Kansas City Royals: 11 defining moments from past decade
By Cullen Jekel
Worst Trade of the Decade
In the past decade, the Kansas City Royals didn’t make any atrocious trades wherein they sent packing a young phenom for pennies on the dollar, like they did with Carlos Beltran back in 2004. Sure, the Royals made some trades that didn’t pan out, but Dayton Moore never made a deal that came back to haunt him.
The Worst Trade of the Decade happened right before the deadline in July 2017. Having failed to move any of his impending free agents to restock the farm system, Moore shifted gears by pushing in the chips to make one last postseason run with the core of Moustakas, Hosmer, Cain, and, to a lesser degree, Alcides Escobar.
On July 24, he struck a deal with the San Diego Padres, sending pitchers Matt Strahm and Travis Wood, plus minor-league infielder Esteury Ruiz and cash out west in exchange for pitchers Trevor Cahill, Brandon Mauer, and Ryan Buchter.
On its face, the Royals didn’t give up much. Strahm pitched well in 2018 before struggling last season. Wood appeared in 11 games with the Padres, and hasn’t pitched in the Majors since. Ruiz hasn’t made it past High-A ball.
But where this stings is that the Royals got little in return.
Buchter pitched the best for the Royals, tossing 27 innings with an ERA+ of 170. The Royals then dealt him to Oakland, where he’s continued to pitch well over the past two years. Maurer pitched horrendously for the Royals between 2017 and 2018, appearing in 63 games and finishing with an ERA of 7.89, 44% below the league average. He’s not pitched since.
As for Cahill, well, he pitched 10 games for the Royals, starting three, finishing with an 8.22 ERA over 23 innings, which was 45% below the league average. Frustratingly, he pitched well the following season with the A’s before crashing back down to earth in 2019 with the Angels.
This trade didn’t help out the 2017 Royals at all. It didn’t even prolong the inevitable. The Royals missed the playoffs, and then collected only draft picks when Hosmer and Cain left in free agency.
Best Trade of the Decade
Two come to mind, the first being the James Shields-for-Wil Myers trade in December of 2012. And while that set up the Royals to compete in the following seasons, it pales in comparison to the one trade that laid the foundation for the decade.
The Best Trade of the Decade happened early on, in the 2010 offseason. On December 19, 2010, the Royals hooked up with the Milwaukee Brewers for a franchise-altering trade that sent star pitcher Zack Greinke with infielder Yuniesky Betancourt to the Brewers in exchange for Lorenzo Cain, Alcides Escobar, Jeremy Jeffress, and Jake Odorizzi.
Cain took over as a starter in Kansas City in 2012, playing at least 100 games for the first in 2013, and was a foundation piece for the competitive Royals teams from 2013-2017, going to the All-Star Game and finishing third in MVP voting in 2015 and also was crowned ALCS MVP in 2014.
Escobar immediately took over at shortstop for the Royals, and stayed there through the end of 2018. He played in all 162 on three different occasions for the Royals, reaching the All-Star team and earning a Gold Glove in 2015 and also winning the ALCS MVP that year.
While Jeffress appeared sparingly for the Royals in his two seasons with the team, Odorizzi pitched only two games for Kansas City before getting used as a piece in the seven-player blockbuster with the Rays in 2012, the aforementioned Shields-for-Myers trade.