Royals get Cueto in trade with Reds

“He thought he got traded when he was warming up in Colorado (Saturday) night”. “I’m very sad. Very emotional time for me”. Details of the trade are now unknown, but the addition of Cueto will help strengthen a Royals team that is leading the AL Central and hoping to contend in the postseason. It cost the Houston Astros two of their elite prospects for them to acquire Scott Kazmir from the Oakland Athletics. He wasn’t about to ponder that scenario as the team takes off for a seven-game road swing. “Johnny Cueto is one of the aces for Cincinnati and so if we get him, I think that could be really good for us”. “We still have a lot of games in front of us”. “When you get Ventura and Duffy back to the way they were last year, these are guys you can look forward with and say hopefully there’s no extended losing streaks”. Relying on a deep five-pitch assortment (four-seam fastball and sinker, cutter and change, and a slider), his strikeout rate of 24.5 percent over that time ranks in the top 20 among pitchers with 200 or more innings pitched.

Volquez has spoken to Cueto since the trade became official, and said Cueto is heading back to Cincinnati to gather his belongings before meeting the team in Cleveland for a three-game set with the Indians. “A good day all around”.

In a move that speaks to the Royals’ newfound boldness, they obtained Johnny Cueto from the Reds, as indicated by Foxsports.com.

Cueto will find out in the coming days whether it was his last start for the Reds. I’m going to be me.’ And that’s exactly what he did. As good as Masahiro Tanaka and Michael Pineda have been at times, they haven’t been as consistently dominant as the Cincinnati Reds’ right-hander.

“Now I can just play baseball without any worries”, Cueto said moments after hearing about the trade.

Axford retired the first batter before Votto hit his 18th homer into the left-field bleachers. Pitching his home games at Kauffman Stadium, he might never give up a long ball. Gonzalez later added a two-run shot off reliever Dylan Axelrod, who gave up three homers in 1 2-3 innings.

Already by the fifth inning, Brandon Barnes was the only Rockie without a hit – and, with a single in the inning, Paulsen was just a double short of the cycle.

As the July 31 trade deadline approaches, we may soon have the first blockbuster interleague deal. But Cueto took the mound and tossed a gem. “I’m excited about my next chapter, ” Cueto said with Reds catcher Brayan Pena serving as his translator.

“He was my teammate”. “He and I are very close on and off the field”. Cincinnati had little leverage in the situation and still walked away with a high-ceiling prospect in Reed and two pitchers who should contribute right away in Finnegan and Lamb. Finnegan will report to Triple-A Louisville, along with Lamb.