The 5 toughest ‘buy or sell’ dilemmas

No general manager faces a tougher couple of days than Dayton Moore of the Royals. He has a team on the fringe of the postseason race and veteran players who might bring a bounty of young talent.

Buy or sell?

For some teams, it’s obvious. The Rays, Athletics and Padres are willing to listen to offers for virtually anyone on their rosters. For other teams — the Royals, for instance — the path is less clear.

They could still make a postseason run, but it would take a significant turnaround. With the non-waiver Trade Deadline on Monday at 4 p.m. ET, this is the weekend when decisions have to be made.

Let’s look at five teams who’ll likely have stressful weekends:

Royals: 49-52 4th place in AL Central, 9 games back 7th place in AL Wild Card race, 6 1/2 games back

Moore is attempting to evaluate what the market is for his closer, Wade Davis, arguably the best in the game. What if he can get two elite prospects, or maybe three? He has other players who have drawn interest, particularly right-hander Edinson Volquez.

He has had a simple answer: He’s listening to what other teams have to say, but he hasn’t decided to make deals that would be viewed as pulling the plug on 2016.

These decisions are the toughest any GM will ever be asked to make. It’s one thing to evaluate another team. It’s totally different to assess your own.

One thing Moore has prided himself on is making the tough call, and this one is a doozy for the defending champs. The Royals have six teams to pass just to get a Wild Card berth. Some of those teams — Red Sox, Astros, Tigers — are playing better than the Royals. But while the standings announce one reality, the other reality is that the Royals are one good stretch from getting right back in the hunt for a playoff berth.

The Dodgers and Nationals see Davis as someone who potentially could get them to the World Series. If he’s traded, the Royals would still have …

continue reading in source mlb.mlb.com