Royals: Examining Kansas City’s best three trades ever

A change of scenery for one of their star pitchers brought the Kansas City Royals two key players for their 2014 and 2015 World Series runs.

On the final night of the 2019 baseball season, in a game to decide who would be crowned World Series Champion, a 36-year old master made Royals fans wonder once again why the club let him get away so many years ago. Zack Greinke, KC’s former All-Star and Cy Young Award winner, shut down the Washington Nationals until the seventh inning, when he proved himself human by surrendering a home run and walk before giving way to a bullpen that eventually lost the game for his Houston Astros.

The performance was typical Greinke and reminded his old fans of the star potential he exhibited in his seven Kansas City seasons, and of his penultimate Royals campaign when he became an All-Star and won his only Cy Young Award, going 16-8 with a major league-best 2.18 ERA in 2009.

At his best Royals days, Greinke was powerful, dominating and unbeatable. But he never seemed comfortable in Kansas City; his previous, well-documented difficulties with depression and anxiety led to a season away from baseball; when he returned, he pitched for bad Royals teams and didn’t always hide his displeasure with the teams losing ways. Greinke simply wasn’t happy with his situation and rubbed some the wrong way.

The Royals decided to make a change in the winter of 2010 and shipped Greinke (and infielder Yuniesky Betancourt) to Milwaukee for light-hitting infielder Alcides Escobar, Jake Odorizzi, a promising young pitcher who hadn’t risen above A ball, and outfielder Lorenzo Cain and pitcher Jeremy Jeffress, two youngsters just coming off their rookie seasons.

Betancourt had been a serviceable shortstop for two seasons, but it was Greinke’s departure that irritated and disappointed many fans. The club wouldn’t contend for three more seasons, but the farm system was showing promise, better times were on the horizon, and fans wanted Greinke to be a part of the coming success. After the trade, Greinke posted 145 of his 205 career victories; given the state of the franchise when he left (and since 2015) he likely wouldn’t have won as many games if he’d stayed. But with him, the Royals would have won more than they did.

Despite the loss of Greinke, the trade paid dividends for the Royals. Escobar immediately became the regular shortstop, a position he held until leaving for free agency after the 2018 season. He starred in the 2014 and 2015′ postseasons, batting .311 in 31 games, and was the MVP of the 2015 ALCS. His first pitch inside-the-park home run to open the first game of the ’15 World Series forever etched Escobar in World Series lore. He won a Gold Glove and an All-Star berth.

Cain didn’t play in more than 100 Royals games until 2013 but then, and despite some nagging injuries, became a lineup mainstay, fan-favorite and defensive wizard in center field. That he never won a Gold Glove with the Royals remains a mystery. Always fast, Cain swiped 120 of his 175 career stolen bases as a Royal. Much to fans’ chagrin, the Royals’ history of losing their free agents continued when Cain left to return to Milwaukee after 2017. But Cain, like Escobar at his best, provided much of the spark during the Royals’ 2014 and 2015 World Series seasons.

Jeffress pitched in only 17 games for the Royals before Toronto bought him after the 2012 season, then became a dependable reliever with the Rangers and Brewers.

Odorizzi, the last of the Brewers players in the Greinke deal, pitched only twice for the Royals but went on to play a pivotal role in their future success–still a promising pitcher with a bright future, Odorizzi was packaged with Wil Myers, Mike Montgomery and Patrick Leonard in the trade with Tampa Bay that brought James Shields and Wade Davis to the Royals; Shields and Davis would play pivotal roles in the Royals’ run at a 2013 playoff berth and their march to the 2014 World Series, and Davis was vital to the Royals 2015 World Championship season.

The Greinke trade wasn’t the best in the Royals’ history but deserves mention here because it improved the club, brought two unforgettable players, contributed directly and indirectly, and in no small part, to their magical 2014 and 2015 seasons.

The trade of one of their original players gave the Kansas City Royals one of their first major stars.

The years 1966-1968 were good to Joe Foy–after four excellent seasons in the Boston Red Sox system, he established himself as the regular third baseman at Fenway Park where he played alongside Boston greats Carl Yastrzemski, Tony Conigliaro, Rico Petrocelli and Jim Lonborg. His Boston future seemed bright.

But baseball had unique needs after the 1968 season — the rosters of four expansion teams slated to begin play in 1969 needed to be filled and an October expansion draft was scheduled to fill them. Left unprotected by the Red Sox after a sub-par season marred by off-field trouble, Foy was drafted by the Royals with the fourth overall pick.

Foy was solid for the Royals in their inaugural season, hitting 11 homers with 71 RBI’s and batting .271. But the New York Mets were searching for a third baseman: former Kansas City Athletics third baseman Ed Charles was winding down his career and heir apparent Wayne Garrett‘s bat was light. The Mets came calling and KC agreed to trade Foy for rookie pitcher Bob Johnson and Amos Otis, a speedy outfielder who in the season just completed hit an unsightly .151 in 48 games.

Fortunately for the Royals, that .151 average wasn’t a harbinger of things to come. Otis’ impact in Kansas City was immediate–awarded the center field job from the start of 1970, he played in 159 games, led the league in doubles with 36, hit 11 homers, drove in 58, batted .301, and stole 33 bases. He walked 68 times, had a .353 OBP and slugged .424. And he made the All-Star team, the first of his five Mid-Summer Classic selections.

He led the league in steals with 52 the following season and .300 for the first time, posting a .301 average to go with 15 homers and 79 RBI’s.

Otis was exciting and became a fan favorite. Defensively gifted, he patrolled center field with speed and grace; some mistook his smooth form and ability to make tough plays look easy for laziness, but most knew better. His three Gold Gloves proved his defensive excellence.

Otis was a critical mainstay as the Royals established themselves as consistent contenders and reeled off three straight division titles from 1976-78, then reached their first World Series in 1980. But the Royals didn’t pick up his option after the ’83 season; he caught on with Pittsburgh and played 40 games for the Pirates before retiring after the ’84 campaign.

Fans need to look no further than the Royals’ all-time records to understand the Foy-Otis trade’s remarkable long-term impact on the club. Otis ranks second in stolen bases, total bases, runs scored, walks and sacrifice flies; third in hits, triples, home runs, RBI’s, at-bats, and total plate appearances; and fourth in games played, doubles and extra-base hits. He earned more Royals Player of the Year awards than any other player.

Joe Foy never recaptured the form that landed him the third base job in Boston and was out of baseball after 1971. Otis, on the other hand, flourished and became a star in Kansas City, making the Foy-Otis deal one of the best trades the Royals ever made.

At first, a controversial winter trade in 2012 made fans skeptical. But in short order, the deal helped the Kansas City Royals end a 30-season playoff drought and claim their first World Series title.

The year was 2012. The Kansas City Royals had suffered eight straight losing seasons; optimists insisted the young Royals were on the verge of contending and pinned their hopes on Wil Myers, a 22-year old outfielder many envisioned as the next George Brett.

Myers rocked the Royals’ world in 2012. Splitting the season between AA Northwest Arkansas and AAA Omaha, he bashed 37 home runs, drove in 109, had 26 doubles, slashed .314/387/.600, and appeared ready to save the Royals.

But Myers alone wouldn’t be able to rejuvenate the hapless Royals–KC desperately needed starting pitching. The six pitchers who constituted a mediocre 2012 rotation–Bruce Chen, Luke Hochevar, Luis Mendoza, Jeremy Guthrie, Will Smith and Jonathan Sanchez–were a combined 39-58. Only Guthrie had a winning record (5-3), Chen’s 11 wins led the staff (but he lost 14), and Chen, Hochevar and Smith all had ERAs over 5.00 (in 12 starts, the fewest among this group, Sanchez posted a 7.76 ERA). The Royals went 72-90 to post their ninth straight losing season.

General Manager Dayton Moore went shopping for pitching and found it in Tampa Bay. But good pitching comes with a price and Moore paid dearly for it: to get established Rays’ starter James Shields and the promising, but not proven, Wade Davis, the Royals had to give up Patrick Leonard, Mike Montgomery, and Jake Odorizzi. And Wil Myers.

Most observers denounced the deal. Critics decried it as the abandonment of the Royals’ future. Disaster, they said, was now inescapable without Myers. That a single deal had derailed the team seemed plausible.

But in making the trade, Moore sought more than just two rotation pieces. Shields, he knew, possessed valuable commodities to complement the 87 games he’d won for the Rays in seven seasons, the 221 innings pitched he’d averaged over the previous six seasons, his six-season streak of starting at least 30 games, and the 11 complete games he’d thrown two seasons before. Shields’ solid work ethic, reputation as a clubhouse leader, thorough pitching knowledge, and ability to effectively mentor young pitchers were all worth having.  Moore wanted leadership, dependability, hard work, durability, and wins, and Shields could provide them all.

Davis wasn’t Shields, but he was capable. He spent his first three years in the majors as a Rays’ starter, accumulating a 25-22 record and serviceable ERAs of 3.72, 4.07 and 4.45. He switched to the bullpen in 2012 and went 3-0 in 54 relief appearances, lowered his ERA to 2.43, and struck out 87 in 70.1 innings.

The Royals suddenly contended in 2013, broke their eight-season losing streak, and finished 10 games above .500.  Shields contributed significantly to this new success–as expected, he became a recognized and respected mentor and clubhouse presence, started 34 games, led the league in innings pitched, and posted a 13-9 record and 3.15 ERA. His WAR was 4.3.

But Davis floundered. The Royals wanted him to be a starter again but the role didn’t fit. Starting 24 of the 31 games he appeared in, Davis worked to an ugly 5.32 ERA and went 8-11. His struggles didn’t overshadow Shields’ excellent performance but did cast a shadow on the trade that brought the pair to town.

Then came 2014. Kansas City hadn’t appeared in the postseason since winning the World Series in 1985. But as Moore hoped when he traded for them, Shields and Davis helped the Royals end the 30-season drought and were important cogs in the new Royals machine. Shields bettered his 2013 effort with a 14-8 record, again led the league in starts, and gave KC another 200-plus innings season. He continued to be a leader and mentor and received MVP votes. And he was the winning pitcher in the Royals’ ALDS-clinching victory over the Angels.

Davis returned to the bullpen and became the “D” in the Royals’ unbeatable back-of-the-pen “HDH” trio of Kelvin Herrera, Davis, and closer Greg Holland. With HDH, it was a given the Royals would win any game they led after six innings–Herrera and Davis combined to lock down the opposition in the seventh and eighth innings and Holland closed the wins in the ninth. Davis went 9-2 with three saves and posted a remarkable 1.00 ERA in 71 games.

Davis was brilliant in 12 postseason games, earning two wins, surrendering only one run and striking out 20 in 14.1 innings.

Although the Royals didn’t win the World Series, the 2014 performances Shields and Davis turned in laid to rest much of the grumbling surrounding Myers’ departure. Myers, in fact, played his last of two partial years for the Rays and was traded to the Padres after the season.

Shields became a free agent after the Series and, sadly for the many who yearned for his return, signed a four-year, $75 million deal with the Padres, leaving Davis alone to fully vindicate Moore.  It was a tougher job than expected–Holland, the superb closer who saved 46 games in 2014 and 47 in 2013, saved 32 games in 2015 before an injury ended his season in September. Suddenly, Davis was the full-time closer.

Davis’ new role was perfect for him and the Royals. He dominated the postseason, pitching in eight games and saving four; he struck out 18 in 10.2 innings and saved four games. Remarkably, he didn’t give up a single postseason run and, in four World series innings, struck out eight and walked none. The performance earned him the 2015 Babe Ruth Award as the postseason’s most valuable player.

Davis had become one of the best relievers in the game: he prefaced his glittering postseason performance with a regular season 8-1 record, astonishing 0.94 ERA, and 17 saves.

Despite a nagging right forearm injury that landed him on the disabled list, Davis had another excellent season in 2016. The Royals didn’t make the playoffs, but Davis saved 27 games and posted a 45-appearance ERA of 1.87.

Unfortunately for Kansas City, Davis was eligible for free agency at the end of 2017;  the Royals decided to capitalize before the season on Davis’ trade value and traded him to the Cubs for Jorge Soler.

Myers, the  Rays’ primary target in the trade sending Shields and Davis to Kansas City, hasn’t reached the lofty heights so many thought attainable. Due in part to injuries, he’s managed only a .251 career average; although he hit 30 homers in 2017 and 28 in 2016, he averages less than 20 a season.

Shields had one good year after leaving KC for the Padres (13-7 in 2015) but never pitched consistently well again. He ended up with the White Sox, who declined his option at the end of 2017. He didn’t pitch in 2018.

After leaving the Royals, Davis saved 90 games pitching for the Cubs and the Rockies. His ERA has climbed sharply since signing with Colorado; although tempting, it is hard to blame his lofty 2018 and 2019 ERAs of 4.13 and 8.65 entirely on the thin air of Coors Field. Injury contributed to Davis losing his closer role as the 2019 season progressed.

Looking back, Shields and Davis didn’t stay long in Kansas City; Shields is out of baseball and Davis’ best years are probably behind him. No one knows how they, and the Royals, would have fared had they remained Royals.

What is certain, however, is that Shields and Davis gave Kansas City some of the best seasons of their careers. Shields provided 27 wins and invaluable leadership to a young team learning to win; the example he set is talked about in Royals’ circles yet today. Davis saved 47 games for KC and posted mind-numbing ERAs of 1.00, 0.94 and 1.87 in 2014, ’15 and ’16. He was the middle of the unstoppable “HDH” bullpen trio of 2014 and, forced into the closer’s spot by Holland’s late-2015 injury, shut down the opposition at every turn of the postseason and helped lead the Royals to a World Championship.

Their impact was not long-term, but Shields and Davis played instrumental, indispensable and invaluable roles in the two-season magic that brought the playoffs and a World Series title back to Kansas City–an unforgettable two-season event that washed away 30 seasons of disappointment and despair. Their joint contribution to the franchise was priceless and came at a time when the club and city were desperate for a return to baseball glory. The major roles they played in making the Royals Royal again make this trade hard to beat as the best in Royals’ history.