Royals finalize 2-year deal with Est¨¦vez to strengthen bullpen

KANSAS CITY -- The Royals made a move to bolster the back end of their bullpen, signing a two-year contract with All-Star right-handed closer Carlos Estévez.

The club announced the deal, which includes a club option for a third year, on Friday and introduced Est¨¦vez on Saturday morning ahead of Royals Rally at Kauffman Stadium. In a corresponding 40-man roster move, the Royals designated infielder Braden Shewmake for assignment.

Est¨¦vez will make $10.1 million the next two seasons, sources told MLB.com, and the club option is worth $13 million or a $2 million buyout if the Royals decline to pick it up.

¡°As we got deeper into the offseason, it became pretty apparent to us that the best way for us to improve our team was to add Carlos to the bullpen,¡± general manager J.J. Picollo said. ¡°His track record speaks for itself. ... It gives us something to really build on -- a strength of our club that we¡¯re really proud of. I think it¡¯s going to help us win a lot more games.¡±

Est¨¦vez, who turned 32 in late December, is coming off arguably his best season yet, posting a career-best 2.45 ERA across 54 appearances between the Angels and Phillies. The right-hander had a 2.38 ERA and 20 saves for the Halos before being sent to the Phils ahead of the Trade Deadline as one of the premier relievers on the market.

Est¨¦vez said joining the Royals will be a ¡°great fit,¡± especially with the team coming off its first postseason appearance in nine years.

¡°Honestly, I like the way they play out there,¡± Est¨¦vez said. ¡°I like how these guys are good, and they¡¯re still going after it like they¡¯ve got something to prove. I really appreciate that from a team that they¡¯re showing everyone, ¡®We¡¯re competing, and we¡¯re only going to get better. Just wait to see it.¡¯¡±

Est¨¦vez was one of the Royals¡¯ Trade Deadline targets last year as they searched for more power in their bullpen. He ended up going to Philadelphia, and the Royals acquired Lucas Erceg -- who is under team control for five more years and posted a 2.88 ERA with Kansas City down the stretch -- from the A's as their closer.

Now Kansas City will have both Erceg and Est¨¦vez at the back-end of their bullpen, with both likely to get save opportunities, the pair providing a dynamic threat in the eighth and ninth innings.

Est¨¦vez has been one of the more reliable closers in the Majors over the past couple seasons. He averaged a career-best 11.3 strikeouts per nine innings in 2023 en route to earning his first All-Star selection. And while his strikeout numbers dipped in '24, he also cut his walk rate by more than half while recording a career-best 0.91 WHIP.

Est¨¦vez relies on a 97 mph fastball, slider and changeup, the latter of which registered a 37% whiff rate last season. Hitters batted just .192 against him in 2024.

Est¨¦vez's time in Philadelphia last year got off to a good start, though he stumbled down the stretch. After putting up a 1.72 ERA in his first 14 appearances for the Phillies, the veteran closer had a 5.06 ERA over his final six regular-season appearances, and he allowed a decisive home run vs. the Mets in Game 4 of the NLDS.

With the Phillies, Est¨¦vez said he learned how to be ready at any part of the game, and he¡¯s bringing that mentality to the Royals. A good team has multiple relievers who can handle late-inning and high-leverage situations, and that¡¯s how the Royals will approach the closer role ¨C by not labeling one reliever as it.

¡°He¡¯s going to get plenty of opportunities to close games,¡± manager Matt Quatraro said. ¡°He¡¯s done it, he¡¯s proven he can do it, but ¡­ the selflessness, the win-first mentality, the always trying to improve, that blends perfectly with the mix of guys we have from last year. When we talk to the guys about bringing Carlos on board, they¡¯re like, ¡®Let¡¯s go, we want as many good players as we can get.¡¯¡±

For his part, Est¨¦vez is all in for whatever role the Royals envision for him.

¡°Throw me out there, I¡¯ll find my way,¡± Est¨¦vez said.

The Royals felt good about their bullpen at the end of 2024, thanks in large part to Erceg bursting onto the scene and solid performances from Sam Long, Kris Bubic, Angel Zerpa and John Schreiber.

But Kansas City has been keeping an eye on the reliever market throughout the offseason, wanting to see if the club could add another weapon. The Royals are also bullish on a healthy return for Hunter Harvey, another late-inning reliever they acquired just before the Deadline last year.

Harvey, 30, only threw 5 2/3 innings for the Royals before missing the rest of the season with a back injury. But in 2022-23, the right-hander posted a 2.70 ERA over 100 innings. If he¡¯s able to return to that form, the Royals are looking at a solid trio to help close out games.

But Kansas City kept an eye on the reliever market throughout the offseason. The priority had been on adding an impact bat for the middle of the order ¨C and that isn¡¯t out of the question still with two weeks before spring begins ¨C but Picollo indicated the Royals decided to pursue Est¨¦vez after not being able to land their offensive options over the last few weeks.

¡°I think offensively we¡¯re going to be fine, but looking at our starting pitching and bullpen, we¡¯re really strong,¡± Picollo said. ¡°When we were at the Winter Meetings, Quatraro made a point along with others that if we can add one more reliever, and we¡¯re ahead after six innings, we¡¯ve got a good chance to win a ballgame. ¡­ If we¡¯re able to have a deeper ¡®pen and a powerful ¡®pen, it should help our starters, too. The combination of all those things is what led us to go down this road.¡±