Friday evening was Major League Baseball’s non-tender deadline, and it was certainly a busy one across the league, as 63 players were non-tendered by their respective clubs.
Some big names of the group included Brandon Woodruff of the Brewers, Austin Meadows of the Tigers, Dakota Hudson of the Cardinals, and Daniel Vogelbach of the Mets.
As for the Royals, they non-tendered four players, which they announced on X on Friday evening:
The Staumont and Porter moves should not come as a surprise to Royals fans. The pair was already designated for assignment earlier this week when the Royals added Will Klein and Tyler Gentry to the 40-man roster.
However, the Royals deciding to non-tender Cox and Hernandez did come as a bit of a mild shock, especially since they weren’t arbitration-eligible, and they were once highly valued prospects in the Royals system. Then again, both suffered major injuries in 2023, which probably influenced the Royals’ decision to non-tender them on Friday.
While the Royals made news for the players they let go from the 40-man roster, they also garnered major headlines for a pair of arms they acquired last night as well.
The Royals acquired Anderson for cash from the Braves, and they flipped Jackson Kowar for Wright in a move that has gotten some mixed fanfare from some Royals fans on social media. Even though they did lose an arm that showed flashes of promise in his tenure in Kansas City, the Royals did receive a guy who could be a frontline starter when healthy.
Let’s take a look at the Anderson and Wright moves, as well as an early morning announcement that broke on Saturday that not only involved Cox, Porter, and Hernandez returning on Minor League deals but also pitcher Luis Cessa, whom the Royals also inked to a Minor League deal as well.
Safe to say, JJ Picollo and the Royals front office are wasting no time in being transactional this offseason.
Anderson a Familiar Face to Quatraro and Royals Coaching Staff
A 32nd-round pick by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2012 MLB Draft, Anderson thrived as a reliever with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2019 and 2020 (he came over to Tampa from Miami at the Trade Deadline in 2019).
Anderson’s numbers with the Rays were flat-out silly.
After coming over from the Marlins, Anderson struck out 41 batters and walked only two in 21.1 innings. Overall in 2019, he posted a 3.32 ERA in 68 appearances and 65 IP and produced a 41.7% K rate against a BB rate of 6.8%.
The 2020 season saw more of the same from Anderson: 0.55 ERA, 44.8% K rate, 5.2% BB rate, 16.1 IP. Unfortunately, Anderson suffered an elbow injury after only six appearances in 2021. As a result of surgery that offseason, he missed the entire 2022 season. Because of his injury and unclear future, the Rays ended up non-tendering him in November of 2022.
The Braves took a flier on Anderson this past year and he bounced back, though his work was limited.
In 35.1 IP, Anderson produced a 3.06 ERA and 1.10 WHIP. His K rate dipped a little to 25.5%, but his BB rate remained stable at 6.4%. At the very least, the 33-year-old reliever brings a pitching profile that was sorely lacking from last year’s Royals bullpen which struggled with walking batters.
In terms of his pitch arsenal profile, Anderson is a two-pitch reliever, with his curve being his primary pitch. He threw the breaking offering 50% of the time, and it produced a whiff rate of 40.4% as well as decent PLV numbers, which can be seen in the chart below.
The four-seamer wasn’t great, as it produced a PLV of only 4.48. That said, it did average 94.2 MPH last season, and when sequenced properly with the curve, it can be effective, especially with the near 14 MPH difference between the two pitches.
The GIF compilation below shows how Anderson’s sharper-dropping curve pairs well with Anderson’s four-seamer.
It’s likely that James McArthur will likely get the first shot at closer duties in Spring Training, especially considering how strong McArthur finished in 2023.
That being said, Anderson should be able to handle high-leverage spots in the 7th and 8th innings, which in turn should help the Royals’ bullpen overall next season.
Royals Look Long-Term by Trading Kowar for Wright
Just to be clear, it’s likely that Wright won’t throw a single pitch for the Royals in 2024.
That alone will probably frustrate Royals fans who are tired of losing.
It was likely that Kowar wasn’t going to add much to this pitching staff in 2024 or beyond. However, he was at least GOING to pitch for the Royals next season, and he showed flashes of being a reliever who could transition into high-leverage situations with more experience and development.
Nonetheless, Kowar’s ceiling is a reliever. Wright on the other hand is a proven starter at the Major League level, even if Royals fans may have to wait until 2025 to see him pitch.
The acquisition of Wright comes with considerable risk, especially with his health history. And yet, it’s a move that has a lot of benefits for the Royals both on the field and off.
First off, Wright isn’t that far off from a season in which he was one of the better pitchers in the game.
Last year was certainly rough as he posted a 6.97 ERA and 1.84 WHIP in nine outings (seven starts) and 31 innings of work. That said, he struggled with arm and shoulder issues all season, and he was eventually shut down and underwent shoulder surgery in October. So it’s difficult to really identify if those numbers he produced in 2023 were actually him, or an injury-riddle one.
Because when he was healthy in 2022, the numbers were eye-poppingly impressive.
Over 30 starts and 180.1 IP with the Braves, he produced a 3.19 ERA, a 1.16 WHIP, and 2.9 fWAR, according to Fangraphs. He also sported a 3.28 K/BB ratio, highlighted by a 23.9% K rate.
Here’s what his PLV metrics looked like in 2022:
As Royals fans can see above, Wright sported three above-average offerings on a PLV end: the curveball (5.22), sinker (5.07), and changeup (5.10). The slider was slightly below average at 5.02, but it wasn’t as bad as his four-seamer, which produced a 4.38 PLV mark in 2022.
Now, pitch quality metrics from two years ago is one thing. However, what did his PLV metrics look like last year during his injury-riddle subpar 2023 campaign? Let’s look below.
The changeup and curve took some big strides backward last season. However, his sinker was still around average, and his four-seamer actually improved slightly. Thus, it isn’t surprising to see that Wright’s K rate still was 21.9% and his K/BB ratio was 2.00, which isn’t as bad as his inflated ERA indicates.
Here’s a look at Wright’s primary three pitches (curve, sinker, four-seamer) in a GIF compilation, and notice how the whiff-inducing ability was still there last year despite his health issues.
That should make Royals fans optimistic that the stuff is still there on his pitch mix despite the injury issues. If healthy, he should return to form, especially if he responds well to pitching coach Brian Sweeney and the Royals pitching coach team.
On a roster end, Wright still has three years of team control left, according to Roster Resource. He is projected to earn about $1.4 million in arbitration this year, which would only be $300K more than Josh Taylor, whom the Royals agreed to a contract with as well on Friday.
Thus, the Royals acquired an arm that could immediately be a no. 1 or 2 starter in 2025 and 2026, and he won’t break the bank as well as of now. I would also be curious to see if Picollo perhaps extends Wright proactively this offseason (maybe for an extra year in 2027) so they could get him at an even more cost-controlled rate long-term.
Lastly, Wright will probably be immediately added to the 60-Day IL in Spring Training. That will give the Royals another automatic roster spot, which will allow them to perhaps add someone easily prior to Opening Day without having to designate anyone for assignment.
As Royals fans can see, there are a lot of win-wins with this Wright deal, even if it may not be obvious at first glance.
Can the Royals Revitalize Cessa?
To be transparent, I was a big fan of the Royals acquiring Luis Cessa previously, as he was designated for assignment by the Reds last May. The Royals passed on him last year, and the Mexican-born pitcher ended up pitching in Triple-A for the Nationals and Rockies organizations for the remainder of the season.
Cessa struggled in Albuquerque and Rochester, as he posted ERA numbers of 8.44 and 8.71 with those clubs, respectively. That said, Albuquerque traditionally is one of the roughest environments for pitchers park-factor-wise, so even those numbers have to be taken with a grain of salt.
Granted, there’s a reason why the Royals signed Cessa to only a Minor League deal.
He’s coming off a season in which he posted a 9.00 ERA in seven outings and 26 IP in Cincinnati, and his 2022 with the Reds wasn’t great either as he posted a 4.57 ERA and 1.29 WHIP in 46 appearances (10 starts) and 80.2 IP. Additionally, his PLV metrics from the past two years aren’t impressive either.
The changeup and slider have the potential to be potent pitches for Cessa in Kansas City. His changeup has been his best pitch PLV-wise the past two seasons, and he posted a 25.9% whiff rate and 20.8% put-away rate on the pitch last season, according to Savant.
The 31-year-old thrived most in the bullpen full-time, especially in 2021 when he was a member of both the Yankees and Reds (who acquired him at the Trade Deadline that season).
That season, Cessa produced a 2.51 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, and a 0.9 fWAR in 64.2 IP. He wasn’t a high-leverage reliever, but he could thrive in Kansas City like he did in the Bronx in a middle-innings role who could be stretched across multiple innings if needed.
Sweeney and the Royals coaching team will need to do some considerable work with him this offseason. A big priority should be to see if they can not only tap Cessa to use his changeup (22% usage rate) and sinker (17% usage rate) more but also perhaps tweak his slider, which he threw 38% of the time as his primary pitch in 2023.
Photo Credit: USA Today/SI
Mr. O’B, Braves must really be stacked with pitching prospects if they can give up Wright in exchange for Kowar, yet another Royals blown high draft pitching pick. I’m really excited about Wright and can’t believe we got him; I was thinking a trade of Kowar would bring back nothing more than a batboy. PS – will Asa Lacey ever even smell The Show?
Yeah, the Braves had a lot of non-tender decisions to make and it seems like they opted to get something out of them rather than just let them go for nothing. I also think Braves are clearing space for a bigger move (i.e. maybe Shohei).
I don’t know about Lacy. It feels very much like an Ashe Russell situation where it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s out of the game sooner rather than later. Just doesn’t seem to be injury-related anymore, which is not a good sign
[…] a bit to rest and recharge. I was worried for a second about missing some moves, but thankfully, the Royals seemed to take care of all their pre-Thanksgiving moves before I left for vacation in the […]
[…] Then, the Royals can make that trade involving Singer, especially once they clear up their pitching situation this offseason, which still feels unclear and incomplete even after the Nick Anderson and Kyle Wright trades. […]
[…] boosting their pitching staff by acquiring Nick Anderson and Kyle Wright through trades, the Royals made their first “big” free agent signing of the offseason as they signed […]
[…] the Royals have made a couple of minor acquisitions with the Atlanta Braves (acquiring reliever Nick Anderson and starter Kyle Wright) and signed utility player Garrett Hampson to a one-year, $2 million deal, they haven’t made a […]