KC Royals trade surging shortstop prospect for veteran familiar face in baffling deal

It did not take long for the dust to officially settle on the first half of the season for J.J. Picollo and the Kansas City Royals front office to get their trade deadline started.

The Royals are reportedly acquiring veteran utility man and old friend Adam Frazier in exchange for recently promoted fellow utility option Cam Devanney, as per FanSided's Robert Murray.

As nice at it may be to see the Royals "buying" ahead of the deadline, this a deal that can only be described as somewhat of a head-scratcher.

KC Royals trade surging shortstop prospect for veteran familiar face in baffling deal

For awhile now the KC Royals have been in a state of limbo on what direction they would take at the trade deadline, as they were seemingly undecided even just last week after Picollo failed to give a clear answer on their direction in a July 8 media scrum, but implied they needed to get more consistent on the field before that decision is made.

Since then, the Royals went on to sweep the Pirates, after taking two of three against the Arizona Diamondbacks and then managed to salvage a win to avoid getting swept by the New York Mets before the All-Star break. This brings them to 8-4 in the month of July and still under five games out of the final AL Wild Card spot (4.5 games).

So, Wednesday morning's deal for Frazier could indicate Kansas City is indeed inserting themselves into the buyers category, as MLB.com's Anne Rogers pointed out that Frazier is in fact a rental option.

However, I don't think it's out of line to say that this is not the Royals/Pirates deal many would have had in mind and is nothing short of baffling.

Frazier is certainly familiar with the organization, having spent the entirety of 2024 with the club and according to Rogers was well received by the team.

"Clubhouse loved Frazier last year," Rogers said in a tweet. "Now they're reunited."

The issue is he doesn't exactly give them anything different offensively from the below average output their getting now, and if there's one thing everyone can get on board with about the 2025 Kansas City Royals, it's that this team's needs to improve offensively.

So far in 78 games and 262 plate appearances in Pittsburgh this year, Frazier is hitting just .255 with a .654 OPS and very below average 82 wRC+. And it's not as if he was better as a Royal last season and simply needed a change of scenery this time around. In 2024, he slashed just .202/.282/.294 with a 64 wRC+ in Kansas City.

In fact, Frazier hasn't been a productive hitter in years. The last time he posted a wRC+ above 100 and an OPS above .700 was in 2021 in a season split between the Pirates and the San Diego Padres - he held a 113 wRC+ and .779 OPS.

What he does bring to the table is that aforementioned veteran clubhouse presence and positional versatility that Royals seem to value, as he can play second base and both corner outfield spots.

The problem is, the name they're sending the other way in Devanney, is just as versatile, if not more in all honesty.

Sure, perhaps the Royals were looking for a utility option with more than two Triple-A games worth of experience in left field this year, which is precisely what Frazier brings more of to the table. But they obviously saw the desire to play Devanney out there this season to get him more reps and potentially a shot at the big leagues.

Shortstop and third base are certainly not areas of need for the Royals in 2025 - with a pair of All-Stars in Bobby Witt Jr. and Maikel Garcia occupying those spots, and second base covered more consistently now with Jonathan India's return to the role. These are Devanney's primary postions. However, to have someone that can play all three of those spots and has at least limited time in the outfield seems like the more versatile option to me and could've been a valuable piece to get those three names off their feet and DH'ing once and a awhile.

It's not as if Devanney left a sour taste in the Royals mouth upon his promotion either, as they hadn't given him and single plate appearance since calling him up last Tuesday. This meant the last official impression of him they had was a .368/.429/.947 slash line with three homers, seven RBI and a whopping 242 wRC+ to start the month of July in Triple-A, bringing his season stat line with the Strom Chasers up to .272/.366/.565 with 18 HR, 55 RBI and a 137 wRC+.

It may only be the minor leagues and he may already be 28-years-old and not as young as other promising prospects in the system, but he he seems to have far more upside and as much versatility than the struggling big leaguer in Frazier, they just never gave him the chance to prove it.

If this deal triggers more action to come for the Royals then I'm sure Royals would welcome it. However, on it's own, the only way to describe it would be confusing.