Royals Bolster Bullpen, Sign Carlos Estévez to Two-Year Deal
The Royals made a big free agent splash on Wednesday night after adding another reliever to the fold in veteran closer Carlos Estévez.
After their improbable run to the postseason last year, the Kansas City Royals‘ contending window seems firmly open in 2025.
This winter they’d already re-signed Michael Wacha to a three-year contract and Michael Lorenzen to a one-year deal to keep the rotation together, while trading for second baseman Jonathan India from the Cincinnati Reds to shore up the middle infield.
Then on Wednesday night the Royals seemed to be re-affirm their contending approach after agreeing to terms with closer Carlos Estévez on a two-year, $20 million deal with a $13 million club option, according to multiple sources.
Kansas City had already taken steps to improve their bullpen over the last year after trading for both Hunter Harvey and Lucas Erceg at last summer’s trade deadline.
That being said, the bullpen was still one of the areas of needs for the Royals to address this offseason.
In 2024 as whole, the Royals ‘pen was rather mediocre, finishing 20th in MLB in ERA (4.17), 23rd in WHIP (1.33) and 25th in AVG against (.245).
After the trade deadline though, the improvements started bare results, as from Aug. 1 onwards, the bullpen shifted more towards the middle of the pack sitting 15th in ERA (3.86), eighth in WHIP (1.20) and tied for 13th in AVG against (.230).
By now adding one of the offseason’s top closing names on the free agent market in Estévez, the Royals continue to build the narratives of bolstering the bullpen and continuing lean into their open contending window further.
What Kansas City is Getting in Estévez
Estévez is coming off a career year in 2024 split between the Los Angeles Angels and the Philadelphia Phillies.
In 55.0 innings pitched across 54 outings, the 32-year-old right-hander posted career-best marks in ERA at 2.45, FIP at 3.24, WHIP at 0.91 and AVG against at .191.
He bolsters an excellent three-pitch arsenal of a four seam fastball, slider and changeup that all caused hitter fits last season, each boasting sub-.200 batting averages and sub-.400 slugging rates.
He was equally as effective in facing both righties and lefties last season. He held righties to a .176/.220/.304 slash line with a 1.03 WHIP and held lefties to a .208/.262/.323 slash line with a 0.80 WHIP.
While he’s not the flashiest of arms with just a 54th percentile K-rate and an 18th percentile hard-hit hit rate, the numbers don’t lie as he’s continually found a way post solid numbers, thanks in large part things such as an 86th percentile BB% in 2024.
This past season marked the third consecutive year in which he threw to a sub-4.00 ERA, and the second season in the last three in which he posted a sub 1.20 WHIP and a sub-.210 AVG against.
How Estévez Fits into Royals Plans for 2025
As I’ve already touched upon, the Royals had already started to build a more formidable looking back-end of the bullpen after acquiring the likes of Erceg and Harvey.
Harvey was always likely to play more of set up role regardless of whether Erceg was the closer or not, but now the closer’s role seems up for debate with Estévez entering the equation.
Erceg was very impressive last season as whole between the Athletics and Royals, posting 3.36 ERA and 1.05 WHIP in 61.2 innings.
He struck out hitters at an 85th percentile clip (28.5%), walked them at just a 75th percentile rate (6.3%) and limited hard contact with an 87th percentile hard-hit rate (33.3%).
He seemingly bested Estévez in most underlying metrics, however the veteran closing experience of Estévez could be hard to pass up.
He has eight years of big league relief experience under his belt with the last two years being as a primary closer, converting 31 saves in 2023 and 26 in 2024.
Last season was just Erceg’s second season in the majors after lackluster 4.75 ERA and 1.58 WHIP season in 2023. He also only became a full-time closing option after being dealt to Kansas City, as a result of being in the same bullpen with the elite closing option in Mason Miller during his time in Oakland.
The metrics may point towards Erceg be the better option, but Estévez’s advantage in the experience department is also a valuable entity that could be too hard to pass up when Matt Quatraro evaluates his options for the ninth inning.
All in all though, having too many closing options is far better problem to have than having none.
The Royals now have a bullpen chalked full of intriguing options to deploy from top to bottom in their pursuit of building upon the immense success of 2024.
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