Kansas City Royals: Drew Butera dealt to Colorado Rockies

The Kansas City Royals announced today they made a deal with the Colorado Rockies. August 31 is the waiver trade deadline. The Royals are sending Drew Butera to the Rockies in exchange for minor league left handed pitcher, Jerry Vasto.

It was announced early Friday that the Kansas City Royals struck a deal with the Colorado Rockies. In exchange for catcher Drew Butera, the Royals will be receiving left handed hurler Jerry Vasto. Vasto will begin his career as a Royal with the Omaha Storm Chasers in Triple A.

What the Royals are losing

The Kansas City Royals traded away 35 year old catcher Drew Butera, which follows along with the youth movement trend. This wasn’t really something that was unforeseen.

The Colorado Rockies are still in the hunt for the playoffs. It isn’t really clear why the Rockies wanted Butera, but we will eventually find out their plan for him. Butera is slashing .188/.259/.289 on the 2018 season.

Taking his place for the Kansas City Royals as the backup backstop to Salvador Perez is minor leaguer Cam Gallagher. The 25 year old former second round draft pick slashed .265/.334/.358 with the Omaha Storm Chasers this season, knocking in 42 RBIs. In his eight major league appearances, he slashed .208/.240/.292.

What the Royals are gaining

Jerry Vasto is a 26 year old lefty reliever. Vasto appeared in 37 games for the Albuquerque Isotopes in the 2018 season in Triple-A. His ERA sits at 3.16, with a record of 2-1. He tallied three saves in four tries, and he has struck out 44 batters on the season.

He also appeared in one game for the Colorado Rockies this season, and it inflated his ERA. He allowed three earned runs in 0.2 innings, after he gave up three hits and walked one batter.

Who won the trade?

On the surface, it looks like the Kansas City Royals got the better deal in this trade. They are looking to become youthful and have a younger team with the rebuild, so adding a younger reliever to the farm system bodes well for them.

The trade makes sense for the Kansas City Royals. They want to move towards the future with a younger core group of players, and the best way to do that is to trade away veterans and acquire younger talent.