In some surprising news this evening, the Royals announced the acquisition of reliever Hunter Harvey from the Washington Nationals.

Harvey has been the Nationals’ primary setup man this season and has posted a 4.20 ERA and 1.22 WHIP in 43 appearances and 45 IP. While the ERA is high, his FIP is much better, at 3.19, and he is posting a 0.09 fWAR this season, which would make him the Royals’ most valuable reliever.

The former Washington reliever possesses a fastball that averages 98 MPH, has a K% of 26.3%, and a K-BB% of 20%. The 29-year-old righty gives the Royals that much-needed high-velocity arm who can rack up strikeouts and limit walks, traits that haven’t been too familiar for the Kansas City bullpen this season.

In exchange for Harvey, the Royals traded away third base prospect Cayden Wallace and their Competitive Balance A pick.

The trade of Wallace was surprising, especially since he is hitting .282 with a 118 wRC+ this season in Northwest Arkansas. However, the Royals’ second-round pick in 2022 has only played 34 games this season due to a right oblique strain. He was on a rehab stint in the Arizona Complex League but was hit by a ball recently in a rehab game that could’ve re-aggravated his oblique. He remains day-to-day for now in Arizona.

MLB Pipeline ranks Wallace as the Royals’ No. 2 prospect.

The Royals also gave up their Compensation Round A pick, the 39th overall. In this upcoming draft, which begins on Sunday, the Royals will give Washington that pick and the slot money at that pick.

This is the second time in three years that the Royals have traded their Compensation Round A pick. They utilized it in a 2022 trade with Atlanta that brought Drew Waters, Andrew Hoffmann, and CJ Alexander to the Royals organization.

To make room for Harvey, the Royals designated Nick Anderson for assignment. The 34-year-old Anderson came over to the Royals with Kyle Wright this offseason in a trade that sent Jackson Kowar to Atlanta (Kowar was later traded to Seattle).

Manager Matt Quatraro was familiar with Anderson in Tampa Bay, but Anderson failed to succeed in Kansas City. While Anderson had a 4.15 ERA, his FIP was 5.24, and he had a -0.3 fWAR. Quatraro primarily utilized Anderson in low-leverage situations, so it makes sense that the Royals would opt to go with a younger reliever for that role on the 40-man roster instead of Anderson.

Per DFA rules, the Royals have seven days to work out a trade for Anderson. If he clears waivers, he can accept an outright assignment to Omaha or become a free agent.

Photo Credit: Amanda Coll | Washington Nationals