Are the Kansas City Royals done adding to their roster for their last-ditch playoff push?
Entering play on Tuesday, the Royals’ record sits at 67-65, four games back of the Seattle Mariners for a wild card spot in the American League. Fangraphs gives them an 11.3% chance of making the postseason — down, but not out.
Could one more bullpen arm give the Royals a slightly better chance at pulling off the comeback? One writer believes that arm might become available.
On Monday, David Lesky of Inside the Crown discussed the possibility that the Royals could pick up Atlanta Braves closer Raisel Iglesias on waivers before the Sunday deadline. Iglesias, 35, will be a free agent after the season, and fourth-place Atlanta has been a massive disappointment this year.
“Iglesias hasn’t been nearly as good this season and had a rough go of it (Sunday), but the run he allowed was actually the first he’s allowed since July 26. He got roughed up on June 9, but has a 1.76 ERA with 33 strikeouts and four walks in his last 30.2 innings since then with just 17 hits allowed,” Lesky wrote.
“If the Braves want to get out of the last $2.7 million or so, this would be a spot to go get a dominant arm. Of course, a lot of teams would likely be interested, so the Royals wouldn’t have a clear path to him.”
Iglesias got a four-year, $58 million contract back in 2022 from the Los Angeles Angels, but the Royals would only be on the hook for the final 30 games of that deal, so he’d cost them just under $3 million as of Tuesday. Is that a worthwhile expenditure with Kansas City four games out of a playoff spot?
If so, there’s probably more of a clear path to Iglesias than Lesky hints, because there aren’t any obvious teams with worse records than the Royals who are close enough to the playoffs to add payroll. The Texas Rangers and Cleveland Guardians would be their only plausible threats.
It’s getting down to the wire for the Braves to make a decision, and if they don’t pull the trigger on waiving Iglesias, there’s not much to discuss. But it would certainly make sense for the Royals to take a stab at him if available.
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