Foster Griffin's bounce-back could sting even more for Royals after trade to rival Guardians

The trade deadline has come and gone and the Kansas City Royals made some moves, whether or not they made enough is another story, but the other overarching storyline for them at the deadline was how active the rest of the division was. One of the active buyers on deadline day in particular were the Cleveland Guardians, trading for first baseman Nathaniel Lowe, outfielder Jo Adell and a familiar face for Royals fans, left-hander Foster Griffin.

Griffin, a first-round draft pick for the Royals back in 2014, had been in the midst of a breakout campaign since returning from overseas with Washington Nationals. In 22 starts he's thrown to a 3.06 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and .224 BAA and because of it, he reached his first career All-Star Game in his first season back stateside.

Having success overseas is one thing, but to see him re-invent himself and then immediately come back the majors and thrive without hesitation has been a tough pill to swallow for the Royals faithful. And now the thought of him coming back to the division and potentially carving up the Royals lineup is just added salt in the wound.

The Royals have six games remaining against the Guardians on the schedule. The season may be lost for Kansas City, but it's just deflating to think that there's potential for them to face Griffin twice between now and the end of the year. It's just potential for more wind to be let out of the Royals' already torn and battered sails.

Guardians trade deadline set them up to continue to be thorn in Royals' side

Now, there could be a few silver linings when it comes to Griffin going to the Guardians. Regardless of the caliber of pieces they got in return, to get four pieces back for a rental arm is high price to pay and could have a lasting effect on this system. And as already alluded to, Griffin is a rental arm so there's no guarantee he returns next season. The Guardians pitching system success is certainly a draw, but if Griffin continues to pitch this way, he could easily price him out of their small market free agent tendencies.

However, arguably their best move of the deadline came elsewhere, when they traded with the Los Angeles Angels for Jo Adell. The 27-year-old isn't having the best season overall this year with an 89 wRC+, but the run production abilities still appear to be there. He's belted 16 homers and driven in 62 in 111 games. This all comes a year after his breakout campaign with the Angels where he hit 37 homers and drove in 98 with a .778 OPS and 112 wRC+. He's also on pace for his third straight 20 homer season.

He has a year of remaining team control, so inserting him in a lineup alongside All-Stars like José Ramírez and Steven Kwan and young standouts like Chase DeLauter and Travis Bazzana only makes the Guardians look like their willing zig rather than zag alongside the likes of the White Sox and Twins, both of whom were also active buyers at the trade deadline. Pair that with that fact that despite losing Skubal, the Tigers still don't look like a pushover and suddenly the Royals could be in a place where they're on the verge of entering obscurity in the division if they're not careful.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow