How the Royals learned about the Kelvin Herrera trade before Monday's 6-3 loss

Alex Gordon knew something was wrong.

It was just minutes before the Royals' 6-3 loss to the Texas Rangers on Monday when manager Ned Yost approached his players with an announcement: Closer Kelvin Herrera had just been traded to Washington.

"Ned walked in crying to the training room," Gordon said. "That should just explain how much (Kelvin) meant to us."

And really, who could blame the Royals if their focus was a bit off in their seventh consecutive loss Monday?

Gordon said he ran as quickly as he could back to the locker room to offer a few words. Catcher Salvador Perez, who has played with Herrera for more than a decade, limited himself to a few minutes with the man he described as a brother.

"I didn't want to stay there for a long time," Perez said, "because he maybe would make me cry."

The emotional night would end in another defeat, a game that featured both encouraging moments and continued frustrations. But more than anything, it became a somber affair where the Royals were forced to reflect on a fleeting past and quickly changing future.

"I think everybody knew it was going to happen," Gordon said of the team trading Herrera. "I don't think we knew it was going to happen this soon."

The Royals, with Monday's deal, further made clear their intentions of rebuilding this season after a 22-50 start.

The biggest intrigue, at this point, is no longer game results. Instead, it's mostly gauging the progress of young players who could be a part of the organization's next contending team.

And that's where there was some promise Monday thanks to 22-year-old Adalberto Mondesi, who was just called up Sunday.

In the third inning, Mondesi picked on a Bartolo Colon inside fastball, one-hopping it off the fence in right for an RBI double. His next plate appearance produced power again as he drove a Colon pitch 400 feet to center before the Rangers' Delino Deshields raced it down for a catch on the run.

Then, to end the game, Mondesi drove a Keone Kela curveball 412 feet to center. Deshields chased it down at the wall to complete the Rangers' win.

Yost, partly because of Mondesi's injury history, indicated Sunday that the infielder would not be rushed into a full-time role with a plan of three or four starts per week.

There still could be some future drama, though. Blocking Mondesi at his natural position — shortstop — is 31-year-old Alcides Escobar, who signed a one-year contract this past off-season. Escobar has especially struggled lately, with his .337 OPS in June ranking last among 188 qualified MLB hitters. Yet he's also started 405 consecutive games, which is the longest current streak in baseball.

Mondesi's defense at second base Monday was mixed. He made a diving stop to take away a hit from Jurickson Profar in the fifth but also threw away a potential double-play turn in the seventh, though he wasn't given an error because Elvis Andrus did not advance from first.

Escobar, for his part, went 1-for-4 after entering the game on a 2-for-44 skid.

In the end, KC's offense couldn't overcome an early 5-0 deficit, with starter Ian Kennedy allowing a pair of home runs. The Royals fell for the 13th time in their last 14 contests.

"We have a job to do, and that's to go out, play hard and play to win. That's what we're doing. It just hasn't happened lately," Gordon said. "Hopefully we can get some guys some experience and turn this around."

That could start with Mondesi. And, down the road, perhaps it could be helped by the three prospects brought back in Monday's trade of Herrera.

Gordon, standing outside his locker Monday night, hadn't had time to research the Royals' return from Washington.

But he still knew this much.

"It probably had to be good," he said, "if it was for Kelvin."

This story was originally published June 18, 2018 at 10:31 PM with the headline "How the Royals learned about the Kelvin Herrera trade before Monday's 6-3 loss."