Royals land outfielder from Giants in last-minute move before MLB trade deadline
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Royals acquired Mike Yastrzemski from Giants for pitcher Yunior Marte
- Yastrzemski adds veteran outfield depth with eight home runs in 96 games
- Player remains under contract through 2025 after offseason one-year deal
Kansas City Royals general manager J.J. Picollo reached for his phone just as the 2025 MLB trade deadline was about to expire.
He had a call to make.
In under an hour, Picollo swung one final trade Thursday. The Royals acquired veteran outfielder Mike Yastrzemski from the San Francisco Giants in exchange for right-handed pitching prospect Yunior Marte.
A corresponding roster move will be made at a later date.
“You know, you get to that last hour and you start going through what’s still available,” Picollo said. “It was a late trade. I want to say it was probably a minute and a half left before the deadline ended. There were some components to it that we had to work out. But, if you look at what he does, he handles right-handed pitching extremely well.”
Yastrzemski, 34, has an MLB pedigree. He is the grandson of National Baseball Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski, who starred for the Boston Red Sox.
And now, Mike Yastrzemski will look to help the Royals make a second-half surge toward a postseason berth.
“He’s going to complement Randal (Grichuk) extremely well,” Picollo said. “So between the two of them, you have a very capable, I don’t want to call it a true platoon, but you have what appears to be a true platoon. And I don’t think it will be exclusive to righties or lefties. One will play and one won’t play. But it does fit very nicely and it rounds out our lineup and our bench and things we like to do from a strategical standpoint extremely well.”
Yastrzemski is hitting .231 with eight home runs and 28 RBIs this season. However, his numbers against right-handed pitchers are strong. Yastrzemski has a career .802 OPS (on-base plus slugging) against righties.
The Royals have looked to improve their offense. In addition to Yastrzemski, the club acquired Grichuk and Adam Frazier this month. The trio will improve a KC bench that lacked true difference makers.
It’s possible that Yastrzemski will operate defensively in right field. He has played there primarily in his career but the Royals also have young phenom Jac Caglianone entrenched in the spot.
Caglianone is currently on the 10-day injured list with a left hamstring strain.
“We’ve got some things to figure out once everybody gets healthy,” Picollo said. “You know, these things are fluid. And the other thing I will mention here, appropriately or not, we’re four weeks away from September call-ups and roster expansion. You get more flexibility in a couple of weeks.”
Yastrzemski has some experience playing the other outfield spots. However, he is most comfortable in right field — and for good reason. On Wednesday, Yastrzemski hauled a leaping catch near the foul line against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
“His defense is fine and we don’t worry about his defense one bit,” Picollo said.
The Royals also added three pitchers to the organization at the trade deadline. The club added left-hander Bailey Falter from the Pirates and right-handers Ryan Bergert and Stephen Kolek from the San Diego Padres.
The trade deadline moves addressed the Royals’ need for more offensive firepower and reliable pitching depth. Yastrzemski has hit at least 15 or more home runs in five of his seven seasons with the Giants.
Yastrzemski is under contract through 2025 after reportedly agreeing to a one-year deal this offseason.
“We feel like we added to our offense with some great experience,” Picollo said. “And we were able to add to our pitching at the time of year where it’s fragile.”
This story was originally published July 31, 2025 at 6:01 PM.
