The New York Yankees trade 1B Kazuhiro Kiyohara and RP Chris Brock to the Kansas City Royals for a 1997 3rd-round pick (via San Diego), a 1997 5th-round pick (via San Diego), SP Mark Leiter, and LF Ricardo Ingram.
Here’s a fun one.
The Yankees, who spent the offseason proudly unveiling Kazuhiro Kiyohara as one of their headline international acquisitions, have now flipped him to the World Series favorite Royals.
Which means New York has officially completed Phase Two of the Plan™:
- Spend money.
- Showcase the player.
- Ship him somewhere else for assets.
Efficiency at its finest.
Kansas City: Because the Best Team Needed… More Hitting
The Royals, already one of the league’s most complete teams, decided the correct response to their dominant roster was to add another power bat for fun.
Kiyohara has transitioned to American baseball quite nicely, launching 29 home runs this season and posting a respectable .829 OPS versus right-handed pitching.
Naturally, Kansas City’s plan is to not start him most days.
Instead, he’ll settle into the ultimate luxury role: a platoon bat against left-handed pitching and insurance at DH.
Which is exactly the sort of move contenders make when their roster is already so strong that they can afford to treat a 29-homer hitter like a situational tool.
For everyone else in the league trying to catch Kansas City, this development probably falls somewhere between annoying and deeply unfair.
New York: The Asset Factory Keeps Humming
Meanwhile, the Yankees continue executing their increasingly obvious rebuild strategy.
Step one was front-loading contracts while they had cap space.
Step two is flipping those players for draft capital once contenders inevitably come calling.
And that’s exactly what happened here.
New York adds a 3rd-round pick and a 5th-round pick, both from San Diego, further expanding an already growing pile of draft ammunition.
Those picks can either be used directly or packaged later to move around the draft board — which, given how aggressively this front office has operated, seems extremely likely.
As for the players included in the return:
Mark Leiter and Ricardo Ingram are here primarily to satisfy the “players must be included” portion of the trade form. Neither figures prominently into the Yankees’ long-term plans.
The real prize here is the draft capital.
Big Picture
Kansas City adds yet another weapon to an already terrifying lineup.
New York converts a short-term investment into additional future assets.
One team is preparing for October.
The other is carefully stockpiling ammunition for the next several drafts.
Both executed their strategy perfectly.
Trade Grades
Kansas City Royals: A+
A powerhouse roster adds a 29-home-run bat as a platoon luxury. Must be nice.
New York Yankees: A
They turn an offseason signing into additional draft capital and continue building their asset base