Royals, Athletics make pitcher trade ahead of spring training

The Kansas City Royals are getting prepared for spring training, and it looks like they want to add some different pitching talent to the clubhouse. That’s what led them to make a trade with the Athletics, in which they traded pitcher for pitcher.

“We have acquired RHP Mitch Spence from the Athletics in exchange for RHP AJ Causey. In a corresponding move, RHP Alec Marsh has been placed on the 60-day Injured List,” the Royals wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

For the Royals, they get a solid player in Spence, who was a 10th-round pick for the New York Yankees in the 2019 MLB Draft. He was with the Yankees until 2024, and then he found his way with the Athletics.

With the pitching staff not being up to par, he played a number of innings with the Athletics in 2024 after taking a step back last season when he was moved to the bullpen. There’s a good chance that Spence could find himself going between Triple-A and the big leagues, as the Royals probably won’t need him as much. Their starting rotation is set, and he’ll likely be used in the bullpen.

As for the Athletics, they received a prospect in Causey who will probably be in Triple-A for most of the season as well. He was a fifth-round pick for the Royals in 2024, and for the past two seasons, he went 11-5 with nine saves and a 1.72 ERA.

It looks like this may be a trade where both teams were looking for different skillsets to add to their bullpen, and it will be interesting to see how each player is used this season.