Royals trade for former rival bullpen arm as pitching depth continues to be tested

After calming the storm to start the month, the Kansas City Royals find themselves spiraling once again having lost four of their last five games. Injuries have been at the center of it all, with pitching being at the forefront once again. With three starters, two key bullpen arms and mutiple 40-man depth options on the injured list right now, the Royals needed to continue addressing their staff.

They took strides to do so on Monday afternoon by acquiring Connor Seabold from the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for Low-A right-hander Denis Samudio and cash considerations.

The move comes off the back of Seabold being designated for assignment by the Blue Jays last week. The 30-year-old is becoming a bit of journeyman as Kansas City will become the seventh team of his career, fifth in his last two campaigns and third already this season.

He’s nothing flashy, but his back-to-back seasons with mid-4.00s ERAs, which featured a 1.35 ERA with Tampa Bay in 2025 and a 3.45 with the Tigers this season, is definitely not a bad option to have in a big league bullpen.

What Seabold also does is limit quality contact, as his 34.4% hard-hit%, 4.7% barrel rate and 86.7 mph AVG exit velocity all rank well above-average. He also limits the free pass well with just a 7% walk rate and has gotten hitters to chase to an above-average 32.4%.

In terms of who the Royals are sending Toronto’s way, Samudio is a flier if there ever was one. After posting a 1.72 ERA in 36.2 innings in the DSL in 2025, Samudio worked his way from the complex to Low-A Columbia this season. In four outings, two of which were starts, with the Fireflies this season, the Panamanian right-hander was throwing to a 4.50 ERA, 1.29 WHIP and .200 BAA.

Who does Connor Seabold replace in the Royals bullpen when available?

Obviously, Seabold won’t be active for Monday’s series opener in Washington, but when he does join this Royals squad, it will have to be at the big league league level as the righty has no remaining minor league options to his name. This means Kansas City will need to make room for him on the active roster.

The obvious choice to get sent down would be the recently promoted Mitch Spence. Although the starter/swingman has been seeing better results in Triple-A after his 13-run disaster last month, his lone six-run outing in four innings of work back on April 18 showed his limitations. He’s also the starter for Monday’s game in D.C. so having a fresh available arm for the rest of their road-trip could strengthen the idea of an immediate demotion.

However, if the Royals wish to lean into Spence’s length a little longer than just a day or two, perhaps a name like Beck Way could be an option to send back down to Omaha, as the luster of his debut has been lost with a now 10.80 ERA in 3.1 innings.