Deadline dealing! The Royals are buyers as they make three trades

The Royals and General Manager JJ Picollo got in on the trade deadline action by making a couple of trades for starting pitching. In the first deal of the day, the Royals spun catcher Freddy Fermin to San Diego in exchange for right-handed pitchers Ryan Bergert and Steven Kolek. They followed that up by dealing reliever Evan Sisk and first baseman Callan Moss to Pittsburgh for lefty Bailey Falter.

In a deal announced more than 20 minutes after the deadline passed, they also added outfielder Mike Yastrzemski.

I mostly like these bits of business for the Royals. They acquired three arms that will immediately help patch together a rotation that has been decimated by injury. In the deal with the Padres, there’s some upside on both, especially Bergert. These days, any time the Royals scouting department identifies pitchers from other teams and gets them in to work with the team’s pitching gurus, how can you not be intrigued?

As for Yastrzemski, the Royals outfield, the worst in the majors this year from an offensive standpoint, immediately got better. But it comes with a cost.

Bergert, the Padres sixth-round selection out of the University of West Virginia in 2021, the same year he underwent Tommy John surgery. He was San Diego’s 13th-best prospect in Baseball America’s midseason update.

His fastball sits in the low 90s but has been up to 96 mph with run and ride through the zone. Bergert’s mid-to-upper-80s slider is his best pitch and flashes sharp two-plane tilt at times. He rounds out his arsenal with a mid-to-upper-80s changeup that he throws to both right and lefthanded hitters.

A little over a month ago, FanGraphs had Bergert as the third-best prospect in the Padres organization with a 45 future value.

Berget is a good changeup away from being in the 50 FV tier. He and the Padres have made successful changes to his delivery and pitch mix that have his fastball playing better in 2025 than ever before. Berget’s arm slot has been raised and he’s added a tick of velo, now sitting 94 with more pure vertical movement because of his new release point.

Both FanGraphs and BA have all of Bergert’s offerings in the average to slightly above average range, and both have him penciled in as a back-of-the-rotation starter.

Bergert’s four-seamer features a ton of active spin and, because of that, has that rising illusion.

The average Bergert four-seam has a spin rate of 2,411 RPM. For comparison, Kris Bubic’s four-seamer spins in at 2,417 RPM. It’s been a really strong offering for Bergert in his debut season in the majors. Opponents are hitting .140 against it with a .211 slugging percentage. Baseball Savant has the pitch as a five Run Value offering.

Kolek began his professional career as an 11th-round selection by the Dodgers in 2018. The Mariners purchased him from LA in 2021. Seattle then left him unprotected in the Rule 5 draft following the 2023 season, where he was picked up by the Padres. Needing to stay on the big league roster for all of the 2024 season, Kolek pitched out of the San Diego bullpen and finished with a 5.21 ERA with a 7.5 SO/9 and 2.3 BB/9 over 46.2 innings.

He began the 2025 season in Triple-A, but was called up in early May. In his second start of the season, he pitched a complete game shutout against the Colorado Rockies in a 21-0 victory. A string of rough starts in late June and early July saw him optoined back to El Paso but he has since returned to make two starts at the end of the month. Overall, Kolek has a 4.18 ERA with a 6.3 SO/9 and 2.9 BB/9 in 79.2 innings as a starter for the Padres this year.

The right-hander will throw both a four-seamer and a sinker, with both offerings clocking in in the mid-90s on average. The sinker features average arm-side run, so that’s the pitch he’ll feature most often to right-handed batters.

The four-seamer will go to the lefties most often. It’s a fairly straight pitch. Opposing hitters are slugging .470 against it this season.

The slider is the key offering here. It’s Kolek’s putaway pitch, generating a whiff on a quarter of the swings. Opposing hitters are hitting just .228 against it.

The changeup is a dandy offering, too. Thrown exclusively to lefties, they’re hitting just .067 against the pitch with a .067 slugging percentage.

When opposing hitters put the ball in play against Kolek, it’s going on the ground over half the time. And when they get a little launch angle on him, they rarely pull the ball, hitting it to the pull side just 12 percent of the time they put the ball in play.

The lefty Falter likewise features a four-seamer with high active spin and that explosive rising action. His fastball run value this season has been worth nine runs according to Baseball Savant, which puts him in the 91st percentile. He’s posted a 3.73 ERA in 113.1 innings covering 22 starts.

I’m less intrigued by Falter than the two pitchers the Royals got from the Padres. For one, he doesn’t get a lot of chase and he does not miss bats. He has just a seven percent whiff rate and strikes out just 15 percent of all batters he’s faced this season. His success this season has been predicated on a .236 BABIP. His Statcast metrics do not inspire confidence going forward.

While the four-seam and sinker are Falter’s backbone, I think the slider has some promise. This season, opponents are hitting .221 against the offering while he’s getting a whiff on a quarter of the swings. And we know what the Royals have done elevating sliders on some of their pitchers. While he’s the guy who, for me, I’m the least enthusiastic about, Falter is another who can maybe elevate his craft by working with the Royals pitching lab.

Falter is making $2.222 million as a Super Two player this year. He will be eligible for three more trips through the arbitration process.

Yastrzemski, acquired for minor leaguer Yunior Marte, is a soon-to-be 35-year-old left-handed hitting right fielder. At this point in his career, he’s strictly a platoon guy.

That means he can be the lefty side of said platoon paired up with right-handed hitting Randal Grichuk.

Yastrzemski has played all three outfield spots, but he’s primarily a right fielder. As is Grichuk.

I’m really interested to see how this lineup shakes out once Jac Caglianone returns. Or does Caglianone return this season? Would the Royals option him back to Omaha once he’s recovered from his hamstring strain?

Marte is the Royals 15th-best prospect according to Baseball America. He 2.74 ERA in 83 innings this year in High-A with an 8.7 SO/9 and a 2.2 BB/9. Not sure I’m behind that price as Yastrzemski will be a free agent at the end of the season.

Of all the moves this afternoon, I am supremely bummed to see Freddy Fermin depart the organization. How can you watch Royals baseball on the regular and not absolutely love this guy? From walkoff bunts to playing second base in an emergency, he gives everything for the team.

I am hesitant to refer to him as the backup catcher, even though he’s been the number two choice behind stalwart Salvador Perez. But Fermin’s presence on this roster has been key in giving the Royals the ability to move Perez from behind the plate as part of a regular rotation so he can get time at first and designated hitter. Fermin is the type of player whom you don’t worry about when you see him on the lineup card. He’s more like the 1B to Salvy’s 1A.

Fermin was a Gold Glove finalist last year when he led the league with a 48 percent caught stealing rate. This season, he’s gunned down just 23 percent, but that’s still a slightly better than league-average rate. Hell, most of the steals I’ve seen against him recently you could—and should—hang on the pitcher.

The Padres have been rolling with the tandem of Elias Díaz and Martín Maldonado behind the plate. Fermin is an immediate upgrade for the Padres both offensively and especially defensively. He should see the majority of the starts at catcher as the Padres attempt to get back into October.

Of course, don’t forget the Royals top two prospects in the organization—Carter Jensen and Blake Mitchell—are both catchers. Jensen began the year in Double-A, raked there, and is now raking in Omaha. He’s hitting .253/.347/.590 in 95 plate appearances for the Storm Chasers. While I believe the Royals will roll with Luke Maile as the backup for the remainder of the season, Jensen is definitely in the mix for a debut next season for the Royals. The Royals having depth at this position was absolutely a reason they felt they could pull the trigger on this deal.

As I noted in today’s early edition of the newsletter, the Royals left an opening in their probable starters for Saturday. In one fell swoop, JJ Picollo added three arms who can slot into the rotation for the stretch run. Either Kolek or Bergert can pitch on Saturday, or, with the rotation pretty much sorted for the near future, they can stick with Noah Cameron on what would be close to normal rest.

If we’re projecting into the future, I would think that if Michael Lorenzen is able to return sometime in August, that would slot into something of a swingman role. Having six starters down the stretch may not be a bad thing, either. I remain pessimistic that we will see Cole Ragans again this season.

Both Kolek and Bergert are under club control for years to come, so this gives the Royals some nice options as they move toward building their roster for next season.