Kansas City Royals: What to expect from Edward Olivares

The Kansas City Royals acquired Edward Olivares from the Padres in exchange for Trevor Rosenthal. What should fans expect from the outfielder?

There had been some buzz that perhaps the Kansas City Royals might stand pat at the deadline and not trade anyone. That officially wasn’t the case when they sent Trevor Rosenthal to San Diego and received Edward Olivares and a player to be named later in the deal.

Royals fans were scouring the internet trying to find whatever information they could on Olivares after he was named as the main prospect coming back in exchange for Rosenthal. Olivares is 24 and made his MLB debut this season for the Padres.

He had just 34 at bats for the Padres and hit just .176 with one home run and three RBI during his 13 games. He walked twice and struck out 14 times.

Olivares might not have had eye popping numbers in the majors, but it was in limited appearances. His minor league numbers show that he can hit for power and is also able to steal bases with ease. In 2019 in the Padres’ AA system, Olivares hit .283 with 18 home runs and 77 RBI while swiping 35 bags.

A big appeal is that Olivares can play any position in the outfield. He spent the most time in right field, which is fitting since that’s been a position that the Royals have struggled to find consistency at. Olivares might get to see the field later this season, but having him play at the alternate site for now is the best strategy since there’s not really a place for him in Kansas City at the moment.

While the Royals’ outfield situation is shored up this year, Alex Gordon likely isn’t coming back in 2021 and it’s possible that the team looks to move Whit Merrifield and Hunter Dozier back to the infield or even potentially trade one or both of them this offseason.

The Royals actually acquired Franchy Cordero from the Padres prior to the season and he’s done very little, but is likely still in their future plans. The Royals traded Brett Phillips earlier this week to Tampa Bay and they still have Bubba Starling hanging around as well though he’s mostly serving as a pinch runner these days.

Nick Heath is another outfield option for the Royals both this year and in the future. They also have Kyle Isbel and Khalil Lee in their farm system, both of whom seem like promising options for the future.

The Royals don’t have a shortage of outfielders, but this was still a good trade for them. They traded a rental reliever for a young outfielder and another prospect. Even if these two prospects don’t amount to much, the Royals gained very little by hanging onto Rosenthal for the duration of the season.

Edward Olivares is someone who the Royals can move around the outfield and expect him to be a power hitter as well as speedy on the bases. It’ll be interesting to see if he gets to play much or at all this year, but there’s definitely some hope for him to be a key part of this team moving forward.