The Royals this offseason continue to add bullpen arms by signing free agents, and now by trade. The Royals and the Reds swapped veteran pitchers. Cincinnati traded away a big piece of their bullpen in Amir Garrett. The 29-year old struggled last season with a 6.04 ERA, however, the Reds relied on the lefty heavily despite his struggles. Following the trade to Kansas City, Garrett said: "It sucks, but they've got to do what is best for the organization." Garrett continued: "There are no hard feelings, these guys have been here with me through it all man, so all I can do is say thank you." Shortly after arriving in Kansas City, Garrett spoke with Royals beat writer Anne Rogers: " This is a very family oriented organization. Heard nothing but great things from former players and coaches that this is a great organization to be a part of. I'm looking forward to that, I've got a lot I can bring to the team." Following the trade, Royals General Manager J.J. Picollo spoke with Anne Rogers:" We had intentions from the very beginning of the offseason to address our bullpen. Amir’s a guy that we had our eyes on in October. It just took a while to get it taken care of. He’s a power left-hander, a guy who has a lot of experience. He’s going to help us build our pitching staff out from the back end.” The Royals continue to build a family first type of organization by adding a player like Garrett that puts family above all. Garrett brings a three pitch mix with a fastball that can touch 97 mph along with a slider and a sinker. The Royals will most likely use Garrett in the closer position unless the team decides to use hard throwing right-hander Josh Staumont in that position. In my opinion, I don't believe the Royals will have a set closer with Garrett and Staumont throwing hard from both sides. The Royals not only get an upgrade in the bullpen, but the team also saves $8 million dollars heading into the season, minus the cash the team sent to Cincinnati. The Royals bullpen seems to be set for the 2022 season with Garrett, Clarke, Barlow, Tapia, Staumont and Payamps. Kansas City usually carries seven relievers throughout the season, however, the team still hasn't decided who will handle the final spot. I believe it will be one of the team's minor league signings in Peacock, Vizcaino or Lovelady. The Royals have shown that they really focused on improving the bullpen this offseason after several seasons of having a bullpen that blew many winning opportunities for the team. With the addition of Garrett and the other added arms to the bullpen, the Royals are hoping to put a team on the field that will win ball games and hopefully make a run for the postseason in October.
