Royals acquire reliever Erceg, bench bat DeJong
Anne Rogers
CHICAGO — A power arm with strikeout stuff and years of control was the profile the Royals were looking for in the reliever market at the Trade Deadline.
They checked every box with righty Lucas Erceg, acquired Tuesday from the A’s for three prospects.
TRADE DETAILS
Royals acquire: RHP Lucas Erceg
A’s acquire: RHP Mason Barnett ( Royals No. 4-ranked prospect on MLB Pipeline’s Top 30 rankings), RHP Will Klein ( Royals’ No. 18), OF Jared Dickey
The Royals also announced Tuesday they acquired shortstop/third baseman Paul DeJong from the White Sox for Minor League reliever Jarold Rosado, who has a 1.85 ERA in 27 games for Single-A Columbia this season. DeJong packed up his stuff and moved from the home clubhouse to the visiting clubhouse at Guaranteed Rate Field ahead of Tuesday’s Royals-White Sox game. In a corresponding 40-man roster move, the Royals designated right-handed reliever John McMillon for assignment.
TRADE DETAILS
Royals acquire: SS/3B Paul DeJong
White Sox acquire: Minor League RHP Jarold Rosado
Erceg, 29, has a 3.68 ERA across 36 2/3 innings this season with the A’s, with 41 strikeouts and 13 walks. He made his big league debut last season with Oakland and is not a free agent until 2030, with the years of control the Royals have coveted as they scoured the relief market this trade season. ESPN was first to report the Erceg news.
Erceg gives Kansas City a high-leverage option at the back of the bullpen, averaging 98.4 mph on his fastball and generating a ton of whiffs with his slider and his changeup. He’s brought a worrisome walk rate down to 8.3% this year, while his strikeout rate is 26.3%.
Originally a second-round Draft pick by the Brewers in 2016 as a third baseman out of Menlo (Calif.) College, Erceg was traded to the A’s last year for cash. In 88 big league games since, he has a 4.32 ERA with 109 strikeouts in 91 2/3 innings. His stuff has ticked up this year, and he’s been put into some save situations for the A’s, notching three this year.
In exchange for Erceg, the Royals had to give up Barnett, their 2022 third-round Draft pick who has a 4.91 ERA across 19 appearances (18 starts) with Double-A Northwest Arkansas this season. Klein is a reliever who was with the Royals in Chicago, while Dickey was Kansas City’s 11th-round Draft pick in 2023 and was due for a jump onto MLB Pipeline’s Top 30 Prospects rankings this season.
DeJong, who turns 31 on Friday, also fits the profile of what the Royals have been looking for to upgrade their bench: A right-handed bat with some power. DeJong has 18 home runs this season with Chicago and is slashing .228/.275/.430 in bounce-back year after he moved from St. Louis to Toronto to San Francisco last season, signing a free-agent deal with Chicago this offseason. He’s played the majority of games at shortstop for the White Sox this year but also logged 88 2/3 innings at third base. The Royals are counting on that versatility to help them off the bench.
