Royals hang onto Greg Holland at the trade deadline

The Royals made a pair of deals in the week leading up to the trade deadline, but were quiet on the last day trades could be made, holding onto potential trade targets like reliever Greg Holland. Earlier in the week, the club sent closer Trevor Rosenthal to the Padres for outfielder Edward Olivares, and dealt outfielder Brett Phillips to the Rays for shortstop Lucius Fox.

The Royals seemingly never got an offer for that “legit prospect”, but with Holland an impending free agent, they will likely get no long-term player at all for him.

The Royals could, of course, re-sign Greg Holland this winter, but after a solid season his asking price will be much higher. There is also no guarantee he will have as much trade value in the future as he does right now. Last summer, there was reported interest in reliever Ian Kennedy after a strong first half, but the Royals hung onto him, and after a disappointing start and an injury, there weren’t going to be any offers for Kennedy this summer.

There certainly was a lot of interest in relievers at the deadline, although most have years of club control past this season. Aside from the trade of Rosenthal to the Padres, here are some of the reliever deals that went down in the days before the deadline.

• The Diamondbacks traded right-hander Archie Bradley to the Reds for infielder Josh Van Meter and outfielder Stuart Fairchild.
• The Brewers traded right-hander David Phelps to the Phillies for three players to be named later.
• The Orioles traded right-hander Miguel Castro to the Mets for left-hander Kevin Smith and a player to be named later.
• The Orioles traded right-hander Mychal Givens to the Rockies for first baseman Tyler Nevin, infielder Terrin Vavra, and a player to be named later.
• The Diamondbacks traded left-hander Andrew Chafin to the Cubs for a player to be named later.
• The Red Sox traded left-hander Josh Osich to the Cubs for a player to be named later.

The big blockbuster at the deadline came from the Indians, who play the Royals tonight. They will be without pitcher Mike Clevinger, who they shipped to San Diego in a nine-player trade.

It sounds like there was also interest in second baseman/outfielder Whit Merrifield and rookie reliever Josh Staumont, but the Royals did not want to move either player.

The Royals go into Monday’s game 13-21, six games back of a playoff spot.