Royals Bolster the Bullpen with Carlos Estevez
Adding a guy who has done it in the ninth helps the Royals shorten games.
In an offseason where the Royals have checked almost all of the boxes they set out to check, they got a little bit closer with the signing of Carlos Estevez to a deal for two years and $20 million with a $13 million option for a third year. That third year comes with a $2 million buyout, so it’s essentially a deal for either $22 million over two years and $33 million over three years. That’s the going rate for back-end relievers, and that’s exactly what Estevez is. Before I get deep into it, I’ll say that he was one of the two or three relievers I was hoping they’d target when the offseason began and I think it’s fair to say that their patience paid off in getting him.
This past season was the best of his career at age-31. He threw 55 innings with a 2.45 ERA, 3.24 FIP and 3.19 xERA. His walk rate, which had fluctuated between fine and a little bloated was the lowest of his career by far. His strikeout rate also dropped a bit, so he maybe traded some strikeouts for way fewer walks, which I think was fine as long as the strikeouts don’t continue to dip. He still struck out 23.6 percent of hitters, which was slightly above average for relievers. He’s never really limited hard contact, but he did allow one of the higher barrel rates in his career in 2024, which I think came from being in the zone more.
He was an interesting signing by the Angels before the 2023 season because he had spent the first six years of his career with the Rockies. Most believed there was more to him but Colorado saps a lot out of pitchers, so he struggled a bit, but he did have a solid 3.47 ERA with 44 hits allowed in 57 innings in his final season in Coors. He went to the Angels and his ERA actually jumped, but so did his strikeout rate. And so did his walk rate. It does seem he made some adjustments in 2024 and had a great year that got him traded to the Phillies, where he was excellent at the start but faltered a bit down the stretch.