4 player moves KC Royals likely wish they could undo

Time will tell whether the mid-July trade the Kansas City Royals made to get reliever Hunter Harvey from the Washington Nationals will pay any dividends. Alternatively, it'll be written off as an ill-advised, but well-intentioned, move to shore up the club's bullpen before the race for the MLB Playoffs shifted into high gear.

Harvey pitched only six times for the Royals after they dealt Cayden Wallace, their then-No. 2 prospect, to the Nationals for him — he went on the Injured List in early August and never returned. Still under team control for another year, Harvey should be back next season; it's then that the success or failure of the deal can be gauged.

But what of other relatively recent high-profile Kansas City transactions? Some have turned out to be rousing successes — like last year's trade with the Texas Rangers for Cole Ragans, or this season's trade deadline swap with the Oakland Athletics to land Lucas Erceg — while others aren't looked back on as fondly.

Let's examine four transactions the Royals might like to take back.

The KC Royals' 2022 trade with the Braves for Drew Waters hasn't worked out

Lamenting a deal that snared another club's No. 1 prospect might seem odd, especially when the Royals gave up only a Competitive Balance draft pick to swing the deal, but that's what they should be doing two years after acquiring Drew Waters from the Atlanta Braves. The reason to regret the move is simple — Waters hasn't proved he can hit against major-league pitching.

Through 137 games and 465 plate appearances spread across parts of three seasons, Waters is slashing .229/.306/.396 with 13 home runs and 51 RBI. His OPS+ is 63, his wRC+ 91, and he's struck out 32.9% of the time.

Strikingly dissimilar are his numbers at Triple-A Omaha. In 2022 after the trade with the Braves, Waters homered seven times and hit .295 with a .399 OBP in 31 games. In 13 games in 2023, he hit .327 with 13 homers and 61 RBI, and this season, he slashed .290/.379/.494.

It's clear Waters is a good "AAAA" player, but his failure to stick in Kansas City should have the Royals thinking he may never make it in The Show.