Royals left-hander Kris Bubic is a player of interest for the Athletics in advance of the trade deadline, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale writes. Bubic is a free agent after the season, and thus a logical trade candidate if the 27-39 Royals can’t get back into contention.
The first order of business is Bubic’s health, as the southpaw hasn’t pitched since May 14 due to soreness in his throwing elbow. Bubic downplayed the severity of the problem at the time of his placement on the 15-day injured list, and while he is already beyond the 15-day minimum, he has been throwing bullpen sessions and seems to be on track with a standard throwing progression.
Any sort of elbow issue is of particular concern given Bubic’s injury history, as he has pitched only 213 innings since the start of the 2023 season due to a Tommy John surgery and a rotator cuff strain. After the TJ procedure shelved Bubic for most of the 2023-24 seasons, he returned to the rotation in great form and earned an All-Star nod last year before the rotator cuff issue prematurely ended his season in late July.
Things haven’t gone quite as smoothly in Bubic’s latest return to action, as he posted a 4.11 ERA over his first nine starts and 50 1/3 innings of the 2026 campaign. Bubic is still striking out a decent number of batters, but his 12.6% walk rate is well above his previous career average of 9.4%. Batters are also chasing Bubic’s pitches far less than they did in 2025, and having a lot more success against both his sweeper and his low-90’s fastball.
Still, even if Bubic projects as more of a mid-rotation or even a back-end starter than a frontline arm, that still makes him a valuable rental commodity. Bubic has roughly $3.88MM remaining on his $6.15MM salary, so he is a fit in any team’s budget. Assuming Bubic is back in Kansas City’s rotation within a couple of weeks, the A’s and plenty of other teams figure to be scouting the veteran’s readiness in the lead-up to the August 3 trade deadline.
There is so much parity given the American League that it may take well over a month for most teams to fall within “buyer” and “seller” categories, and naturally several teams might do a bit of both. At 31-34, the Athletics aren’t that far ahead of the Royals in the standings, so there’s no guarantee the West Sacramento club will still be in buyer mode once the deadline rolls around.
If the A’s do remain in the hunt, rotation help is an obvious need. Today’s 5-0 shutout of the Astros was a rare gem for a pitching staff that entered Sunday’s action with a collective 4.66 ERA, ranking 26th of 30 teams. Injuries to Luis Severino and Aaron Civale further thinned what was already a shaky rotation to begin with, and a move to acquire Bubic (or another prominent starter) for immediate help doesn’t seem likely since the Royals are probably still hoping to turn their season around.
The Athletics’ current starting five consists of Jeffrey Springs, J.T. Ginn, Jack Perkins (who has 70 2/3 MLB innings to his name) and two rookies in Gage Jump and Kade Morris. The highly-touted Jump tossed 6 1/3 shutout frames today and has a 2.45 ERA over his first 13 1/3 innings, but the A’s may not want to lean too hard on the idea of Jump keeping up this production throughout a playoff race.
Sutter Health Park has proven to be a daunting challenge for most starting pitchers, but Bubic could be a decent fit for the hitter-friendly venue. Bubic has done a good job at keeping the ball in the park over his last four seasons, though naturally pitching at Kauffman Stadium has helped him in the regard. Bubic has a 45.7% grounder rate over his career, with this season’s 43.8% number a little below that norm.
