Royals avoided further embarrassment on regrettable Lucas Erceg trade thanks to ex-prospect's blow up

At this stage of the game for the Kansas City Royals, wins don't mean much apart from momentary joy. Last night's victory over the Athletics was a welcome sight sure, but it only took them from 23 games under .500 to 22. What this win did represent though is a means to save face to a degree on a trade they may want a do-over on. This was because a key piece of their 2024 trade for struggling reliever Lucas Erceg was taking the mound against them in Mason Barnett and thankfully was not successful.

The Royals chased Barnett after 2.2 innings by getting to him for six earned runs on seven hits, one homer and four walks. And for the sake of the Royals feeling better about a trade that's arguably going south for them, Barnett has struggled all season. In 18 outings, four of which have been starts, Barnett is throwing to a 7.08 ERA, 6.97 FIP, 1.62 WHIP and .264 BAA.

At the time Kansas City traded him, the former third-round pick was largely considered a Top 15 prospect in their organization, even a Top 10 one for some outlets. And for awhile, it seemed like a good price to pay for potential closer in Erceg.

However, while the first year-and-a-half went well for the union between Erceg and the Royals, 2026 has seen it crumble exponentially. He's lost his closer's role and is throwing to an ERA nearly as high as Barnett's woeful mark at 6.23. He's only striking out 6.44 K/9 and is walking nearly as batters as he's striking out with 6.02 BB/9. He's posted a 1.89 WHIP and .306 BAA all culminating in a -0.6 fWAR.

Barnett thriving against the Royals in his first outing against them would've been the ultimate salt in wound - even more so after than another name in the same trade playing hero in last year's World Series in Will Klein. Luckily for them, they successfully avoided that potential debacle.

Is there any hope for the Royals to get full value out of Lucas Erceg?

The Royals have three seasons of team control left with Erceg after 2026. Things went well for them to start his tenure, but after a season where seemingly everything has gone wrong for him in an already traditionally volatile position, the question now becomes; does he have a role with them moving forward?

To his credit, it's just one bad season and he does have more closing experience than any other returning arm in their bullpen for 2026 - thanks in large part to Carlos Estévez and the newly-acquired Craig Kimbrel hitting the free agent market at year's end.

What's also in Erceg's favor is that, whether he's right or not, owner John Sherman's primary financial focus this offseason seems to be addressing the ailing state of the rotation. While he may not have opposed the idea of spending money on relief pitching entirely, in a radio interview last week, Sherman stated that the bullpen could be cobbled together, with an emphasis on the young names and the work GM J.J. Picollo and Co. have already done.

With ample team control left, it seems more than likely Erceg will be back in the mix when the 2027 season rolls around. However, what his role will be remains to be seen as time and time again, he looks like the sore thumb that stands out in already brutal bullpen overall - Monday night being the perfect example of this as he was the only reliever to surrender a run out of the five that came in.

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