KC Royals: The 2021 trade deadline, 2 weeks later
Little mystery preceded the KC Royals’ approach to last month’s major league trade deadline. A bad May and even worse June made the Royals sellers as the July 30 deadline drew near. No one knew what the club might do, but expectations were generally low. Whit Merrifield promised to bring the best return, but the notion of trading him so exceeded Kansas City’s norms that a deal involving him became implausible no matter how much sense it made.
Almost as unrealistic was a Danny Duffy trade, but not because his status as a “10 & 5” player made any and all trades subject to his express approval. Instead, it was his twice-injured left flexor and presence on the Injured List that seemed to push Duffy off the market.
And the chances of anyone having serious interest in slumping Jorge Soler defied baseball logic, especially because nothing but his power potential made him particularly attractive, and he entered deadline week with only nine home runs and a .185 average.
Baseball, though, is unpredictable, and the Royals somehow managed to surprise. They didn’t trade Merrifield, but they found takers for Soler and Duffy and acquired a couple of new relief pitchers.
Now, a full two weeks after the 2021 trade deadline expired, how are the players involved in the Royals’ moves doing?
First move: The KC Royals acquire reliever Joel Payamps from Tampa.
Kansas City General Manager Dayton Moore proved nine days before the deadline that his usual conservative approach to most personnel matters doesn’t mean he won’t consider and make out-of-the-blue moves. He pulled the trigger on such a transaction July 21 when he sent cash considerations to Toronto for reliever Joel Payamps, whose name probably didn’t ring many bells in Royals’ fandom.
Those with good memories, though, will recall Payamps pitching twice against KC in April. He threw a pair of scoreless innings against the Royals April 15, but Salvador Perez turned the tables on him two days later by tagging him for a winning walk-off home run.
Payamps posted a 22-game 2.70 ERA for the Jays before they sent him to Triple-A Buffalo in June and then DFA’d him a few days before trading him to Kansas City. The Royals dispatched him to Triple-A Omaha where he’s 1-0 with a 4.50 ERA and 14 strikeouts in eight innings.
The Royals called him up August 10 but optioned him back to the Storm Chasers the next day. He didn’t see any action; whether he gets another chance this season remains to be seen.
Second move: The KC Royals trade Danny Duffy to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Danny Duffy, well known around Kansas City for his long-professed desire to spend his entire career there, turned out willing to go elsewhere after all. He waived his “10 & 5” rights, which as a veteran with 10 years of major league service time, the last five with one team, entitled him to veto trades. That opened the door for the July 29 deal that sent him to the Dodgers, and his home state of California, for a player to be named later.
So far, the surprising transaction hasn’t worked out well for Los Angeles. In fact, it hasn’t worked out for them at all. Duffy, who was having a superb season for the KC Royals when he was healthy (4-3 with a 2.51 ERA), was on the 10-day Injured List when the Dodgers acquired him; Monday, the team moved him to the 60-day list. Because his time on the first list counts also on the 60-day, Duffy is eligible for reactivation in mid-September. By then, though, the 2021 season—and LA’s stretch run—will be almost over.
Through Friday, the Dodgers lead the National League Wild Card race by five games. They obviously want Duffy’s help, but his left flexor will determine how much, if any, he can give them.
Third move: The KC Royals find a trade partner for slugger Jorge Soler.
Managing to trade a player on the Injured List was a bit of an accomplishment for Dayton Moore. Finding a club committed to acquiring Jorge Soler in the midst of a miserable season at the plate almost equaled the feat.
But Moore got in under the wire by completing a trade of Soler to Atlanta. That Soler began to heat up in the 10 games before the deadline probably helped—he hit six homers and raised his average from .183 to .192 in that span.
And Soler has been just fine for the Braves since the deal. He went 3-for-4 with an RBI in his Atlanta debut. Two games later, his first-inning, two-run homer gave his new club all it needed in a 6-1 win over St. Louis. He’s slashing .286/.412/.524 with three homers and six RBIs in 12 games.
And what of Kasey Kalich, the righthanded Braves’ relief prospect they sent to the Royals? Kalich was 0-2 with five saves and a 3.26 ERA in 20 games with High-A Rome (Georgia) at the time of the trade, and is 1-0, 5.40 in four games with Kansas City’s Quad Cities High-A affiliate. He last pitched Friday night against Beloit and surrendered two runs in 1.2 innings, but also struck out three.
The KC Royals made three deals in the days leading up to this season’s trade deadline. Time will tell how they’ll end up for the teams involved.