Headlines

  • Rhys Hoskins Carted Off Field Following Knee Injury
  • Jed Lowrie Announces Retirement
  • Jose Altuve To Miss About Two Months Due To Thumb Surgery
  • Rockies Sign Jurickson Profar
  • Braves Option Vaughn Grissom, Braden Shewmake
  • Jose Altuve Leaves WBC Game After Hit By Pitch
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2022-23 MLB Free Agent List
    • Top 50 Free Agents
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2023
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Arbitration Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Yohanse Morel

Royals Acquire Albert Abreu From Rangers

By Anthony Franco | June 2, 2022 at 11:01pm CDT

The Royals have acquired reliever Albert Abreu from the Rangers for minor league pitcher Yohanse Morel, according to announcements from both clubs. Kansas City will announce additional corresponding moves once Abreu reports to the team in the coming days.

Abreu, 26, spent around two months in Arlington. Texas acquired him from the Yankees in exchange for backstop Jose Trevino in the week leading up to Opening Day. The Rangers had acquired Mitch Garver to join a catching group that also included Jonah Heim and Sam Huff, and they felt that freed them to deal from their group behind the plate in hopes of adding a potential long-term bullpen piece.

The acquisition didn’t pan out as the team had hoped, as Abreu struggled mightily over seven appearances. He only allowed three runs in 8 2/3 innings, but he walked 12 batters and surrendered a pair of homers in that limited time. There’s little chance of Abreu sustaining an acceptable ERA so long as he’s struggling with free passes to that extent, and Texas designated him for assignment on Monday.

Strike-throwing has been a problem for Abreu throughout his professional career, albeit not quite to the extent it was during his limited time as a Ranger. A well-regarded prospect during his time in the Astros and Yankees farm systems, he was nevertheless forced to the bullpen because of a lack of control. That has been borne out in his big league work, as the Dominican Republic native walked an elevated 12.2% of opponents over 36 2/3 frames with New York last season — his first with an extended workload at the big league level.

That Abreu has attracted interest from a handful of teams in spite of his control problems is a testament to his high-octane stuff, however. He’s averaged nearly 98 MPH on his fastball in each of his past two seasons, showcasing elite arm speed. He backs that up with an upper-80s slider and changeup that each drew strong reviews from prospect evaluators, and the breaking ball has been a quality swing-and-miss offering at the MLB level.

With that kind of arsenal, it’s not hard to dream on Abreu carving out a future in a big league bullpen. Even if his spotty control limits him to lower-leverage work, the Royals can hope to coax better results out of his intriguing pitch mix. If they can, Abreu could be a long-term option. He won’t eclipse his first full year of MLB service until this season, meaning he’d be controllable through the end of the 2027 campaign. He’s out of minor league option years, though, meaning Kansas City needs to keep him on the active roster or make him available to rival clubs themselves.

That the Royals parted with a young arm to acquire Abreu suggests they’re prepared to afford him that opportunity. Kansas City is near the top of the league in waiver priority, but they parted with Morel to ensure no other team acquired Abreu via a trade of their own. It’s the second trade of Morel’s career, as he was dealt from the Nationals alongside Kelvin Gutierrez and Blake Perkins in the 2018 swap that sent Kelvin Herrera to Washington.

Morel, 21, was a fairly well-regarded prospect very early in his professional career. He twice appeared among Baseball America’s ranking of the top 30 minor league talents in the Kansas City system, but he hasn’t garnered a mention in either of the past two years as he’s struggled at High-A. Morel moved to the bullpen last season but was tagged for a 6.66 ERA through 50 innings. The Royals decided not to add to him to the 40-man roster in advance of the Rule 5 draft (which never ended up transpiring), and he’s repeated the level in 2022.

Through 17 2/3 innings this season, Morel has a more suitable 4.09 ERA. He’s punched out 25.9% of opponents with an elevated 12.3% walk rate. Eric Longenhagen and Tess Taruskin of Fangraphs wrote last week that his arsenal is headlined by a plus split-changeup. He’ll again be Rule 5 eligible this winter if he doesn’t earn a spot on the Texas 40-man roster.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Share 0 Retweet 7 Send via email0

Kansas City Royals Texas Rangers Transactions Albert Abreu Yohanse Morel

33 comments
Show all

ad: 300x250_1_MLB

    Top Stories

    Rhys Hoskins Carted Off Field Following Knee Injury

    Jed Lowrie Announces Retirement

    Jose Altuve To Miss About Two Months Due To Thumb Surgery

    Rockies Sign Jurickson Profar

    Braves Option Vaughn Grissom, Braden Shewmake

    Jose Altuve Leaves WBC Game After Hit By Pitch

    Edwin Diaz Undergoes Surgery To Repair Patellar Tendon

    Out Of Options 2023

    Cade Cavalli To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Edwin Diaz Helped Off Field With Right Knee Injury

    José Quintana Out Until At Least July Due To Rib Surgery

    Trevor Bauer Signs With NPB’s Yokohama DeNA BayStars

    Craig Stammen “Highly Unlikely” To Pitch Again Following Shoulder Injury

    Diamondbacks, Corbin Carroll Agree To Eight-Year Deal

    Nationals Sign Keibert Ruiz To Eight-Year Extension

    Rockies Showing Interest In Jurickson Profar

    Andrew Painter Diagnosed With UCL Sprain; Ranger Suarez Dealing With Forearm Tightness

    Marlins, Jose Iglesias Agree To Minor League Contract

    Marlins In Agreement With Yuli Gurriel On Minor League Deal

    Carlos Rodon, Tommy Kahnle, Lou Trivino To Begin Season On IL

    Recent

    Cubs Trade Esteban Quiroz To Phillies

    Tigers Sign Jose Alvarez To Minor League Deal

    Rhys Hoskins Carted Off Field Following Knee Injury

    James Outman, Jason Heyward Will Make Dodgers’ Opening Day Roster

    Cardinals Notes: Montgomery, Barrera, Knizner, Bullpen, Motter

    Jed Lowrie Announces Retirement

    Read The Transcript Of Our Chat Hosted By MLB Catcher Ryan Lavarnway

    Braves To Place Raisel Iglesias On Injured List

    Adam Wainwright To Open Season On Injured List

    Cubs Offseason Chat Transcript

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Offseason Outlook Series
    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Go Ad-Free
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2023
    • 2022-23 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2023-24 MLB Free Agent List
    • MLB Player Chats
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    ad: 160x600_MLB

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • Feeds by Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    hide arrowsFOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top
    Close

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version