Royals could make costly mistake giving up on Lucas Erceg too early

When the Kansas City Royals acquired Lucas Erceg from the Athletics in 2024, it came with loud cheers from the fanbase. The righty reliever was in the midst of a breakout season and was performing well in high-leverage situations, and when he came to K.C., he got even better.

Erceg was an elite setup man for Kansas City in 2025. He pitched 60 innings in 2025 with a 2.64 ERA, with over 60% of his appearances coming in the eighth inning. He walked just 7% of the batters he faced while striking out over 19%, and he was worth 0.9 fWAR. It looked like the Royals had an elite reliever who was going to be around for a while.

That wasn't how things played out for Erceg. The 2026 season was an extremely rough one for the righty. He was very inconsistent and was eventually optioned to the minors in August. From May 25 until his last game before being optioned on August 19, his ERA never dipped below 5.00 and actually was over six when he got sent to the minors.

He was called back up in mid-September and gave the Royals five scoreless outings, but his ERA for the season was 5.59, and his 5.00 FIP showed he wasn't just unlucky.

Erceg was a big reason the Royals bullpen struggled in 2026. After Carlos Estevez injury cost him the entire season, Erceg was the logical step up, and almost 50% of his appearances came in the 9th inning. Now the Royals need to decide what they want to do with him.

Lucas Erceg salary raise shouldn't scare the Royals away

Erceg is arbitration-eligible for the first time this season. MLB Trade Rumors projects his salary next season to be $2.3 million. For a reliever coming off a year like Erceg's, that may seem high, but Kansas City should have no doubts about paying it.

The Royals have shown they aren't afraid to get their payroll numbers higher than most small-market teams. Erceg has shown he can be elite. The 31-year-old is absolutely worth taking the risk on, and $2.3 million isn't hard to swallow if they need to cut him.

Most teams would be willing to take on whatever is left of his salary if, at the mid-season, they opt to DFA him. There are plenty of teams who would be willing to try to fix him for that salary.

Erceg could revert back to the 2025 version of himself. It seemed like he had found something when he came back and had those five scoreless outings. Even if his salary is a bit higher than some relievers, it's still very workable and very worth the risk.

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