Examining Royals' return in Santana deal?

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The Royals began what will likely be an active Trade Deadline season on Monday by sending first baseman Carlos Santana and cash considerations to the Mariners for right-handers Wyatt Mills, who was added to the 40-man roster and optioned to Triple-A Omaha, and William Fleming, who was assigned to High-A Quad Cities.

The biggest news to come out of that trade yesterday was not the trade itself, but what it triggered: the promotion of Vinnie Pasquantino, the "Italian Nightmare." With Santana no longer blocking Pasquantino's path to the Majors, the Royals acted quickly to select the contract of their No. 3 prospect. You can read about Pasquantino's day and what he will add to the club's lineup and clubhouse here.

? What makes Pasquantino's arrival so interesting

? What to expect from Pasquantino

The other part of this trade is what the Royals added to their system in place of Santana, a 36-year-old veteran who struggled to start the season but got hot at the perfect time for the Royals. Santana posted a 1.032 OPS in June, just in time for contending teams to think about the pieces they needed to add to stay in the playoff race down the stretch. Seattle, dealing with injuries, was aggressive over the weekend in pursuit of Santana.

As Pasquantino's bat forced its way into discussions about the Major League lineup, the Royals' patience with Santana over the first part of the season paid off. While they ate most of Santana's $10.5 million salary this year -- sending over $4 million to Seattle, per a source -- they did receive two prospects and an opportunity for one of their top hitting prospects.

"Carlos was a professional throughout, and just happy that we found a landing spot for him," general manager J.J. Picollo said. "He's got a chance to go and help a team that's in the middle of a divisional race, and we were able to get something in return that we're excited about -- not only right now, somebody who's been in the Major Leagues, but somebody that we think highly of that will be in the Major Leagues in years to come."

Here's a breakdown of the two pitchers the organization added Monday:

Mills

2022 stats: 1.83 ERA with 17 strikeouts in 19 2/3 Minor League innings; 4.15 ERA with six strikeouts in 8 2/3 Major League innings

The Royals have a long history with Mills, now a 27-year-old reliever. They were interested in drafting him in 2017 and hosted him in their pre-Draft workout that year, intrigued by his sidearm delivery. The Mariners beat them to the punch in the Draft, taking Mills in the third round out of Gonzaga.

"He went on to do what we thought he would do and moved pretty quickly, of course with the 2020 season in there as well," Picollo said. "And then subsequently, we had some trade discussions prior to this trade where he was a name that came up often in our trade discussions. We have a lot of history with him."

Mills relies on his funky delivery and fastball/slider combination to get hitters out, missing bats and inducing tons of ground balls. His fastball sits in the low-90s with a lot of sink to it, and his slider serves as his main strikeout pitch. He struggles with command at times, but the Royals believe he offers a different look to their 'pen, similar to Collin Snider and Jose Cuas. The Royals will work with Mills in Omaha until he's needed in Kansas City, but it's likely he'll be called up at some point this season.

"We feel like there's a formula there that can help us put a bullpen together that gives you different looks and makes it tough for opponents to game plan against you," Picollo said. "He throws a lot of strikes, high number of ground balls. The strikeout numbers are fair, but I think in that type of role, it's not really strikeouts you're looking for, it's soft contact. He's shown throughout his career that he can get off barrels and produce soft contact. We just thought it was a good fit."

Fleming

2022 stats: 4.92 ERA and 59 strikeouts in 67 2/3 Single-A innings

An 11th-round pick out of Wake Forest last year, Fleming caught the eye of scouts in the Draft process and in his first season, when Fleming held hitters to a .198 average and posted a 3.27 ERA in 22 innings last year.

He's struggled a bit more in '22, but the Royals are intrigued by the movement on his fastball, as well as his sweeper slider. The 23-year-old is also an imposing presence, standing at 6-foot-6 and 220 pounds.

"He's not quite an established prospect just yet as far as having number of years in Minor Leagues, but there are some things that he does that attract us from a pitching standpoint," Picollo said. "He's going to continue to start, and now that we're with him, we'll learn a lot more about him and give him the opportunity to pitch and see what his abilities are. But the fastball profile is probably what stood out the most, along with the things that people who have coached him before have said about him."

What's next for the Royals as the Deadline nears? It's still over a month away, but expect them to be active sellers. Left fielder Andrew Benintendi is on an expiring contract and is surely to be sought after by contending teams needing a lefty bat. Center fielder Michael A. Taylor could net a large return with his defense and improving bat -- especially because he has one more year left on his contract.

It's becoming clearer, though, that the Royals will listen to offers on most of their players, outside of Bobby Witt Jr., MJ Melendez and now Pasquantino.

"We're going to be exploring everything we can possibly explore to make our team better," Picollo said. "Guys on expiring contracts tend to draw a little bit more interest than those that are not, especially teams that are contending. So a lot like we've gone through with Carlos, we'll go through the same process with Andrew. Andrew is a really good player. He's having a great year. If he's with us the entire year, we'll be a better team for it. But at the same time, I think if there's an opportunity that allows us to make us better not only today but more so even moving into the future, we have to be open minded to it.

"Really, that goes for all our players. We just have to be open minded to improve this team any way we can."