Kansas City Royals: Looking back at Johnny Cueto trade two years later

It was only two years ago when the Kansas City Royals went all in and sent three pitchers to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for starter Johnny Cueto. What do we think of that trade now?

On July 26th, 2015, the Kansas City Royals did something they hadn’t done in a long time. They gave up their coveted pitching prospects in order to acquire someone who could help the team win  a World Series.

Nine months before the trade, the Royals gave their fans a thrilling ride through the month of October. They made it into the postseason for the first time in 29 years and swept their way to the World Series.

After losing the World Series that season, the Kansas City Royals knew they had the intangibles to get back to the Fall Classic the following year. They started the 2015 season off as hot as anyone and continued to take the American League by storm all season long.

When the trade deadline approached, fans were either on the “buy” bandwagon or the “stand pat” bandwagon. I didn’t think the Royals needed to add anything through the trade deadline because we had witnessed an awesome squad all season long that worked off of chemistry. Bringing in another guy could wreck that.

When the Royals put all of their chips in the center of the table and decided “Screw it. Let’s do this thing” and traded for Johnny Cueto, I wasn’t sure how to feel. Cueto was an ace for the Reds and instantly made the Royals rotation better, but giving up Brandon Finnegan to acquire him really sucked. The Royals also sent John Lamb and Cody Reed to Cincinnati for Cueto’s services.