Kansas City Royals Keeping Bullpen Intact is the Right Move

If there is one thing that the Kansas City Royals have, it is plenty of bullpen depth. Yet, with seemingly every team in desperate need of relief help, there are very few trade rumors swirling around the Royals bullpen. This certainly makes sense as one of the Royals greatest strengths, particularly during their postseason run, was their relief pitching.

While it seems unlikely that any of the Royals bullpen Cerberus of Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland would be traded, the depth behind them has improved considerably. Luke Hochevar is back, and if he can anything close to his 2013 form, would give the Royals an excellent fourth option. Jason Frasor is a solid middle reliever. There is enough depth where last year’s wunderkind, Brandon Finnegan, is likely to start the season in the minors.

One would typically expect that a team like the Kansas City Royals, who have such an advantage in the bullpen market, would take advantage of their surplus and get far more of a return than one would expect. After all, look at the contracts that players like Andrew Miller and Luke Gregerson received in free agency. Relievers are now the latest hot commodity.

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While the Royals could, theoretically, deal from a position of strength, the opposite approach may actually be far more beneficial, at least for this season. Instead of trading that strength away for prospects and to build towards the future, the Royals can, if need be, turn any game into a five inning affair. Perhaps even more than last year, if the Royals are close in a game, they hold the advantage, especially if it comes down to the bullpen.

With there still being questions about their offense, the Kansas City Royals need to exploit every strength they have. They did so when they could get runners on base last year, essentially running the opposition into submission. Now, with a bullpen that should be even deeper and better than last year, the Royals can bring down that late game hammer even earlier.

In years past, the Kansas City Royals would trade away these pieces, looking to build for the future while waiting for that future to arrive. Now, the Royals have that window of opportunity. Not trading any of the bullpen depth, despite the possibility that a team could dramatically overpay, is the right move.

Next: Players Who Could Help the Royals on Minor League Deals