Grading J.J. Picollo and the Kansas City Royals front office at the season’s midway point
By Bill Felber
Acquired or traded
It’s hard to say much about Picollo’s dealings with executives of the 29 other big league franchises because he barely had any. Under the leadership of Picollo, the Kansas City front office brought in only one player via a trade, purchase or waiver claim with another club.
That lone player was veteran minor leaguer Josh Taylor, a 30-year-old who came to Kansas City from the Boston system in January in exchange for Adalberto Mondesi and minor leaguer Angel Pierre.
Taylor’s previous major league experience consisted of 102 innings spread over three seasons in Boston, the last of it coming in 2021. He spent the 2022 season pitching for Boston’s Triple-A team, where he had a 6.00 ERA in 13 games.
In Kansas City, he had an 8.15 ERA in 17 games before being sidelined with back problems. The Royals announced this week he will undergo surgery with no announced timetable for his return.
And there is it, ladies and gentlemen, the sum total of the return obtained by Picollo in all his transaction with other teams since the end of the 2022 season.
The Royals were somewhat more aggressive in shipping players off to other clubs. They sold Anthony Misiewicz to Arizona, waived Luke Weaver to Cincinnati, traded Michael A. Taylor to Minnesota for two minor leaguers, traded Cam Gallagher to San Diego for Brent Rooker then turned around and waived Rooker to Oakland, sold Ryan O’Hearn to Baltimore, and waived Richard Lovelady to Oakland.