The Kansas City Royals’ offseason moves didn’t all pay off, but signing free-agent closer Carlos Estévez to a two-year deal sure did.
Estévez was coming off an excellent 2024 campaign with the Los Angeles Angels and Philadelphia Phillies, but he stayed on the market until the end of January, when the Royals inked him to a $22 million deal with a team option for 2027.
That deal now looks like a total heist, as Estévez just wrapped up a fantastic first campaign in Kansas City.
On Saturday, Estévez pitched a scoreless ninth inning against the Athletics to nail down a 4-2 win. It lowered his season ERA to 2.45, but more importantly, it marked his 42nd save, which was the most of any pitcher in Major League Baseball this year.
According to Anne Rogers of MLB.com, Estévez is only the second Royal ever to lead the majors in saves, and the first since Dan Quesenberry in 1983. Plus, his total was the highest by a Royals pitcher since Greg Holland’s 46 saves in 2014.
“It means a lot,” Estévez said, per Rogers. “From the beginning, I wasn’t aiming for that. But now that it happened, it’s great. It’s great to know that this year, all the grind we went through, some good things came out of this year. And I’m just glad and happy I get to do that. I think every reliever will want to do that at least once in their career. But I’m just truly grateful and blessed.”
Outside of a streak of three blown saves in a row in July, Estévez was nearly perfect. He didn’t blow another save in his last 17 chances, and even with a relatively low strikeout rate, he held opposing batters to a .199 average and .591 OPS.
Perhaps the most impressive stat of all, though, was the fact that he tossed 66 innings, his most in any season since 2019 with the Colorado Rockies. Health is everything for veteran relievers, and the 6-foot-6, 277-pounder kept himself available all season long.
Leading the league in saves on a non-playoff team is always a cool achievement. But Estévez would gladly trade that achievement for a shot to close games in October, and that’s what he and the Royals will be gunning for next year.
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