Whit Merrifield hopes he’s still with the Kansas City Royals when the winning starts

Versatile infielder/outfielder and leadoff hitter Whit Merrifield is a veteran of trade rumors and speculation. The Royals are the only organization he has known, and he hopes to be part of the club when it becomes a contender again.

Merrifield also knows full well which aspects of his future aren’t within his control. In an interview with The Star on Saturday, he discussed how his handling of trade rumors has changed since the beginning of his career as well as his desire to stay with the Royals.

“Obviously, I’d love to be here when we’re winning,” Merrifield said. “That hasn’t happened in a couple years. It’s time to start winning. I’d love to be here when that happens.

“I think there’s a lot of talent in this organization that can win some games. There’s a lot we need to do better at for that to happen, but I definitely have a lot of confidence in the talent that we have, the front office that we have.

“And it’s just up to us players to play better and the coaches to help us get there. I have confidence that we can.”

The Royals haven’t finished a season with a record at or above .500 since 2016, when they went 81-81.

With Sunday’s win over the Detroit Tigers, the Royals improved to 42-55 and matched their longest win streak of the season with five straight victories.

Merrifield had a double and a run scored on Sunday. The double extended his franchise record for leadoff doubles to 39, the most in the majors since 2016.

He has played in 403 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the majors and the longest by a Royal since Alcides Escobar’s franchise-record 421 from 2015-18.

Merrifield, 32, appeared in his second All-Star Game earlier this month. Through 97 games this season, he has batted .272 with a .319 OBP and a .402 slugging percentage with eight home runs, 52 RBIs and 56 runs scored.

He leads the majors with 25 stolen bases.

“If I’m ever to a point where I feel uncertain or just want to know what’s going on, our front office is some of the best in the league in being straightforward with you and being approachable and letting you know what’s going on,” Merrifield said of trade speculation.

“We’ve had conversations pretty much every year. I’m fairly certain if things were to get to a point where something might happen, I’d be pretty well aware pretty early on.”

Merrifield said he considers the way the Royals handle potential trades as a testament to the front office, and he lauded their understanding that they’re dealing with human beings as opposed to numbers.

“They understand this is more than a transactional thing,” Merrifield said. “It’s more than Player A going to Team B for Player B. It’s more than that.”

Merrifield has played all three positions in the outfield, as well as everywhere on the infield except shortstop. He’s an offensive catalysts at the top of a lineup. And his name surfaces annually in reports as a potential trade target.

Merrifield admits he has fallen victim to believing the speculation in the past.

“Multiple times,” he said. “At least three different times I can remember that I was told by — not anyone in our front office, which was my mistake for believing someone that wasn’t connected with our team — people that I thought wouldn’t say something like this to me if it wasn’t real. … Three different times I was relatively certain I was moving on, but it didn’t happen and I’m glad I’m here.”

Merrifield led the majors in hits in back-to-back seasons in 2018 and 2019, and he also led the majors in stolen bases in 2018. His back-to-back hit titles marked the first time a right-handed batter had accomplished that feat since Kirby Puckett in 1988-89.

Before the 2019 season, Merrifield signed a four-year contract that guaranteed him $16.25 million, with a club option for a fifth year. He’s slated to make $6.75 million in 2021 and $2.75 million in 2022. The club option for 2023 would pay Merrifield $10.5 million, and it carries a $750,000 buyout.

While Merrifield has been guilty of making plans in his head for trades that never happened, he said he’s better prepared to handle his name being thrown around at this point in his career.

“Looking at the schedule, looking at the roster, looking at standings, looking at apartments and Airbnbs and rentals,” Merrifield said in reference to steps he’d taken amid past trade rumors. “It’s a crazy dynamic of this business that we’re in, but it’s just like playing up here: The more you’re around it, the more you go through it, the more you understand and learn how to deal with it.

“I’ve kind of had that trade thing around my name for a while now. So I’ve kind of got a better grasp on how to go about it and deal with it.”