Blog

Jul 04, 2023

‘Weirdest trade of deadline.’ Pundits baffled by Royals’ Nicky Lopez deal with Atlanta

The Royals were active sellers ahead of the Major League Baseball trade deadline, making five deals in a three-day span. Shortly before Tuesday’s deadline, the Royals made their biggest moves, sending

The Royals were active sellers ahead of the Major League Baseball trade deadline, making five deals in a three-day span.

Shortly before Tuesday’s deadline, the Royals made their biggest moves, sending closer Scott Barlow to the San Diego Padres and starting pitcher Ryan Yarbrough to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Two players the Royals received in those deals were ranked by MLB.com among the top 40 prospects traded. No. 21 is Henry Williams, a right-handed pitcher the Royals received from the Padres. No. 32 is infielder Devin Mann, who comes to the Royals from the Dodgers.

The Athletic’s Rustin Dodd graded the trades and gave the Royals a B for both deals.

One trade that didn’t impress the pundits was a deal that sent infielder Nicky Lopez to the Atlanta Braves for left-hander Taylor Hearn. The Braves acquired Hearn on July 24 from the Rangers, who had designated him for assignment.

ESPN’s Bradford Doolittle gave the Royals a D grade for the Braves deal.

“What, really was the point of this trade?” Doolittle wrote. “In a vacuum, you can tell why a team might see something to work with in Hearn. He’s left-handed and touches 99 miles per hour on his four-seamer. Hearn’s control is wildly inconsistent, but the stuff is there to be harnessed.

“The problem is that Hearn is a failed starter who is a month shy of his 29th birthday. He will be in his third season of arbitration eligibility this winter, though he will have a fourth season after that. ...

“For the Royals? Moving Lopez makes sense and you weren’t going to get a huge return. But K.C. could have gotten more than someone who has not yet produced at the big league level but already has a good deal of MLB service time.“

CBS Sports’ R.J. Anderson also gave the Royals a D for their moves made before the trade deadline. Anderson was baffled by the Lopez deal.

“The Royals made the weirdest trade of the deadline when they shipped infielder Nicky Lopez to Atlanta for lefty reliever Taylor Hearn, who had been acquired by the Braves just a week earlier for cash considerations,” Anderson wrote. “You’ve heard of positive arbitrage; this is a case of negative arbitrage. We’ll grant that Lopez was unlikely to yield much of a return himself regardless — he’s an obvious non-tender candidate — but optics matter. The Royals did get an interesting arm back from the Padres for Scott Barlow in Henry Williams.”