Kansas City Royals add a pair of relievers, trade away third baseman Emmanuel Rivera
With Tuesday’s Major League Baseball trade deadline looming and multiple Kansas City Royals players rumored to be potential targets for contending teams, the Royals swung a pair of deals on Monday to acquire relief pitchers.
The Royals acquired right-hander Luke Weaver from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for third baseman Emmanuel Rivera, and they also added left-hander Anthony Misiewicz from the Seattle Mariners in exchange for cash considerations.
It remains to be seen whether the deals are simply moves to bolster their depth or if they may be precursors to trades yet to be executed. Though Royals relievers, including Scott Barlow and Josh Staumont, have reportedly drawn interest from other clubs.
“There’s discussions, I think we have players that other teams value,” Royals general manager J.J. Picollo said about the potential for more trades. “We’re doing a lot of listening right now. There’s obviously a lot of good players that are out there that potentially could be traded. So we’re just waiting it out to see what we think, if anything, makes sense for us.”
Picollo said if they did find a deal that made sense involving one of their relievers, the Weaver deal has “protected” the Royals a little bit.
“This was a concept that we had with Arizona for a few weeks now,” Picollo said. “We knew how they valued Emmanuel, and they knew what our interests were and what we were trying to do with our club, in particular Luke Weaver. It just just took some time to get together. Sometimes, I think, you get to a deadline and things tend to come together a little bit more quickly.”
Weaver and Misiewicz have both pitched in the majors, so they’d provide experienced options if the Royals trade members of their bullpen away before Tuesday’s deadline.
Picollo said Weaver will pitch exclusively out of the bullpen this season, though the Royals believe he still has “upside” as a starting pitcher.
They’ll re-evaluate whether or not they’ll keep him in the bullpen after the season. Weaver will also be under club control next season.
Rivera, a former 19th-round draft pick who made his major-league debut last season, posted a slashline of .237/.284/.399 with 17 extra-base hits and 22 RBIs in 63 games (53 starts) this season.
The Royals optioned Rivera to the minors on Friday. He’s played infrequently in recent weeks (16 at-bats since July 16) as the Royals have played Nicky Lopez at third base and Hunter Dozier has recently made starts at third after having previously played outfield and first base.
When the Royals brought up a bevy of their minor-league prospects to fill in the roster during their road trip to Toronto due to 10 players remaining behind due to their vaccination status, infielder Michael Massey also got a start at third base.
Weaver, 28, has spent parts of seven seasons in the majors. He made his debut with the St. Louis Cardinals, who drafted him in the first round of the 2014 MLB Draft (27th overall).
The Diamondbacks acquired Weaver along with catcher Carson Kelly, infielder Andrew Young and a 2019 competitive balance round B pick in exchange for Paul Goldschmidt.
“We’ve always admired him and valued him as a prospect as a kid coming out in the draft, when he was in the Cardinals minor-league system, and of course he got traded to Arizona,” Picollo said. “We’ve always liked what we’ve seen. He’s got really good stuff. His fastball is going to be anywhere from 94 to 97. He’s got a plus breaking ball, a plus changeup.”
Weaver, who made 80 of his first 89 appearances in the majors as a starting pitcher, has gone 24-36 with a 4.76 ERA, 443 strikeouts and a 1.38 WHIP in 431 1/3 career innings.
This season, Weaver has made 12 appearances (one start) and posted a 7.71 ERA with 19 strikeouts and five walks in 16 1/3 innings with a 1.77 WHIP.
Weaver spent a large portion of April and all of May on the injured list with right shoulder inflammation. Weaver is expected to join the major-league club in Chicago as early as Tuesday. The Royals will have to make a roster move to add him to the club.
Misiewicz, 27, will report to Triple-A Omaha. Picollo pointed to left-handed bullpen options as an area the Royals lacked depth.
Misiewicz recorded a 4.61 ERA in 17 appearances (13 2/3 innings) with the Mariners this season. The Mariners designated him for assignment on Sunday.
Misiewicz, who made his major-league debut during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, has posted an ERA of 4.48 with 86 strikeouts, 27 walks, a 1.38 WHIP and a .275 opponent’s batting average in 88 1/3 career innings in the majors.
This story was originally published August 1, 2022 at 7:53 PM.
