3 Royals relievers who could be bullpen's new taxi arm after Jonathan Bowlan trade

The Kansas City Royals have been one of the more active teams in MLB this offseason. While they haven't yet made any absolutely ground-breaking moves like bringing in a Jarren Duran or a Brendan Donovan like many fans are hoping for, they've gotten some of the ground work to a great offseason completed by bringing in impactful middle-of-the-road type players.

One of the most notable moves the Royals made was trading for left-handed reliever Matt Strahm from the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for Jonathan Bowlan.

The Royals certainly shouldn't have any buyer's remorse about this deal, as Strahm is a clear upgrade skill wise over Bowlan and his left-handedness was a pretty substantial need that the Royals had to address in their bullpen.

However, just because the Royals got the better name in the deal, it doesn't mean that Bowlan wasn't without any worth to them.

On top of being a respectable 3.86 ERA arm in 2025, his available options to taxi between Kansas City and Triple-A Omaha were a valuable crutch that the Royals relied upon frequently throughout the season - seven times to be exact.

Having no available options remaining for 2026 likely played a role into why the Royals ended up making him an expendable piece and trading him to the Phillies. Now though, the Royals will need to replace that optionable arm to give them that same flexibility in relief this season.

So, who might that arm be?

3 Royals relievers who could be bullpen's new taxi arm after Jonathan Bowlan trade

RHP James McArthur

The Royals somewhat surprisingly opted to tender a contract to their former closer in McArthur ahead of November's non-tender deadline despite him missing all of 2025 after undergoing right shoulder surgery.

Not only is he coming off a lost season, the two seasons prior to that saw him post less than ideal ERAs above 4.50.

That being said, what he does bring to the table is prior closing experience, a few well above-average underlying metrics in his last season played - a 90th percentile walk rate, 91st percentile groundball rate and 72nd percentile whiff rate - and of course, he has an available MiLB option.

Perhaps there's reason to believe that McArthur could once again fill a major league role in Kansas City's bullpen, but his spotty track record likely means he doesn't have a more guaranteed role in the 'pen like he once had, making him a prime candidate to spend time in both the majors and Triple-A in 2026.

RHP Alex Lange

Sticking with former closers who've lost their edge, there's one of the new relief additions in Kansas City for 2026, Alex Lange.

Lange was once a 26-save closer for the rival Detroit Tigers back in 2023, but has steeply fallen from grace in the past two seasons, throwing in just 19.2 combined innings since 2024, attributed to both injury and underperformance.

However, there's still some reason to believe that Lange has more than just an emergency depth role to play for KC next season. In his limited 2025 big league cameo he saw his velocity increase on two of his pitches and has managed to hold a K/9 rate of 9.00 or higher in each of the five MLB seasons he's appeared in throughout his career.

However, his recent overall form speaks for itself. This is still an arm with a remaining minor league option that struggles with command and is coming of a fairly injury-filled season. It's not hard to see someone here that splits time between Kauffman Stadium and Werner Park in 2026.

RHP Eric Cerantola

Lastly, we move to Cerantola, an arm that has yet to make his big league breakthrough, but his 40-man roster status makes him an intriguing option to make his debut in 2026.

A 4.04 ERA showing out of the Storm Chasers' bullpen in 2025 wasn't necessarily something for the 25-year-old to write home about, however, he had his bright spots. He struck out hitters at a near-30% clip (29.6%) with a 37.2% whiff rate, allowed just a .215 BAA. and held expected metrics (xBA, xSLG, xwOBA) above the 70th percentile of minor league arms.

His control is concerning, sporting an 11.3% walk rate and 1.31 WHIP last year, however a 2.97 MiLB ERA last season a 3.66 clip in 2023 shows that he's been able to minimize the damage of this flaw for a few seasons now.

Given his pair of minor league options, perhaps he's a great shout for J.J. Picollo and the front office to call up in a pinch when inevitable nagging injuries arrive or if the rare need for a 27th man arises - which is precisely the scenario that gave Bowlan his season debut last year.