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Kansas City Royals: Wily Peralta could be a trade candidate

Kansas City Royals relief pitcher Wily Peralta (43) (Photo by William Purnell/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Kansas City Royals relief pitcher Wily Peralta (43) (Photo by William Purnell/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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The Kansas City Royals need to sell, sell, sell these next few weeks and one name that hasn’t been discussed much, but should be, is Wily Peralta.

No one thought much of it when the Kansas City Royals added Wily Peralta to their roster last winter. He had struggled immensely during his final three years in Milwaukee, but the Royals needed arms for a rebuilding team and that’s what Peralta was.

Peralta spent the first few months in the minor leagues, but finally joined the big league club in June. He’s only been a reliever for the Royals and has been thrusted into the closer role with Kelvin Herrera gone and not many decent options left.

Peralta’s nailed down all five saves he’s been asked to get and that could make him a valuable trade piece. He’s a free agent after the 2019 season, which might be why the Royals opt to hang onto him, but if they can get anything decent in return for Wily Peralta, they shouldn’t hesitate to flip him in a trade.

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The long-time Brewer currently has an ERA of 3.65, a WHIP of 1.459, and has five saves in his 12.1 innings of work. Peralta isn’t great and is definitely on the downside of his career, but he has been okay for the Royals out of the bullpen. If a contending team gets desperate enough for reliever help, they might look at Peralta’s numbers and come calling.

The Kansas City Royals will for sure be trading Mike Moustakas and will likely try to get whatever they can for the likes of Lucas Duda, Alcides Escobar, and maybe even some of the longer term guys like Danny Duffy and Whit Merrifield. Peralta is just another name to throw on the “Potential Trade Candidates” list.

The Royals made it to the 2014 and 2015 World Series by having a solid bullpen, so if a team is trying to replicate that (which most are at this time of the year) then Wily Peralta would be a good “flier” arm to add to the pen. Perhaps he pitches in lower pressure situations or when the team is losing, but he could be an asset to a team wanting to make a run in October.

Will the Royals trade Wily Peralta? Honestly, it’s not likely a team will give up much for a closer with a 3.65 ERA, but it’s not that they’d have to use him in that role. We’ll see if anyone comes calling.