Ranking the 5 worst trades that the KC Royals have made in the last decade

The Kansas City Royals have been a team that seldom makes big splashes in the trade market. They’re more likely to make under-the-radar moves that shed salary and add young depth to their farm system.

This is the life of a “small market” team like the Royals. Sometimes, those deals strike gold, like flipping Aroldis Chapman for Cole Ragans. But other times, they leave you with an unpleasant taste in your mouth.

In honor of the pessimists out there, let’s take a trip down memory lane and revisit some of those trades from the last decade that aged like sour milk.

Ranking the 5 worst trades that the KC Royals have made in the last decade

5. RHP Zach Willeman for Danny Duffy (2021)

Duffy was a fan favorite in this city because of how electric his stuff was when he was on his game. He still holds the record for most strikeouts in a single game when he recorded 16 punchouts on August 1, 2016.

Duffy had some great seasons for the Royals from 2014 to 2017 but started to break down after that. In retrospect, the Royals should have moved off of him in '16 or '17 while his stock was at its peak and the team was average.

Instead, they held onto him a bit longer than they should have and dealt him to the Los Angeles Dodgers a bit past his prime. He transitioned to the bullpen in his last two seasons with the Royals, with mixed results.

Ultimately, the return on Duffy was poor. It was poor then, and it still looks that way today. The reality is the Royals missed their window to move on from Duffy, and they paid the price for it.

Willeman played one full season in the Royals system and had a 5.72 ERA. He was released in 2023.

4. RHP Brandon Mauer, LHP Ryan Buchter, and RHP Trevor Cahill for Esteury Ruiz, Matt Strahm, and Travis Wood (2017)

What's worse than heartbreak? Being excited about the Royals getting Brandon Mauer.

The Royals attempted to keep the band together for one more year, but it didn't go as well as they planned. They decided to go all in on making the postseason and chose to become buyers at the deadline in 2017.

They needed bullpen help, but unfortunately, they grabbed the wrong ones in a trade with the San Diego Padres. Brandon Mauer and Ryan Buchter were used in high-leverage situations, but Mauer was an absolute disaster.

He pitched to an 8.10 ERA and a 5.31 FIP. He melted down the stretch after being seen as a late-inning flamethrower.

Trevor Cahill, who bizarrely happens to be back in professional baseball again, wasn't an improvement either, as his ERA sat at 8.22 as a Royal. He gave up 10 home runs and 21 walks in 23 innings.

Buchter did his job with an ERA under 3.00, but it was enough to save this team from themselves.

This trade leaves salt in the wound because Matt Strahm ended up being a better bullpen piece than any of the guys we received from San Diego. He has a career 3.46 ERA during his 10-year big league career and made his first All-Star team in 2024. He's still in his prime at 32.

3. RHP Max Castillo and OF/INF Samad Taylor for Whit Merrifield (2022)

Merrifield’s exit from Kansas City was an odd one. He was one of the faces of the team during his tenure and easily the most productive player in the post-World Series era.

He was a two-time All-Star, led the league in hits twice, led the AL in steals three times (and MLB once), and also led the league in doubles in 2021.

Despite leading the league in doubles that year, he's turn in a below average season that year (87 wRC+) and would end up being traded to the Toronto Blue Jays amid yet another lackluster year at the dish in 2022 (77 wRC+ before the deal). But his time in KC should have been done long before then.

The Royals had several chances to move him at the deadline when he was in his prime and the team was in the midst of back-to-back 100-loss seasons.

By the time they did, they didn’t receive the return that he could have warranted a year or two prior.

Max Castillo could not stick with the Royals and was designated for assignment in 2023. He has not pitched in the Major Leagues since 2024 and is currently on the Dorados De Chihuahua of the Mexican League in Chihuahua City.

Samad Taylor had a brief stint with the team as well, but only played in 31 games. He was traded to the Seattle Mariners at the beginning of 2024.

2. RHP Jorge Lopez and OF Brett Phillips for 3B Mike Moustakas (2018)

Moustakas was still in his prime at just 29-years-old when the Royals traded him to the Milwaukee Brewers at the deadline in 2018. He had two All-Star appearances to his name and set the Royals' single-season home run record in 2017 with 38 home runs (Jorge Soler would surpass that mark in 2019 with 48 homers).

He was a bonafide power hitter and provided good glove work at a premium position like third base. The return seemed promising at the time. Lopez was a hard-throwing but wild righty, and Phillips was a plus defender with good speed.

Unfortunately, Phillips and Lopez did not meet expectations in Kansas City. Lopez ended his Royals tenure with a 6.42 ERA, the worst mark Lopez had with a team he spent at least three years with. He gave up 27 home runs in 123.2 innings as a swing guy in the Royals bullpen.

Phillips was an exciting player in the outfield, making highlight-reel catches and throws throughout his career, but he had a 0.8 WAR as a Kansas City Royal and hit just .178 in his three seasons with the club.

That is a poor return on investment for a player who was one of the best power hitters the franchise has ever had.

1. RHP Kasey Kalich for Jorge Soler (2021)

This trade took the term “adding insult to injury” to a new level. Jorge Soler achieved the impossible and led the league with 48 home runs as a Royal in 2019, but the Royals could not capitalize on his value when it was time to trade him.

He had the best season of his career in a Royals uniform, slashing .265/.354/.569 in addition to those 48 homers, but injuries and strikeouts plagued the rest of his time in Royal blue.

The Royals and Braves worked out a trade in 2021, sending Soler to the Atlanta Braves for Kasey Kalich, a 4th-round pick in 2019. Soler was hitting .192 with the Royals at the time of the deal but went on to hit 77 points higher as a Brave en route to a World Series championship and World Series MVP honors that same season.

At the time, the trade was necessary. Soler wasn’t hitting, and the Royals had to get something for his services. Kasey Kalich showed promise as a late-inning reliever but hasn’t pitched in the league since 2022.