Royals miss another prime reunion opportunity as versatile righty signs with Rangers

One of the biggest moves of the Kansas City Royals’ offseason so far has been their reunion with backend reliever Matt Strahm after re-acquiring him from the Philadelphia Phillies following an eight-year hiatus.

However, as much as the Royals may be satisfied in their homecoming with Strahm, the reality is, he’s not the only reunion candidate in the bullpen that would’ve made a lot of sense this winter.

One of the key areas that the Royals seem keen on continuing to address, according to a report earlier this month from MLB.com’s Anne Rogers, is their bullpen, even with Strahm entering the mix.

While Rogers also reports that a lefty seems to be the preferred avenue for another addition, the reality is, the Royals could simply use quality in general to slot in front of their backend trio of Strahm, Lucas Erceg and closer Carlos Estévez.

This where familiar names like Hunter Harvey or Brad Keller could have played a role, even as right-handers. But with Harvey on his way to Chicago to suit up for the Cubs and Keller getting a pretty sizeable payday with the Philadelphia Phillies following an excellent postseason run in Windy City last year, the possibility of those reunions were nixed.

And on Sunday, another potentially strong reunion candidate was eliminated from the mix after the Texas Rangers and Jakob Junis reportedly agreed to terms on a one-year, $4 million deal, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.

A potential Royals-Jakob Junis reunion no longer possible after Rangers swoop in

Now, is Junis the flashiest game-changing name the Royals could have gotten in relief? No, but that’s not what they needed.

The Royals have an established high-leverage trio already after the Strahm addition. They, like many other organizations, could use some quality depth to complement those critical arms. And there’s no reason to believe Junis couldn’t have been that based on his performance in recent years.

Junis has come a long way since being a failed starter with Royals in the late 2010s and early 2020s.

Following his exit from Kansas City after the 2021 season, Junis had a mediocre year spent primarily as a starter in San Francisco before shifting into more of a relief role from 2023 onwards.

In 2023 with the Giants, he posted a 3.87 ERA in 40 appearances (36 of which were in relief). He’d then follow that up with a 2.69 ERA and 0.85 WHIP season split between the Milwaukee Brewers and Cincinnati Reds in 2024 and then a 2.97 ERA as one of the Cleveland Guardians’ most heavily used bullpen arms in 2025 – throwing in 66.2 innings across 57 appearances.

He has the poise to come in the middle innings and secure holds, but can also tap into his time as a starter and go multiple innings in relief when required, acting as somewhat a Swiss Army knife which is never a poor option to have at your disposal. For the Royals, this would’ve especially been useful given the amount of injury turmoil their starting staff endured in 2025 where bullpen length was occasionally relied upon heavily.

Kansas City will certainly have more opportunities to add relief pitching this winter if that truly is still an area of interest for them. However, you can’t argue against the value that familiarity can have in certain scenarios and Kansas City has now notably missed out on that three separate times this winter.