Royals Reportedly Will Not Move Their Relievers

With Andrew Miller and David Robertson, the top two relievers available in free agency, being off the board, it would make sense that the Royals would be receiving calls for their trio of relievers. Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland are certainly better options that what is available currently in free agency, and the Royals may be able to get quite a bit for these relievers. As it stands, the Royals have already received a call from the Toronto Blue Jays about Holland.

However, what the Royals are hearing for offers does not appear to be to their liking. Earlier today, Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Start reported that Herrera, Davis and Holland are all off the table and are unavailable for trade.

After the resigning of Luke Hochevar and Jason Frasor, it would have seemingly made sense for the Royals to part with one of these relievers, especially if doing so would bring in a young starting pitcher with cost certainty or that missing middle of the order bat.

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However, doing so would also break up that which made the Royals truly successful last season – a dominant bullpen. No team in baseball had a trio like Herrera, Davis and Holland, as they combined for a 1.28 ERA, striking out 258 batters in 204.1 innings. The trio allowed only three home runs, all given up by Holland. If ever the phrase ‘bullpen dominance’ was to be defined in Webster’s, a picture of Herrera, Davis and Holland would be next to the definition.

While it is exceedingly foolhardy to expect the same type of performance this season, the Royals greatest strength was that bullpen. As of right now, the Royals plan on keeping that strength intact for another year.