Barlow on the move


As we all know, the Royals this season have been awful from the offense to the pitching staff; but most bad teams have at least one or two good veteran players, and Kansas City is no exception. Since the beginning of July, Scott Barlow was brought up as a potential big trade piece for the Royals entering the trade deadline. Earlier in the season, several teams were mentioned as possible landing spots for Barlow—the Marlins, Dodgers, Brewers, and Reds. Last season, the Royals could have gotten a better return for the righthander when he had an ERA of 2.18 in 69 games played. However, Barlow's 2023 season with Kansas City has been one to forget. The 30-year old this season with the boys in blue posted an ERA of 5.35. Stats like that certainly hurt his trade value. Fortunately, Kansas City was able to acquire a pair of players from San Diego. The Royals front office, like many other teams around the majors, are always looking to add pitching depth in the big leagues and in the minors. Unfortunately, the Royals have been unable to find above average arms via trades the past few years under Dayton Moore and JJ Picollo. Royals fans will need to keep their fingers crossed on this trade like they do for many other trades Kansas City makes. The pieces headed back to Kansas City are somewhat interesting ones. The first piece of the trade is a 21-year old pitcher named Jesus Rios and the final piece in the deal is another 21-year old hurler by the name of Henry Williams. Both of the 21-year olds seem to be flip of a coin type of players, meaning this trade could turn out to be really good or really bad for Kansas City. Rios seems to be a low risk find for the Royals after signing a minor league pact with San Diego back on December 8, 2022. While part of the Padres organization, the right hander posted an ERA of 6.38, but he has only played in 16 minor league games. In fact the hurler has only pitched in 18.1 innings with 13 strikeouts. Henry Williams, like Rios, doesn't have much playing time under his belt in professional baseball. I am crossing my fingers that at least one of these arms can turn into a big leaguer and make the Barlow trade worth something for the Royals. 


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