The Royals are still in the market for relief help and appear likelier to find another bullpen arm via the trade market than via free agency, Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports. Kansas City’s preference is to add another lefty, per the report. Leaning toward the trade market rather than free agency is due to a desire to create some roster flexibility that the current group lacks.
None of Carlos Estevez, Matt Strahm, John Schreiber, Nick Mears or Bailey Falter can be optioned to Triple-A. Lucas Erceg has a full slate of options but isn’t going to be sent down, given his status as one of the team’s top bullpen arms. Daniel Lynch IV and offseason signee Alex Lange are the only relievers who could plausibly be optioned right now. Since players with more than five years of service cannot be optioned without their consent, signing a free agent would further restrict the team’s moves with regards to shuffling pitchers between Kansas City and Triple-A Omaha.
Kansas City currently has three lefties projected for its Opening Day bullpen: Strahm, Lynch and Falter. Only Strahm, whom they acquired from the Phillies earlier this winter, seems like a lock for leverage innings. While Lynch pitched to a tidy 3.06 ERA in 67 2/3 frames this past season, he did so with the third-lowest strikeout rate among all qualified relievers in MLB (leading only grounder specialist Tim Hill and swingman Kolby Allard). Metrics like SIERA (4.62) and FIP (4.76) are far more bearish on the former top prospect. Falter, meanwhile, was rocked for 15 earned runs in 12 innings after coming over from the Pirates in a July trade.
Those are the only three left-handed relievers on Kansas City’s 40-man roster. The rotation contains three southpaws in Cole Ragans, Kris Bubic and Noah Cameron, but they’re all ticketed for starting gigs. Angel Zerpa has been one of the team’s go-to options from the left side, but he was traded to the Brewers in the swap that netted both Collins and Mears.
It can be difficult to identify obvious trade targets when it comes to controllable relievers. Jose A. Ferrer had been one such lefty, but the Nats already shipped him to the Mariners this offseason. The Cardinals have a left-handed reliever who’s clearly available in trade, but JoJo Romero has five years of big league service and can’t be sent to Triple-A without his consent. He doesn’t fit the mold of controllable, optionable reliever the Royals are seeking.
Speculatively speaking, Dylan Dodd doesn’t have a clear path to innings in Atlanta’s bullpen. The Brewers are deep in lefties (Jared Koenig, Aaron Ashby, DL Hall) and are typically willing to engage in conversation on anyone. The Cubs have signed five free agent relievers this offseason, leaving a trio of lefties on the 40-man roster ticketed for Triple-A work (Luke Little, Jordan Wicks, Riley Martin).
As shown with the Lange signing, the lower tiers of free agency tend to offer bullpen possibilities with options still remaining. John King, non-tendered by the Cardinals, might be a sensible depth lefty, although he’ll hit five years of service with just 24 more days on a big league roster, at which point he’d no longer provide the flexibility apparently sought by Kansas City. He would, however, be a potential multi-year option, given that he’d have an extra year of arbitration control remaining.
There’s a broad range of possibilities to consider, but it seems fair to expect that the Royals could look to put together a trade for an under-the-radar lefty or at the very least try to actively work the waiver wire or DFA market to bring in some additional depth in the next few weeks.