MLB trade grades: Royals acquire next best thing from A's with Mason Miller unavailable

The Kansas City Royals were the team to really get the trade deadline festivities kicked off by acquiring Hunter Harvey in a deal with the Nationals a couple of weeks before deadline day.

Now, on deadline day, the Royals made yet another move to address their bullpen which currently ranks 24th in the majors in ERA as of this writing, in a deal with the Oakland Athletics.

When thinking about the Athletics relievers Mason Miller obviously comes to mind, but his untimely injury likely took him off of the market entirely, and a trade wasn't likely to begin with involving the breakout star. While Miller is the most coveted reliever that Oakland rosters, they have several other intriguing options. The Royals acquired the next-best one according to ESPN's Jeff Passan, with Lucas Erceg headed to Kansas City.

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MLB Trade Grades: Royals make another bullpen addition with best Athletics reliever not named Mason Miller

With Erceg being under club control through the 2029 campaign and pitching as well as he has, Kansas City was going to have to give up a lot to get him now. According to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, they did just that.

Erceg's ascension hasn't been quite as intense as Miller's, but he's been great serving as Oakland's primary set-up man for much of the season. The right-hander has a 3.68 ERA in 38 appearances and 36.2 innings of work, striking out 41 batters. Command has been a bit of an issue at times, but his stuff is electric and he's a great addition to a bullpen that needed another piece.

The headliner here is Mason Barnett, Kansas City's No. 4 prospect according to MLB Pipeline. While he hasn't had the best year at the AA level, he has great stuff featuring a fastball that reaches the upper 90s, and has fanned nearly 11 batters per nine in his minor league career.

Will Klein, their No. 18 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, is another hard thrower who has actually made five appearances in relief for Kansas City this season. There's a non-zero chance he'll enter Oakland's bullpen right now, and with his stuff and Oakland's recent ability to develop relievers, they might have a hidden gem here.

Jared Dickey is not considered a top-30 prospect in Kansas City's system right now, but has a respectable .785 OPS in high-A this season, and is in the middle of his best month of the year right now.

As annoying as it is for A's fans, Oakland made the right move here to sell high on Erceg while he has tons of club control. The team won't be winning much anytime soon, so they might as well capitalize on his value now, and recoup assets that can help them win in the future. Barnett has a relatively high ceiling as a hard-throwing starter with good strikeout numbers, Klein can step into their bullpen right now and comes with a ton of club control, and Dickey might find his way onto Oakland's top 30 list.

The A's should be dinged a bit considering the fact that Kansas City probably gave more up to acquire Harvey than they did Erceg, but they still did fairly well here. As for the Royals, there isn't much to complain about. They got themselves a high-leverage reliever with an enormous amount of control.

Royals trade grade: A-
Athletics trade grade: B