Kansas City Royals' Pitching Coach Sits Jokingly Down on Plesac Swap
The Royals took a calculated risk this past offseason, and they’re excited to see the result.
Trading a quality relief pitcher isn’t the most attractive move on paper, but the Kansas City Royals did it in a way that makes sense. They dealt southpaw Angel Zerpa to the Milwaukee Brewers for fellow reliever Nick Mears and outfielder Isaac Collins in December, and they're enjoying Mears in camp so far. Royals pitching coach Brian Sweeney spoke about the trade on Tuesday, via MLB.
com's Anne Rogers. “That was a fun one,” he said. “It really was.
"You lose a pitcher that you really like in Zerpa. But you can get back a pretty darn good reliever, too. I had heard of him before, but I never really looked into it.
And as a team, we began looking into it. What’s missing? What can he do to get better?