Kansas City Royals swap righty pitchers with Texas Rangers. Here’s who they dealt/got
The Royals swapped right-handed pitchers with the Texas Rangers organization late Thursday night, sending 21-year-old Yohanse Morel south in exchange for 26-year-old Albert Abreu.
Abreu, who was designated for assignment on Monday, will be added to Kansas City’s 40-man roster, with a corresponding move announced later, according to a team news release about the trade.
Abreu had a 3.12 ERA (3 ER in 8.2 IP) with nine strikeouts and a .138 opponents’ average (4-for-29) in seven appearances with Texas this season. He was acquired from the New York Yankees on April 2 and pitched in six of Texas’ first 20 games before spending almost three weeks on the Injured List with a sprained left ankle, the release said.
He returned from the IL and pitched a scoreless inning last Saturday at Oakland.
Hailing from the Dominican Republic, Abreu signed with Houston in 2013 and spent the first three seasons of his career in the Astros organization. He was traded to the Yankees in November 2016 as part of a three-player deal for Brian McCann.
Abreu appeared in 28 games with the Yankees last season, going 2-0 with one save and 35 strikeouts in 36.2 innings.
Morel was 2-2 with a 4.08 ERA (8 ER in 17.2 IP) in 10 appearances with High-A Quad Cities this season. He signed with the Nationals out of the Dominican Republic in 2017 and was acquired by the Royals in 2018 as part of the trade that sent reliever Kelvin Herrera to the Washington Nationals.
This story was originally published June 2, 2022 at 11:25 PM.
