Royals Urged To Dump Failed Trade Deadline Acquisition Projected For $3.9 Million

The Kansas City Royals made an unexpected playoff run in 2024, but they weren't without their Achilles heels. And one of those was definitely the bullpen.

All season long, the Royals struggled to find quality depth in the late-inning and middle-relief roles. That bled over into the playoffs, where two recently converted starting pitchers (Michael Lorenzen and Kris Bubic) blew games against the New York Yankees in the late innings.

It isn't as though the Royals failed to address the bullpen in either free agency or trades, but unfortunately, most of their acquisitions just didn't work out. And the biggest headline move they made to try and address their bullpen was unfortunately a disaster in the short term.

Hunter Harvey cost the Royals a pretty penny at the trade deadline, as the Royals gave up their number-two prospect (third baseman Cayden Wallace) and a competitive balance round draft pick to the Washington Nationals. He struggled initially in Kansas City, then got hurt, and now some want him out of town for good.

Mike Gillespie of FanSided urged the Royals to non-tender Harvey, who was recently projected to make $3.9 million in arbitration by MLB Trade Rumors.

"Some might think it harsh to suggest the Royals let Harvey go. Yes, he had two good seasons with the Nationals, going 2-1 with a 2.52 ERA in 38 games in 2022, and 4-4 with a 2.82 ERA and 10 saves in 2023. But his 2-4, 4.20 record in 43 pre-trade games for the Nats this season foretold what might happen when he became a Royal," Gillespie said.

"The club shouldn't be willing to pay Harvey (his) $3.9 million projection. It has other bullpen options, including up-and-coming Triple-A Omaha reliever Evan Sisk, one of the prospects who the Royals ought to put on their 2025 Opening Day Roster."

Harvey, 29, was once a big pitching prospect with the Baltimore Orioles, but his career has been on a seesaw for most of the last decade. He looked to be getting on track in the past two seasons in Washington, but just completed the season with his highest ERA ever (4.44), which included four earned runs in just 5 2/3 innings pitched with the Royals.

It would be hard to fault the Royals for simply hanging onto Harvey while they have him under team control, because relief pitchers rarely get cheaper once they hit free agency. There's still a solid reliever in there if the big righty can come back healthy, and Kansas City would get to monitor his offseason training this time around.

But if the $3.9 million projection is accurate, it wouldn't be the world's biggest shock to see Harvey let go. It would still be a pretty big shock, in fairness, just not an absolute stunner.

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