"Open for business" - MLB Insider Ken Rosenthal says Kansas City Royals already shopping relievers Aroldis Chapman and Scott Barlow
According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the Kansas City Royals are already making available relievers Aroldis Chapman and Scott Barlow via trade. Rosenthal notes that the pair could be dealt separately or in the same package.
"Open for business." - The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal on the Kansas City Royals already being ready to deal relievers Aroldis Chapman and Scott Barlow
The #Royals are “open for business” per @Ken_Rosenthal.
Rosenthal notes relievers Aroldis Chapman and Scott Barlow are available and may be included in the same trade package.
Any team acquiring BOTH Chapman and Barlow instantly transforms their bullpen into a postseason weapon https://t.co/6grL2uxKNo
The Kansas City Royals are dug deep as a tick into the bottom of the woebegone American League Central with an 18-43 record. The Royals are 13 games behind the division-leading Minnesota Twins, even though the Twins enter Wednesday just one game over .500 at 31-30.
While the moribund Oakland Athletics have all but announced their intention to have MLB's worst record this season, the Kansas City Royals are giving the possibly soon-to-be-moving Athletics a run at being the most sorry team in the league.
Kansas City is just four games "behind" Oakland in the race to be the major league's worst team entering Wednesday's games. The last thing an awful team needs is an effective bullpen, as most contests are already pretty much decided by the time either Chapman or Barlow would be called upon for a clutch performance.
The Athletics and Royals are far behind the worst team in the National League record-wise. The St. Louis Cardinals are bringing up the rear in the senior circuit with a 25-37 record.
Chapman, who signed a one-year, $3.75 million contract with the Royals this winter, has resurrected his career away from the New York Yankees. This season, he is 1-2 with a 2.95 ERA working as the set-up man for Barlow. Last season in New York, he was 4-4 with a 4.46 ERA. He has not had a sub-3.00 ERA since 2019.
Barlow, the Royals' closer, has spent his entire six-year MLB career with Kansas City and is not eligible to be a free agent until 2025. He is making just $5.3 million this season as he posts a 2-3 record, 3.52 ERA, and seven saves in the team's 18 wins.
Kansas City Royals could jumpstart the team's rebuilding project with a monster trade haul
Several teams would likely love to revamp the back end of their bullpens by dealing for Chapman and Barlow. The bidding could be fierce, and the Royals could seriously jumpstart their rebuilding efforts by pulling off a monster trade.