Royals Receive High Marks For 'Sneaky Good' Trade For $2 Million Starter

The Kansas City Royals are on the outside looking in as the month of August rolls along. They are 8 1/2 games behind the Detroit Tigers in the American League Central and 3 1/2 back of the final Wild Card spot.

They were an interesting team at the trade deadline. They were expected to be sellers, but ultimately chose to buy and supplement their roster. They added Randal Grichuk and Adam Frazier to provide a bit of an offensive boost, but also added Bailey Falter to boost their rotation.

Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report recently praised the Royals for their pickup of Falter, calling it a "sneaky good" pickup.

"His numbers don't jump off the page, and his 4.87 FIP is an indication that there might be some regression in his future, but he is a league-average innings-eater who fits nicely at the back of any rotation," Reuter wrote.

"He should help absorb some innings down the stretch with Cole Ragans, Kris Bubic, Michael Lorenzen and Alec Marsh all on the injured list, and next spring he will compete for a spot at the back of the rotation or a multi-inning role in the bullpen."

The 28-year-old left-hander is 7-5 with a 3.73 ERA in 22 starts. He also has recorded 70 strikeouts in 113 1/3 innings of work.

He'll make his Royals debut on Monday night against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. It will certainly be interesting to see how he fits into the Royals rotation for the rest of the season.

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