Kansas City Royals: Ryan McBroom is an underrated addition to team

The Kansas City Royals made a trade for first baseman Ryan McBroom for cash considerations. Here’s why the move is extremely underrated.

Shortly after the Kansas City Royals closed out their win in game two against the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday night, it was announced that the team had made a move to acquire Yankees prospect Ryan McBroom in exchange for cash considerations or a player to be named later. While the name is not going to “wow” anyone immediately, it’s an underrated acquisition for the team.

McBroom, 27, was a standout slugger at West Virginia and was drafted in the 15th round of the 2014 MLB Draft by the Toronto Blue Jays. He was traded to the Yankees in July 2017 and is on the move again after being blocked by the emergence of Luke Voit.

He’s played 116 games for Triple-A Scranton and has slashed 0.315/0.403/0.570 with 29 doubles, 26 home runs, and 66 RBI’s (145 wRC+). His 26 homers were good for sixth-best in the International League and his 29 doubles were seventh-best prior to the trade.

His 0.976 OPS led the entire league as he did a terrific job of getting on base. McBroom took walks at nearly a 12 percent clip while striking out in less than 21 percent of his plate appearances. He’s primarily played first base but has seen a good amount in the outfield as well.

With Ryan O’Hearn struggling to lock down the first base position, this is a solid addition for the Royals who have desperately needed some offensive help to their roster. Their pitching is in shambles but they finally got a decent start from Jorge Lopez on Saturday evening.

Lopez tossed 4.2 innings of 4 hit ball while allowing 4 earned runs and struck out 6 batters. It was enough for the offense to claw back and grab the lead for good. McBroom is expected to report to Triple-A Omaha but shouldn’t be there long.

With rosters expanding Sunday, I would imagine this is just a formality until the Royals can make a corresponding move to get McBroom added to the 40-man roster. Look for him to get a significant amount of playing time in this final month.

The Royals will also be getting Adalberto Mondesi, Danny Duffy and Cam Gallagher back for the series finale against the Orioles on Sunday as well.