Major League Baseball trade deadline: Reds trade pitcher Johnny Cueto to Royals

The Royals (58-38) lead the American League Central by 6 1/2 games and continue to position themselves for a playoff run.

That task may have become taller Sunday.

The Kansas City Royals have acquired ace right-hander Johnny Cueto from the Cincinnati Reds, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported on Sunday morning.

The question now seems to be whether a reworked deal to bring Cueto to KC could still be arranged before Friday’s trade deadline … and the answer is yes, it could.

Cueto tossed eight shutout innings on Saturday in his last tryout for teams looking to acquire the impending free agent.

The trade has not been announced by the Reds. The trade ended up falling through when one of the Royals prospects involved didn’t check out medically, so business continued as usual with Cueto making his start.

Cueto would slide to the front of Kansas City’s rotation and inject instant credibility to a starting staff that has seen Yordano Ventura struggle this year and just lost Jason Vargas to a torn ulnar collateral ligament.

“They said something to me”, Cueto told reporters after the game.

It is unknown which players are being traded to Cincinnati in the deal, though left-handers Sean Manaea and Brandon Finnegan have been the rumored names to this point.