first blush, this actually helps them a lot on the trade front. Lugo was a very hot name on the market as a frontline starter and one of the limited All-Stars available. Now, Kansas City feels like they can compete with Detroit for the AL Central (in the long-term, and maybe the short-term, too), and they wanted to make it known that this group is serious, inking Lugo for longer.

Now that his name is off the market, Pittsburgh can benefit with the added value to Mitch Keller and Andrew Heaney. This mainly impacts Keller, as another All-Star arm is off the market. Toronto was a team that was linked to Lugo multiple times, along with Keller. Now that Lugo is off the board, the Blue Jays could pivot all of their attention to Keller.

Same could go with the other teams involved in Keller's market, such as the Cubs, Yankees, and Mets. Lugo's name off the board will make these teams bid more for Keller, as a comparable option disappears (albeit one who was a rental before Sunday night's shift).

Royals' extension of Seth Lugo dramatically helps the Pirates maximize returns in potential pitching trades.

Some speculated that Keller would land a top-100 prospect in a package. Ben Cherington is already iffy on a Keller trade as is, but since he is one of the limited stars on the market, the return could get even bigger. Trading a guy like Keller is difficult for this club as is, yet if the return improves, it could really save this offense. It is a major risk to trade him regardless, thoughCherington recently said that he was more willing to take risks.

Pittsburgh can really thank the Royals for enhancing their pitchers' trade value. If the Pirates can really land enough talent to shift this offense in the right direction, a trade of Keller might be worth it. The only problem is Cherington has struggled in finding talent through trades. This will be an intriguing next few days, and hopefully Pittsburgh does not bungle what they have.