Painful Royals trade deadline deal feels worse after forgotten prospect's progress

The MLB trade deadline follows one of the oldest rules of transacting: to get something, you have to give something. The Kansas City Royals were on the buying side of the aisle this past summer, ultimately having one one of MLB's best trade deadline results.

Adding so many players means more departures from the organization, but chances are against many of those players developing into impactful big-league contributors.

But not impossible, and first baseman Callan Moss is trying to defy those odds.

A castoff Royals farmhand shined bright after joining the Pirates organization

Moss and left-handed pitcher Evan Sisk left the Royals organization for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Bailey Falter trade, the blemish on Kansas City's moves in late July.

Sisk was a reasonably known quantity, having a handful of relief appearances in 2025 but a solid body of work at Triple-A. Moss was largely the afterthought, but he balled out after joining the Pirates' High-A affiliate, the Greensboro Grasshoppers.

On the other hand, Moss may've been a good batter for the Quad Cities River Bandits in 2025, but he found a new gear once he went to North Carolina. Moss' six home runs in 30 Greensboro games nearly matched his Quad Cities total of seven in 92 games.

Plus, a .339/.422/.571 line resulted in a .993 OPS across 128 plate appearances with the Grasshoppers. His performance did not go unnoticed, earning South Atlantic League Player of the Month honors for his play in August.

Kansas City signed Moss as an undrafted free agent out of Saint Leo (FL) University following the 2024 MLB Draft. He quickly hit the ground running with Low-A Columbia, with a .339/.488/.452 line and more walks (18) than strikeouts (12) across 22 games. He similarly found success with the River Bandits and earned Midwest League All-Star honors after the season concluded.

Moss was not a headline prospect by any outlet, but his production through more than a professional season is very good and might make him a name that Pirates prospect hounds watch closely.

Few Royals fans had qualms with the prospects sent out for Falter at the time, and fewer of them related to Moss. An undrafted player will always be a longer lottery ticket than their drafted counterparts, so finding some value in Moss, via trade, was better than expected.

But his initial results, coupled with Falter's issues after joining the Royals, have this trade looking worse and worse from the Royals' end.