According to the Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, the Kansas City Royals have acquired Cincinnati Reds ace Johnny Cueto.
Source: #Royals getting Cueto.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 26, 2015
The deal however doesn’t seem official as of yet as the Reds are still reportedly working on ‘medical reports’ tweets John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer it’s expected that once top national pitching prospect John Lamb will be going the other way.
Sounds like #Reds are still working medical reports.
— John Fay (@johnfayman) July 26, 2015
John Lamb is expected to be among prospects going to #Reds in Johnny Cueto trade, source says. #Royals @FOXSports
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) July 26, 2015
Currently in the final year of his deal and set to become a free agent this offseason, the 29-year old Cueto has compiled 2.62 ERA in 130 2/3 innings. These numbers also come after a stellar outing Saturday night in which Cueto threw eight shutout innings at Coors Field against the Rockies. It was an outing that Cueto apparently didn’t know for sure if he was going to start considering the talks with the Kansas City Royals were getting close to complete.
Talks between the Royals and Reds were so close according to MLB Trade Rumors at Michael Lorenzen had been warming up before the game to take Cueto’s spot in the event that a trade was finalized. Talks however broke down and didn’t start-up again until Sunday morning.
This is obviously a big time move for the Royals who are looking to make it to their second straight World Series after losing in seven games to the Giants last year. Cueto will also help the defending AL Champion Royals bolster a rotation that has since dealt with their fair share of injuries.