Royals acquire Drew Waters from Atlanta


Heading into the 2022 season, the Royals were looking to put a competitive team on the field. Unfortunately for the team, that hasn't worked out this season. Kansas City, at this point in the season, has continued to struggle to win ball games pushing KC to be sellers as we near the trade deadline. The Royals, back in June, completed their first trade with the Seattle Mariners for a pair of pitchers for veteran first baseman Carlos Santana. The Royals will continue to make deals as the trade deadline nears; and on July 11, the team struck a deal with Atlanta. Kansas City acquired a pair of prospects including outfielder Drew Water, third baseman CJ Alexander and pitcher Andrew Hoffmann for their Competitive Balance Pick ( number 35 overall). According to many Royals sources, outfielder Drew Waters is the centerpiece heading back to Kansas City. Waters, at one point, was viewed as a top prospect in the Braves organization. Unfortunately for Atlanta, Waters has been unable to have success in Triple-A. Waters, at this point in 2022, has batted .246 with the Braves top affiliate. However, when playing in Double-A or lower, Waters hit for a great average of .364. While his numbers in the lower minors are good, it's important to point out that he has played a total of only three games with Single-A and 49 games for the Triple-A club. Despite not having any big league experience with the Braves, I believe Waters is the main piece heading back to Kansas City because he was a former top outfield prospect in baseball. In addition to Waters, the Royals acquired minor league pitcher Andrew Hoffmann and third base prospect CJ Alexander. Hoffmann has appeared in 22 minor league games for Atlanta, and the right hander owns a career 2.46 ERA with 127 punchouts. Hoffmann has a three pitch mix that includes a fastball, slider and a changeup. The right hander's fastball can hit 93 mph on the radar gun according to batterypower.com. The 22-year old's slider touches the low 80’s, and the right hander's changeup can reach the low 80’s as well. According to MLB.com, Hoffmann is expected to reach the big leagues in 2024. Along with Hoffmann, Atlanta sent a third base prospect in CJ Alexander. Alexander over the past two seasons in the Atlanta organization has shown some pop in his bat. In 2022, Alexander has 15 homers with 43 runs batted in, along with 13 stolen bases. The 6'5” third baseman defensively is viewed as average at (50); and in terms of speed, or lack thereof, Alexander is compared to former Twins second baseman Brian Dozier. The comparison with Dozier, in my opinion, should give Royals fans some hope of Alexander reaching the big leagues at some point, possibly as a bench piece at best, but anything can happen. The Royals are hoping that Waters can become the center fielder of the future in the next few seasons. Kansas City will continue to add pieces this season via trades with potentially higher upside prospects in return. Benintendi is gaining plenty of trade interest from multiple teams, but KC is hoping Waters can play a role in the team's long-term plans in the outfield at Kauffman Stadium. I don't blame the organization for thinking of Waters as a potential solution in the outfield. Waters in fact, earned a spot on the 2021 Futures Game roster and was  a high profile prospect in baseball for the Braves.

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