The Royals became in dire need of a top starter last week after Yordano Ventura was demoted to Triple-A and Jason Vargas suffered a torn UCL.
Advertisement
Kansas City’s starters are last in the league in innings pitched, and the Royals hope Cueto can eat up some innings and ease the pressure on their excellent bullpen. “I’m excited about my next chapter, ” Cueto said with Reds catcher Brayan Pena serving as his translator. I know they play very good baseball. The Royals have formed a team, which they know could go far again, and want to keep it. He will be a free agent at the end of this season and the Royals will not be able to extend a qualifying offer, meaning the team won’t get a draft pick should Cueto decide to go elsewhere.
The scuffling Reds received left-handers Brandon Finnegan, John Lamb and Cody Reed in the deal. However, they’re pitching staff has been thin all year long, especially with their starters, but somehow they’ve managed to do enough to win ball games. “There is a lot interest in Johnny and we felt that this was the best value we could get, ” Reds general manager Walt Jocketty said.
It’s going to take a while before seeing a picture of Johnny Cueto in blue looks right. The Royals have been winning plenty of games this year but have had some problems with the health of their pitchers. Finnegan and Lamb were assigned to Triple-A Louisville while Reed was sent to Double-A Pensacola.2. The 25-year-old Lamb, a fifth-round pick in 2008, is 9-1 with a 2.67 ERA in 17 starts for Omaha. The 29-year-old is 7-6 with a 2.62 ERA and 0.93 WHIP in 19 starts this season and he’ll switch over to the American League and face designated hitters for the remainder of the year.
Hamels tossed the third no-hitter of the 2015 season on Saturday, striking out 13 and walking two in Philadelphia’s 5-0 win over Cubs at Wrigley Field. As The Haberdasher started for Cincinnati on Saturday, everyone will have to wait until at least Thursday to see him on the mound for the Royals.
“I want to make things happen here”, Gonzalez said. My head went around the whole way.
To summarize, this move likely benefits the team more so than Cueto from a fantasy standpoint. “He and I are very close on and off the field”.
“When I talked to [general manager] Dayton [Moore] before the game. we weren’t sure something would get done”, he added. The deal for Cueto is indicative of the new reality for Kansas City, which used to trade away its top players for prospects at the deadline.
The Royals will have several players, such as first baseman Eric Hosmer and All-Star third baseman Mike Moustakas, eligible for arbitration and will probably have to pay more. While Royals owner David Glass has been willing to increase their payroll to franchise-record levels, Kansas City may have only a couple of years to make another run at a title before finances force the organization into rebuilding mode.
Advertisement
Cueto will be reunited with fellow Dominican native Edinson Volquez at the front of the Royals’ revamped rotation.
