KC Royals Trades: 4 great past deals with Cincinnati

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(Photo by: Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

When a trade happens, it’s difficult to assess who will initially have the better end of the deal. For example, a player who may be down for one team may reignite his bat with another, and on the flipside, a great player may struggle in a new environment. The KC Royals have found themselves at both ends of the trade spectrum.

While some trades have fared better than others, one team the Royals have had trade success with is the Cincinnati Reds. The clubs’ trade history includes four great trades that brought Kansas City a couple of team Hall of Famers and some World Series winners.

The KC Royals acquired pitcher Charlie Leibrandt in a steal from Cincinnati.

Charlie Leibrandt was drafted by the Reds in the ninth round of the 1978 draft and went 10-9 with a 4.45 ERA in his first full Cincinnati season. But after going a combined 16-17 with a 4.42 ERA in four years, the team’s faith in him waned and they traded him to the Royals for Bob Tufts in June 1983.

Tufts never made a major league appearance again, but Leibrandt made waves in Kansas City.

In 1984, he notched an 11-7 record with a 3.63 ERA and 1985 was Leibrandt’s best season when finished fifth in American League Cy Young voting and was 17-9 with a 2.69 ERA.

While Leibrandt was great in the regular season, he seemed snake-bitten in the postseason, losing to Detroit, 1-0, after pitching eight excellent innings in the elimination game of the 1984 ALCS. Then, in the 1985 ALCS, Leibrandt lost Games 1 and 4 to Toronto. In Game 2 of that year’s World Series, he tossed a two-hit shutout through 8.1 innings only for it to give up two runs in the ninth and lose 4-2 to St. Louis.

But all his postseason luck wasn’t bad. Leibrandt relieved Bret Saberhagen in Game 7 of the ’85 ALCS and allowed just two runs and struck out five in 5.1 innings to help propel the Royals to a 6-2 victory and into the World Series. And his one-run pitching in 7.2 innings in Game 6 of the Series helped keep the Royals in the game and eventually to an historic comeback to extend the Series one more game.

Overall, Leibrandt went 76-61, 3.60 and had five double-digit seasons in six years with the Royals.

This All-Star pitcher helped the KC Royals to a World Series championship.

Johnny Cueto was on top of the world from 2011-2014 with Cincinnati when he went 53-25 with a 2.48 ERA; 2014 was his best year when he won 20 games, had a 2.25 ERA, 242 strikeouts over a National League high 243.2 innings, and made the All-Star team.

Then, at the 2015 All-Star Break, he was 6-6 with a 2.73 at the same time the Royals were making a push for the playoffs after losing a heartbreaking Game 7 to the Giants in the 2014 World Series. They needed a top-notch ace like Cueto and went all-in, trading Brandon Finnegan, John Lamb, and Cody Reed to get him. While Finnegan and Lamb haven’t pitched in the majors since 2018, and Reed pitched 9.2 innings for the Rays in 2021, the deal was a victory for the Royals.

Although Cueto went 4-7 with a 4.76 ERA after the trade, he had a couple of fantastic efforts in the postseason. He started slowly, allowing four runs against Houston in Game 2 of the ALDS (the Royals eventually won), but bounced back in Game 5, giving up only two runs and striking out eight in eight innings in KC’s clinching 7-2 win.

And despite giving up eight runs in just two innings in Game 3 of the ALCS against Toronto, Cueto was terrific against the Mets in Game 2 of the World Series in a victorious complete game—he yielded just one run and became the first AL pitcher since 1991 to hurl a complete World Series game.

Though Cueto stayed only half a season in Kansas City, it was a sweet sight to see him help lead the Royals to their first World Series title in 30 years.

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The KC Royals got a pair of future franchise Hall of Famers from Cincinnati.

Kansas City fans know the names Hal McRae and Jeff Montgomery and should forever thank Cincinnati for giving them the two team Hall of Famers.

After the 1972 season, the Reds traded McRae and Wayne Simpson to the Royals in for Roger Nelson and Richie Scheinblum. Nelson was coming off a career season with Kansas City (11-6, 2.08 ERA, 0.871 WHIP) while Scheinblum hit .300 and was an AL All-Star.

After hitting only .257 in four years with the Reds, McRae turned it on in Kansas City, slashing .293/.356/.458 in 15 seasons. His Royal-career 1,012 RBIs and 449 doubles rank behind only George Brett, and he also had 169 home runs, 63 triples, 616 walks, and 105 stolen bases.

McRae was also a three-time All-Star, hit over .300 six times (and .313 in 18 games in 1987, his last season) and finished second to Brett’s .333 in the 1976 American League batting race with a .332 average. He led the majors with 54 doubles in 1977 and with 46 doubles and 133 RBIs in 1982.

The Royals acquired Montgomery in a 1988 trade for Van Snider. While Snider only lasted two seasons with Cincinnati, Montgomery became one of the best all-time KC relievers. He’s the club’s career leader in saves with 304 and appearances with 686, was a three-time All-Star, and tied for the AL lead with 45 saves in 1993.

Montgomery also earned his share of accolades. He was the 1993 AL Fireman of the Year, 1998 Royals Pitcher of the Year and the 10th pitcher in major league history to record 300 saves—and the first to collect them all with one club.

Montgomery is now a Royals television analyst.

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Throughout their history, the Royals have had great luck trading with Cincinnati. Charlie Leibrandt and Johnny Cueto both helped the club to World Series titles, while Jeff Montgomery and Hal McRae became franchise Hall of Famers.

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The KC Royals acquired pitcher Charlie Leibrandt in a steal from Cincinnati.

This All-Star pitcher helped the KC Royals to a World Series championship.

The KC Royals got a pair of future franchise Hall of Famers from Cincinnati.

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