Royals Rumors: Royals involved in big trade with Padres
Happy Royals rumors season, folks! The Kansas City Royals made a big move on Monday evening and traded three players to the San Diego Padres for three of the Padres’ players.
We all knew it was only a matter of time before the Kansas City Royals pounced and made a big move. That big move came on Monday evening, when they sent Matt Strahm, Travis Wood, and Esteury Ruiz in exchange for Trevor Cahill, Brandon Maurer, and Ryan Buchter. This is a big move that frankly, the Royals probably needed to make.
The Royals now have a fifth starter in Trevor Cahill and two bullpen arms in Brandon Maurer and Ryan Buchter. In return, they lost their future bullpen star and potential starter in Matt Strahm, which we’ll see down the road how that works out for them.
Source confirms: Maurer, Cahill, Butcher to #Royals for Travis Wood, Matt Strahm and Esteury Ruiz. @RobertMurrayFRS and @JeffPassan on it.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 24, 2017
Cahill currently has a 3.69 ERA and 4-3 record with 61 innings pitched in 11 games. Maurer is posting an abysmal 5.72 ERA, but has 20 saves to his name. Buchter has a 3.05 ERA in 38.1 innings and a 3-3 record. He has appeared in 42 games this season.
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There was no question that the Kansas City Royals needed to add help in their rotation and many would have argued that the bullpen needed some extra arms as well. The Royals now did just that and doing so, have sent away Matt Strahm, who looked to be a promising player for them in the future.
Strahm was going to miss the rest of this season, but had a 5.45 ERA in 34.2 innings pitched. He had a shaky start to the season, getting knocked around a lot in the first few series, but looked to be settling in after a trip to the minors.
I’m fine with the Royals parting ways with Travis Wood. The former Cub was not what the Royals were expecting him to be when they signed him this offseason, posting an ugly 6.91 ERA in 28 games and three starts. He was not the answer for this team, so props to Dayton Moore for getting out of that mess.
As for Ruiz, Jeff Passan threw out this gem on Monday evening.
Already hearing a lot of buzz on Esteury Ruiz from evaluators who have seen him in Arizona. Really young but wiry strong. Good upside play.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 24, 2017
The Kansas City Royals didn’t have to destroy their farm system when making this trade, which is a great sign. Not only that, but Buchter and Maurer have several years of club control on their contracts. Cahill, on the other hand, will hit free agency after this season.
I have a feeling that I’ll end up being in favor of this trade in a few days, but I’m still on the fence about it at the moment, mainly just because I really liked what Strahm had to offer.
With this trade official, it looks like the Royals rumors should be coming to a close. What do you think of this trade, Royals fans? Are you excited about it or do you need some time to process it still?