The Washington Nationals have arguably upgraded their team as much as any other this MLB off-season. Clearly the Angels won big (and paid bigger) with the Albert Pujols steal. The Tigers lost Victor Martinez for the season and then replaced him with Prince Fielder. But the Nationals grabbed some great pitching with Gio Gonzalez and now Edwin Jackson via free agency, which means that John Lannan is likely the odd man out. In fact, ESPN's David Schoenfield says he's a trade candidate and mentions the Kansas City Royals as a possible trade partner.
"Maybe the $5 million is too steep for the Royals, but let's face it: If they want to consider themselves sleeper playoff contenders this year, they need to upgrade the rotation," he writes. "Jarrod Dyson is an all-speed, no-power center fielder who might be a slight upgrade over Roger Bernadina if he can get on base enough."
Lannan has rather uninspiring peripherals for a pitcher who ends up with a sub-4.00 ERA every season. He's likely to be a league average pitcher in the back end of the Royals rotation with a 4.50 ERA after he switches leagues. He's also going to cost $5 million this season and has two more years of team control left. While Dyson is certainly expendable, the Royals are also set on pitchers who will likely turn out the same way. Thus, this trade would be fine if it happened, but would not likely produce anything inspired.