Royals could be forced into difficult offseason decision after Lucas Erceg's latest blow-up

The Kansas City Royals' bullpen has been at the center of their nightmare season, as time and time again they've been let down in the later innings. The Royals relief corps holds the second-worst ERA at 5.36, the league's worst WHIP at 1.56 and have blown the fourth most saves with 23. And last night in Los Angeles, one of their worst performing relief arms turned in yet another brutal performance.

Coming on to start the bottom of the tenth, Lucas Erceg was tasked to keep the heart of the Dodgers order at bay in a 4-4 contest. But the former closer only managed to record only one out before Max Muncy deposited the game winning RBI-single into center field. Erceg was tabbed with his fourth loss of the season and while his run may've been unearned thanks to the ghost runner rule, he still sits at 6.02 ERA, 5.44 FIP, 1.82 WHIP and .302 BAA.

He's proven to be an unreliable arm in any circumstance for the Royals this season, which is quite the stark contrast from the elite-looking set-up man from 2025 and solid-looking closer when arrived after the 2024 trade deadline. He's sporting a career-low 6.44 K/9 and near-career-high 5.61 BB/9. And with an xERA and xBA below the 25th percentile, it's becoming harder to see a way back for him to be that trusted high-leverage arm. So, what if they cut him loose?

While his numbers may be in the same category as that of the recently released Matt Strahm, the appeal behind Erceg is that he's an affordable and controllable arm as a current pre-arbitration name.

However, while still under team control after this season, his pre-arb status turns into arbitration status and with that likely becomes a rise in salary from his current league minimum. It's not bank-breaking by any means, but it's more money nonetheless for a small market Royals squad. And at the end of the day, he's no spring chicken like other pre-arb guys traditionally are. He's already 31 and will be 32 by the time May rolls around next season. So is he worth keeping or is he a prime non-tender candidate?

Does Lucas Erceg fit into the Royals competitive bullpen plans for 2027?

This week, owner John Sherman made some questionable comments on how the Royals bullpen could be crafted this offseason as they attempt to build a winner again. However, relief pitching didn't appear to be at the top of his list of needs to address this winter, saying they could "cobble" together a bullpen next season.

By that logic, perhaps a controllable arm with a track record like Erceg could fit into their plans. But this year hasn't just been a down year, it's been a downright awful one. Among all qualified MLB relievers this season, Erceg sits among the bottom 10 in ERA and FIP and is the worst-ranked reliever in terms of WHIP and BAA.

Sherman's focus was on young arms developing to help achieve bullpen success. Perhaps that's second-half standout Steven Cruz, recent trade deadline pick-ups in Carlos Duran and Nolan Hoffman, other midseason acquisitions like Nate Pearson and Luke Little or midseason call-ups like Beck Way. Again, Erceg will be 32 next season and is already trending in the wrong direction.

His price tag may not be overly high as an arbitration player but if his stats are going to be mediocre at best, is it worth keeping him around? Or, are they better off allocating those resources elsewhere right off the hop and entering the offseason with a clearer financial picture from the get-go?

There's obviously still time for Erceg to turns things around with nearly two months left in the season, but at this point he's given the Royals no reason to think he's going to improve when he comes out seemingly night after night and has performances like the one he just had against the Dodgers.

It may seem odd to discuss cutting a player with three years of control remaining. Brian Sparks of Sports Illustrated stated on Wednesday that "releasing him would not make much sense", citing that aforementioned team control. But the alternative hasn't looked great either. At the very least, it's worth having the conversation of whether he's worth having around at all.

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