Bolaños, 26, has reached the major league level in each of the past four seasons. He broke into the professional ranks with the Padres and debuted at the MLB level with San Diego in 2019. The following summer, the Friars traded Bolaños alongside outfielder Franchy Cordero to the Royals for left-handed reliever Tim Hill.

Over the last three years, Bolaños has seen sporadic MLB action with Kansas City. He made two starts during the shortened 2020 season and was limited to three big league outings in 2021, largely because of an extended injured list stint with a forearm strain. He returned to throw 18 1/3 frames over eight relief appearances last year but walked and struck out 12 batters apiece. Midway through the season, K.C. designated Bolaños for assignment and ran him through outright waivers.

The native of Cuba spent the second half of the season in Triple-A Omaha. He posted a 6.26 ERA over 41 2/3 frames, working primarily as a multi-inning reliever. Bolaños qualified for minor league free agency at year’s end and remained on the open market until catching on with Miami.

Altogether, Bolaños owns a 5.25 ERA in 48 major league frames. He’s allowed just under five earned runs per nine innings over 413 1/3 career innings in the minors. The 6’2″ hurler relies primarily on a sinker that averaged just north of 93 MPH last season and has a decent track record of keeping the ball on the ground. He’ll offer the Fish a depth option for either the rotation or long relief. Bolaños is out of minor league option years, so if he earns an MLB call at any point, the Marlins would have to keep him in the majors or again designate him for assignment.

Originally signed out of Cuba for a bonus north of $2MM, Bolanos arrived in the Royals organization alongside Franchy Cordero in the 2020 trade that sent left-hander Tim Hill from Kansas City to San Diego. He received brief looks in 2020-21, but the Royals gave him their longest MLB audition yet in 2022, pitching him for 18 1/3 frames over the course of eight relief appearances. The 25-year-old pitched to a respectable 4.42 ERA with a strong 51.7% ground-ball rate, but Bolanos walked as many batters as he struck out (12) and plunked another three. He also saw a dip in fastball velocity; his heater averaged 95.2 mph in his brief looks with the Royals in 2020-21 but clocked in at an average of 93.6 mph in 2022.

Command issues have persisted for Bolanos throughout his minor league tenure, evidenced by untenable walk rates in both Double-A (10.6%) and Triple-A (13.4%). Still, the Royals are likely pleased to hang onto the righty, who was ranked 26th among Kansas City prospects by Eric Longenhagen and Tess Taruskin over at FanGraphs as recently as late May. He’ll head back to Omaha for now and continue to work on refining his command while maintaining his typically strong ground-ball tendencies.

Monday’s trade closes the book on a generally underwhelming Kansas City tenure for Santana, who inked a two-year, $17.5MM contract in advance of the 2021 season but has yet to round into the form that made him such a valuable contributor for years in Cleveland. The switch-hitting 36-year-old tallied 871 plate appearances with the Royals and posted just a .215/.326/.341 batting line — about 12% worse than league-average after weighting for park and league, by measure of wRC+.

Santana managed to turn things around in recent weeks, however, and has shown enough this month for the Mariners to take a low-cost look now that they suddenly find themselves in need of a first baseman. Ty France, Seattle’s most consistent hitter this season, recently landed on the injured list and figures to be out for a good bit longer than that 10-day minimum, given the diagnosis of a Grade 2 flexor strain. Santana shouldn’t be expected to fully replace France’s brilliant .316/.390/.476 batting line, but he’s managed a .298/.405/.468 output himself over his past 27 games and 111 plate appearances.

In all likelihood, the Royals are paying the vast majority of what remains on Santana’s contract. He’s still owed the balance of this year’s $10.5MM salary (about $5.8MM), and that number will increase based on plate appearances. Santana, who already has 212 plate appearances this season, will earn an additional $75K for every 25th plate appearance from 300 to 525.

It’s not the first time the Mariners have acquired Santana, though whenever he takes the field in a Mariners jersey, it’ll be his first actual game with the team. Seattle actually acquired Santana alongside J.P. Crawford in the deal that sent Jean Segura, Juan Nicasio and James Pazos to the Phillies back in Dec. 2018. However, not two weeks later, Santana was traded to Cleveland in the three-team swap that brought Edwin Encarnacion to Seattle. Encarnacion spent a half season slugging as the Mariners’ designated hitter before being flipped to the Yankees for righty Juan Then.

This time around, it’ll be a pair of right-handers going to Kansas City in exchange for the final three-plus months of control over Santana. Of the two righties in question, only Mills has big league experience thus far. The 27-year-old has pitched a total of 21 1/3 frames over the past two seasons but struggled to a 7.59 ERA with worse-than-average strikeout and walk rates in that time (17.3% and 10.2%, respectively).

Mills, the No. 93 overall pick in 2017, has more interesting but also inconsistent numbers in the upper minors. The sidearming righty fanned a whopping 44.7% of his opponents through 28 2/3 innings of Triple-A ball last year, for instance, but that rate has been halved so far in 2022 over the course of 19 2/3 innings. There’s no velocity change between his ’21 and ’22 campaigns, though Mills did throw more fastballs at the expense of some slider usage during this year’s small sample of 8 2/3 big league innings. The 6’4″ righty has never ranked as one of the Mariners’ very best prospects, but Baseball America has listed him among Seattle’s top 25 farmhands dating back to the time he was drafted.

Fleming, meanwhile, is a 23-year-old righty whom the Mariners selected in the 11th round just one year ago. He generally hasn’t been considered among the Mariners’ best prospects either — though FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen did tab him 28th earlier this year — and has posted fairly pedestrian numbers in Class-A Modesto despite being a former college arm who’s older than his average opponent at that level. So far, Fleming has tossed 67 2/3 innings over 14 starts and logged a 4.92 ERA with a 20.7% strikeout rate against an 8.4% walk rate.

For the Royals, the arms received in exchange for Santana are secondary when it comes to this trade. The greater purpose of the swap was to at last open playing time for the 6’4″, 245-pound Pasquantino, who has mashed his way into top prospect status by dominating at every minor league stop, including Triple-A this season. So far, Pasquantino has taken 296 turns at the plate for the Storm Chasers and posted a huge .280/.372/.576 batting line with 18 home runs, 16 doubles two triples and more walks (37) than strikeouts (36).

Given his size and lack of speed, Pasquantino is locked into a first base-only (or designated hitter) profile, but there’s every indication so far that his bat will play in the Majors. Scouting reports at Baseball America and FanGraphs indicate that he’s improved enough with the glove to be average or slightly better, and Pasquantino has never posted an OBP lower than .371 or a slugging percentage lower than .560 at any minor league level. And, given the dearth of strikeouts in his game, he’s been able to maintain a .293 average throughout his minor league tenure to date.

Even without much defensive value to prop up his value, Pasquantino ranks as the game’s No. 57 prospect over at Baseball America. He checks in 95th at FanGraphs and 98th at MLB.com, with all three scouting reports praising his plus (or better) hit tool and above-average power.

The organizational hope is that between Pasquantino and fellow slugger Nick Pratto — also a first base-only, top-100 prospect — they’ll have their first base and DH slots covered for years to come. Pasquantino’s promotion to the Majors is late enough that he should avoid Super Two status, and he’ll be controllable for at least six full seasons beyond the current campaign.

As for the 25-year-old Bolanos, he’s seen action with Kansas City in each of the past three seasons but has posted pedestrian numbers on the whole. Once a notable Padres signing out of Cuba, he was traded to the Royals alongside Franchy Cordero in the 2020 trade that sent Tim Hill to San Diego. He’s since combined for 28 1/3 innings of 4.76 ERA ball with a lackluster 24-to-17 K/BB ratio.

Bolanos does have a respectable 4.42 ERA in 18 1/3 innings this year, but his average fastball of 93.6 mph is down about two miles per hour from its peak and that ERA comes in spite of an even number of walks to strikeouts. Add in that he’s limped to a 5.49 ERA in 19 2/3 Triple-A frames this season, and it was enough for the Royals to decide they’re willing to move on. Of course, the DFA doesn’t necessarily spell the end of his time in the organization. Kansas City will have a week to trade Bolanos if there’s interest, but the Royals can also attempt to pass him through outright waivers at some point in the next week. If he goes unclaimed, he’d remain with the organization but no longer occupy a spot on the 40-man roster.

Bubic, 24, got off to a disastrous start this season with a 12.83 ERA over five starts and one relief appearance totaling 13 1/3 innings. He fared little better over three starts in Triple-A, surrendering 10 earned runs in 13 2/3 innings. His peripheral numbers did improve, however, with a 4-to-17 walk-to-strikeout ratio after posting a 11-to-10 such mark in the bigs.

Bolanos, 25, has made eight appearances out of the bullpen this year while serving as a bulk reliever. He has a 4.42 ERA/5.71 FIP over 18 1/3 innings of work with 12 strikeouts and 12 walks in that time. Bolanos has primarily served as a starter while in the minors.

Hernández becomes the second member of the season-opening rotation to pitch his way off the active roster. Kansas City also optioned Kris Bubic last week, with both hurlers struggling mightily in the early going. Hernández has taken seven turns through the rotation but logged a 9.10 ERA over 29 2/3 innings. He has struck out just 10.7% of batters faced while walking an untenable 13.4% of opponents, making him one of just two starters (minimum 20 innings) with more walks than strikeouts.

Needless to say, that kind of performance isn’t one the Royals can accept every fifth day. The 25-year-old righty posted a 3.68 ERA over 85 2/3 frames last season. His 2021 strikeout and walk numbers weren’t great, but they were far superior to this season’s early marks. Hernández also averaged north of 97 MPH with his fastball last season, but his velocity has taken a slight hit this year. He’ll try to right the ship with the Storm Chasers and earn his way back to the big leagues.

In large part due to Bubic’s and Hernández’s struggles, Kansas City has had one of the least effective rotations in the majors. Royals starters rank 26th with a 4.78 ERA and last with a 5.7 percentage point differential between their strikeout and walk rates. Zack Greinke, Brad Keller and Daniel Lynch have spots locked down, while Jonathan Heasley was recently brought up in Bubic’s stead. Who’ll replace Hernández is to be determined, but former first-round pick Brady Singer has been stretching out as a starter in Omaha after opening the season in the MLB bullpen.

Griffin, meanwhile, will join the bullpen mix for manager Mike Matheny. The former first-round pick made the briefest of big league debuts, appearing in one game for Kansas City in 2020. The Royals outrighted him off their 40-man roster following that season, but he quickly re-signed on a minor league pact. A starting pitcher early in his career, he’s come out of the bullpen 13 times with the Storm Chasers this year.

Over 19 2/3 innings, Griffin has posted a 1.83 ERA. He’s backed that up with excellent peripherals, fanning nearly three in every ten batters while inducing grounders on over 58% of batted balls. Griffin has always had solid control and gotten a fair share of worm-burners, but this season’s early strikeout rate is a marked improvement over his prior results. He has all three minor league option years remaining, so the Royals can bounce him between K.C. and Omaha without exposing him to waivers now that he’s back on the 40-man roster.

Mondesi’s IL transfer was an inevitability. The speedy infielder unfortunately suffered a torn ACL last month and isn’t expected to return this season. He’ll be eligible for arbitration for a final time this winter.

• The Royals announced this morning that they’ve reinstated right-hander Ronald Bolanos from the 60-day injured list and optioned him to Triple-A Omaha. Kansas City had a pair of open spots on the 40-man roster already, so a corresponding transaction was not required. A forearm strain has limited Bolanos, who turned 25 last month, to just 40 1/3 innings between the big leagues and the minors combined in 2021. He came to the Royals alongside Franchy Cordero in the 2020 trade that sent left-hander Tim Hill to the Padres but hasn’t yet gotten much of a look. Bolanos served up 17 earned runs in 16 1/3 innings on a minor league rehab assignment, so it’s not too surprising that the Royals want him to get some more work in the minors. Bolanos still has a minor league option remaining beyond the current season.
• Right-hander Sal Romano went unclaimed on waivers after he was designated for assignment, the Yankees announced Monday. He’s been sent outright to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and is no longer on the 40-man roster. The 27-year-old signed a minor league deal with the Yanks back in May and has been added to the big league roster and removed thrice now. He’s pitched in three games and totaled three innings with one run allowed on five hits, a walk and four strikeouts. Romano has logged a 3.56 ERA in 30 1/3 innings with the team’s Triple-A affiliate as well. He hasn’t had much big league success since his rookie season back in 2017 (4.45 ERA in 87 innings/16 starts with Cincinnati), but he’s been a solid depth add for the Yankees thus far.

Swarzak, 35, pitched in six games earlier this year with the Diamondbacks. He allowed five runs over 4 2/3 innings, striking out four while walking just one. Arizona cut Swarzak loose at the end of April, and he latched on with the Royals not long thereafter on a minor league deal. He got off to a fantastic start with Triple-A Omaha, punching out 14 of 33 batters faced (42.4%) while not issuing a walk. He allowed three runs (two earned) in 9 1/3 frames as a Storm Chaser before earning his way back to the big leagues.

Bolaños went on the IL earlier this week with a forearm strain. It’s not yet clear if that’ll require surgical repair, but he’s now out until at least mid-August. The 24-year-old was off to a strong start to the year, striking out ten while issuing just a pair of walks over 6 1/3 relief innings.

• Let’s start off with some good news for everyone except the Cubs: Mets ace Jacob deGrom is set to start tomorrow night.  DeGrom left his start Friday due to right flexor tendinitis, but the MRI came back clean.
• Royals shortstop Adalberto Mondesi was reinstated from the IL, with reliever Ronald Bolanos going on it.  Mondesi, who strained his hamstring on May 31st, is active but not in tonight’s lineup.
• Cardinals lefty Kwang Hyun Kim is also off the IL, and is starting tonight against the Marlins.  Kim had a brief IL stint for lower back soreness.
• Angels manager Joe Maddon told reporters the injured list has been ruled out for third baseman Anthony Rendon, who’s recovering from a mild triceps strain.  Rendon has struggled at the plate this year, with a 90 wRC+ in 191 plate appearances.  By measure of OPS, his .679 mark is the worst single-season 45-game slump of Rendon’s career since his 2013 rookie season.
• Luis Severino’s rehab start injury Saturday was described as a Grade 2 groin strain by Yankees manager Aaron Boone.  This will set him back about a month, leading to a possible late July/early August return.
• Braves southpaw Tucker Davidson left tonight’s start after 53 pitches with left forearm tightness, according to the team.  Davidson entered the night unscored-upon in his last 11 2/3 innings, spanning a pair of starts.
• Orioles ace John Means, pulled from a June 5th start in the first inning, began playing catch for the first time since the injury according to MLB.com’s Joe Trezza.  Means may be able to return by month’s end.  With a 2.28 ERA and a no-hitter on the season, the lefty seems a lock for the All-Star Game.

Junis is slated to start Kansas City’s game against the White Sox this afternoon, while Gallagher is behind the plate.  Both Junis and Gallagher are making their first appearances of the season after receiving positive COVID-19 diagnoses during Summer Camp, which set back their preseason preparations.

The 27-year-old Junis has been a reliable eater of innings since becoming a full-time member of the Royals’ rotation, though his overall performance has been inconsistent.  Junis has a 4.80 ERA, 3.25 K/BB rate, and 8.4 K/9 over 352 1/3 innings since the start of the 2018 season, with a 4.37 ERA in 2018 and a 5.24 number last year.  Despite that notable gap in ERA totals, there wasn’t much different in Junis’ peripheral stats between the two seasons.

Gallagher will assume his regular role as Salvador Perez’s backup.  Gallagher has hit .230/.297/.352 over 238 plate appearances in his three seasons in Kansas City, with 142 of those PA coming in 2019 when Gallagher received more playing time due to an unusually unsettled catching situation — Perez missed the season recovering from Tommy John surgery, and interim starter Martin Maldonado was traded in July.

Hernandez appeared in four games for the Royals this season, which marked his first MLB action since he played in another four games for the Diamondbacks in 2016.  All told, Hernandez has 26 big league games on his resume during an 11-year pro career that has seen him clock 549 games (and a .246/.323/.417 slash line in 2140 PA) in the minor leagues with the Rays, Diamondbacks, and Red Sox organizations.

In Cordero, the Royals are getting a power-hitting 25-year-old who was once a fairly touted Padres prospect. Cordero debuted in the majors in 2017, but various injuries have largely prevented him from making an impact in the league. He played in only nine games and totaled just 20 plate appearances last season.

Despite the health issues Cordero has dealt with, there’s plenty to be intrigued about from the rebuilding Royals’ point of view. He carries a lifetime .925 OPS in Triple-A 517 plate appearances, for one. Furthermore, as MLBTR’s George Miller explained in May, Cordero has shown off impressive speed and hard-hitting ability during his limited time in the majors. There are flaws, including Cordero’s penchant for striking out (he has done so 38.8 percent of the time in the majors), but he could prove to be a wise long-term investment for the Royals. As things stand, he’s not on track to reach arbitration until after this year or free agency until the end of the 2023 campaign.

Cordero also has a pair of minor league options remaining, but he may have a chance to play a prominent role in Kansas City’s outfield this season.

Bolanos could also get an opportunity to prove himself in KC as early as this season. He’s only 23, but Bolanos did make his debut in San Diego last year with 19 2/3 innings of 5.95 ERA ball and 8.69 K/9 against 5.49 BB/9. While those numbers aren’t impressive, and Bolanos hasn’t dominated in the minors (4.38 ERA with 8.6 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9 in 324 2/3 innings) since signing for $2.25MM out of Cuba in 2016, he’s still regarded as a promising prospect. Baseball America ranked Bolanos as the 13th-best farmhand in the Padres’ deep system, noting he could at least turn into a power reliever in the majors.

The losses of Cordero and Bolanos could sting the Padres if they realize their potential, but this deal’s an attempt for the long-suffering team to draw closer to contention in the near term. Hill’s the oldest player in the deal at 30 years of age, but he’s also the most proven major leaguer of the trio, and there’s plenty of long-term control (Hill won’t be eligible for arbitration until after 2021).

Hill debuted in 2018 and has since notched a 4.11 ERA with 8.54 K/9, 2.85 BB/9 and an excellent 59.8 percent groundball rate across 85 1/3 innings, though the sidearmer has been much more vulnerable against right-handed hitters (.326 weighted on-base average) than lefties (.239). That’s notable with the league implementing a three-batter minimum rule this season.

The Padres are hopeful Hill’s acquisition will help make up for the absence of injured lefty Jose Castillo, according to general manager A.J. Preller (via AJ Cassavell of MLB.com). It’ll also further deepen a bullpen that was already set to feature the likes of Kirby Yates, Drew Pomeranz, Emilio Pagan and Craig Stammen in late-game situations.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Bolanos, who turned 23 just 10 days ago, was a fairly high-profile signing by the Padres, securing a bonus worth a bit more than $2MM when he left his native Cuba. Listed at 6’3″ and 220 pounds, Bolanos is generally regarded as one of the more promising arms in a loaded San Diego farm system. MLB.com tabs him 15th among Friars farmhands, and he’s listed at No. 17 on Baseball America’s midseason update and No. 39 over at Fangraphs.

Bolanos opened the season in Class-A Advanced and posted a 2.85 ERA through 10 starts before jumping to Double-A. His 4.23 ERA there isn’t as impressive, but Bolanos has upped his strikeout rate, improved his walk rate and maintained his strong 47.7 percent grounder rate since moving up to face more advanced competition. He’s still relatively young for the Double-A level and will face considerably more experienced pitching in making his big league debut.

The Padres have kept Bolanos in a starter’s role throughout the bulk of his minor league career, though scouting reports note that there’s a definite chance he ends up in the ’pen. He draws praise for a clean delivery and a fastball that sits 93 mph while occasionally touching 96-97mph. His slider, curveball and changeup are less polished offerings, and the development of those offerings will likely determine whether his future is in the San Diego rotation or bullpen. For now, he’ll get his first experience at the MLB level in hopes of convincing the club that he can be a part of the staff early in the 2020 campaign.

That said, there are also a pair of international signings that merit mention…

• The Padres have signed Cuban righty Ronald Bolanos for a bonus that will be worth a bit more than $2MM, reports Ben Badler of Baseball America. Badler notes that Bolanos, 20, played mostly as an outfielder in the 18U leagues in Cuba but converted to the mound in 2014 and has seen a substantial uptick in velocity as he’s filled out, with his heater now ranging from 90 to 96 mph. Badler praises his slider as a potentially above-average pitch and gives a less flattering review of Bolanos curveball, adding that the right-hander won’t pitch for the Padres this season but could open with one of San Diego’s Class-A affiliates in 2017. For those keeping score at home, the Padres’ total international expenditures (including the 100 percent overage tax with which they’re being hit on each of these signings) is now in the range of $65MM (as the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Dennis Lin points out, on Twitter).
• Lost a bit amid last week’s trade deadline chaos was the fact that the Cardinals signed Cuban shortstop/outfielder Randy Arozarena for a bonus of $1.25MM, as Jorge Ebro of El Nuevo Herald first reported (Twitter link). Following the signing, Badler wrote about the 21-year-old’s plus speed and plate discipline, noting that he could eventually develop enough pop for 10 to 15 homers but figures to derive more value from his OBP than his power. He’s advanced enough to jump right into the mix at Class-A Advanced, in Badler’s estimation. Sanchez’s rankings listed Arozarena as the No. 16 prospect on this year’s international market.

According to Badler, Bolanos fell just outside the top-twenty Cuban prospect list that he just compiled. He works in the 88 to 93 mph range with his fastball, and has a promising slider as well. The youngster lacks polish and has mostly worked in a relief capacity, but remains a fairly interesting arm.

As Badler explains, Bolanos is young and inexperienced enough that he’ll ultimately be subject to international signing bonus limits. He’s a ways away from the market: in addition to all the regular barriers he’ll have to clear, Bolanos will not be eligible to register until the signing period that begins on July 2, 2016.