Royals, Giants Make Last-Minute Trade Bringing Veteran Outfielder To KC

The Major League Baseball trade deadline has officially passed, and we can say with confidence that the 54-55 Kansas City Royals proved to be buyers.

Only three games out of the Wild Card hunt at the moment, the Royals made an impressive string of acquisitions. After bringing in outfielder Randal Grichuk over the weekend, they traded for three pitchers (, and Bailey Falter) on Thursday.

But just as it looked like the deadline had closed up shop, the Royals had a surprise: the addition of one more veteran outfielder from the San Francisco Giants.

According to multiple reports, the Royals have traded for veteran outfielder Mike Yastrzemski, a 34-year-old impending free agent. They are sending right-handed pitcher Yunior Marte, their 20th-ranked prospect, back to San Francisco.

MLB.com reporter Mark Feinsand was the first to report the news of the trade. The Royals later confirmed that Marte was the return.

Yastrzemski is a steady producer, though he's never quite been a star, with the exception of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. He's racked up 16.2 bWAR in seven seasons with the Giants, including 1.9 so far this year.

On the season, Yastrzemski has a .231/.330/.355 slash line with eight home runs. Oracle Park, like Kauffman Stadium, is a notoriously difficult place to hit for power, but that's still a little less slugging than you'd like to see.

Still, the Royals gave up a lottery ticket to get him in Marte, a 21-year-old having a good season in Low-A. They could have done a lot worse than a solid defender and on-base guy with a lot of big-league games under his belt.

More MLB: Royals Acquire Bailey Falter From Pirates In Deadline Buzzer-Beater