Kansas City Royals: It’s Never Too Early For Trade Talk

Kelvin Herrera

Most teams would love to have an arm in the bullpen like Kelvin Herrera. sporting a 1.08 ERA with 15 strikeouts in 16.2 innings, and only 1 blown save. I hate to see him leave as he’s arguably been the most talented guy in the Royals bullpen since 2012. Being the last year of his deal, we have to move Herrera and the good news is there should be plenty of suitors.

As you look at bullpen ERA’s across baseball you will find many American League Central teams near the bottom of the list including the Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Indians. I don’t see us trading within the division but hey who knows.

Relief pitching trade comparisons 2017

• 2017 Twins trade closer Brandon Kintzler to Nationals for Tyler Watson and International Pool Money. Worth noting Kintzler had 28 saves prior to the trade and Watson was the 19th ranked player in the Twins organization at the start of 2017.
• 2017 Mets trade Addison Reed to the Red Sox for a trio of pitchers in Steve Nogosek, Gerson Bautista, and Jamie Callahan. None of the three appeared in the Top-30 for the Red Sox in 2017. Prior to the start of 2018, all three fell between numbers 23 and 29 in the Mets minor league system.
• 2017 Marlins trade closer A.J. Ramos to the Mets for Merandy Gonzalez and Ricardo Cespedes. They were ranked 9th and 22nd at the time of the trade.

Suitors

These are the teams I feel most need bullpen help. I think Herrera is more valuable than the three pitchers listed above. With that being said, I think we can get one to two prospects in the range of 5th to 20th within that organization.

• Colorado Rockies: Behind Wade Davis, there’s not a lot to be desired.
• Atlanta Braves: The Braves are on fire to start 2018 and if they want a shot at the division title they will need more pitching.
• Boston Red Sox: You look at the Red Sox depth chart and see Craig Kimbrel and Joe Kelly. So why would they need any help? As Royals fan’s know, you have to have fire throwers throughout your bullpen to win a World Series. A 7-8-9 of Kelly, Herrera, and Kimbrel has the potential to be the best in baseball.

2018 Scenarios

• The Royals trade Hererra to the Rockies for pitcher Riley Pint (local St. Thomas Aquinas Product) and infielder Garrett Hampson.
• The Royals trade Hererra to the Braves for starting pitcher Mike Soroka. 
• The Royals trade Hererra to the Red Sox for starting pitcher Tanner Houck (drafted out of the University of Missouri) and pitcher Ben Taylor.