The Royals acquired right-hander Kevin Pucetas as the player to be named to complete the Jose Guillen trade, the team announced. The Royals added the 25-year-old to their 40-man roster. Pucetas, a 17th round pick in 2006, has made three minor league All-Star teams, appeared in the Futures Game and finished first or second in ERA three times in his pro career.
Despite his early-career honors, Pucetas is no top prospect. He has struggled in two seasons at Triple-A and had yet to succeed in the upper minors. This year, he posted a 5.69 ERA with 6.3 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9 in 26 starts at Triple-A Fresno. The silver lining for the Royals? As MLBTR’s Howard Megdal showed earlier this month, the return for Guillen has usually been better than expected.
