KC Royals Trade: Grading each deadline deal

The MLB trade deadline has come and gone and the KC Royals jettisoned plenty of veteran players with two months of baseball left. The fanbase went from fuming mad to pleasantly surprised in a matter of minutes after the 6 p.m. EST deadline passed. It looked like the Royals made no moves hours ahead of the deadline, but then news broke regarding pitchers Ryan Yarbrough and Scott Barlow. The two last-minute moves made the deadline feel transactional, with five trades between July 31 and Aug. 1.

The KC Royals addressed MLB and farm needs ahead of the trade deadline.

The moves added some new members to the top-30 prospect rankings while other moves add depth to the MLB roster. Some moves were better than others, while the trade deadline added some clarity for the remaining season and the upcoming offseason. Let's run down the Aug. 1 moves and grade each for the Royals.

The Royals kicked off the final day of trading with a minor trade with the Los Angeles Angels. Pitcher Tucker Davidson will get a chance to prove his MLB worth in the Royals bullpen. The biggest question is which Davidson will emerge in Kansas City.

The Royals acquiring a left-handed relief pitcher makes sense after the team traded José Cuas away. Cuas was not a world-beater out of the bullpen, but Davidson has the potential to be worse than Cuas. Davidson's 6.54 ERA, 1.74 WHIP, and .326 batting average allowed are all worse than Cuas' marks. The only metric that gives me hope is Davidson has a 3.37 FIP, far better than Cuas and better than the league average. The Royals may be able to find something there and give Davidson a decent infield defense behind him.

Davidson will quickly prove if the Royals were right to take a chance on him. He is set to join the 26-man roster as the Royals continue their three-game series against the New York Mets. This is not an impactful move, and cash consideration moves rarely are. Fans will wait and see if Davidson can hang in the bullpen, but there were other arms waiting in the wings who are ready.

Grade: D+