Kansas City Royals: Biggest Trades In Recent Years

Former Kansas City Royals starting pitcher James Shields (33) – Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

December 9th, 2012: Royals acquire James Shields and Wade Davis from Rays

The Kansas City Royals still weren’t relevant after the 2012 season wrapped up, but that was about to change, as Dayton Moore made a huge trade during the 2012 winter meetings.

Kansas City sent Jake Odorizzi (who they got through the Greinke deal), Mike Montgomery, and Wil Myers to the Tampa Bay Rays for starting pitchers James Shields and Wade Davis.

There were a lot of mixed feelings about this deal at the time. I remember I was a senior in college when this deal took place, and one of my roommates was not happy about it. He felt like it was going to completely ruin the organization.

I was happy about this deal because it brought hope and excitement to the team, something no one my age had really gotten to experience with the Royals.

My dad, on the other hand, had high hopes for the Royals’ chances at making it to the postseason with Shields on board. Shields was Tampa’s ace at the time, and immediately became Kansas City’s ace, something they hadn’t had since Greinke left two years prior.

I was sort of in the middle.

I was happy about this deal because it brought hope and excitement to the team, something no one my age had really gotten to experience with the Royals. On the other side of the script though, this was a risky move for sure. Myers and Odorizzi were both promising young prospects. What if the Royals struck out on this deal?

Fortunately, Dayton Moore and the Kansas City Royals won this trade.

Shields brought a strong veteran voice to the rotation, and helped guys like Danny Duffy and Yordano Ventura find their way on the mound. He spent two seasons as a Royal, and both seasons saw the team post winning records. They barely missed out on the postseason in 2013, but made it all the way to the World Series in 2014.

Shields brought a strong veteran voice to the rotation, and helped guys like Danny Duffy and Yordano Ventura find their way on the mound.

Wade Davis, the other guy brought over in this trade, has become a Royals legend.

Once a failed starter in the rotation, Davis became a reliable arm out of the bullpen, and has since become the best closer in all of baseball. 2014 saw Davis as the middle man of the H-D-H trio where he was Greg Holland‘s set-up guy. He posted a 1.00 ERA that year.

The next year was even better for Davis, as he had a 0.94 ERA and became the team’s full-time closer once Holland was done for the season. It was only fitting that Wade Davis, one of the pieces acquired in the big trade with Tampa Bay, got to record the final three outs of the World Series.

Was trading for James Shields and Wade Davis worth it?

This is another trade that worked out for Dayton Moore and the Royals. They may have lost guys like Odorizzi and Myers, but Shields provided an ace for two seasons and was one of the main reasons this team made the World Series in 2014, and Davis has become one of the best relievers in Kansas City history.

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