The Royals announced Tuesday that they’ve acquired right-hander Easton McGee from the Brewers in exchange for cash. McGee, who’d been designated for assignment last week, has been optioned to Triple-A Omaha with his new organization. The Royals opened a 40-man roster spot by transferring righty Nick Mears from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL.
The 28-year-old McGee has pitched in parts of four major league seasons but has only 26 1/3 total innings in that time. He tossed two scoreless frames for Milwaukee this season — his second in the Brewers organization. McGee has also pitched briefly for the Rays and Mariners. He has a 3.08 ERA in the big leagues but just a 16.3% strikeout rate. McGee’s walk rate (6.7%) and ground-ball rate (46.2%) have both been better than average in that small major league sample.
In addition to that limited major league time, McGee has pitched in parts of six Triple-A seasons. His ERA in that time is just shy of 5.00, though that’s skewed a bit by both a tough run as a starter with the Rays’ top affiliate in 2022 and a rocky showing in a handful of “starts” (none more than three innings, all as an opener) in Triple-A this year. McGee posted a sharp 3.59 ERA as a reliever with the Brewers’ Nashville affiliate last year and has allowed seven of his 26 runs this season across four “starts” that account for only 10 of his 41 2/3 innings.
McGee doesn’t throw particularly hard. He sits just over 92 mph on his four-seamer and sinker. His main complements are an 80 mph curveball and a cutter that sits around 87 mph, but he’s also mixed in some occasional changeups that reside in the 85 mph range. This is his final minor league option year. The Royals can shuttle him freely between Kansas City and Omaha for the remainder of the season, but he’ll be out of minor league options heading into the 2027 campaign.
By measure of ERA, the Royals’ bullpen has been the worst in baseball this season. Their collective 5.33 mark trails the Twins (5.19) and A’s (5.18) by a decent margin. Given that ugly mark, it’s not a surprise to see Kansas City relievers sitting on the second-worst strikeout and walk rates in the sport (19.3% and 11.7%, respectively). The K.C. bullpen has allowed an average of 1.44 homers per nine innings — also the second-worst mark in MLB. Left-hander Daniel Lynch IV has been excellent, and righty John Schreiber has pitched well, too. No other Royals reliever with even 20 innings pitched as logged an ERA south of Steven Cruz‘s 4.97.
McGee isn’t going to ride in and save the league’s worst relief corps, but he provides some depth at a time when the Royals have not only Mears but Carlos Estevez, James McArthur, Connor Seabold and Alec Marsh on the injured list. Estevez was signed to be the team’s closer but has been limited this season to just one-third of an inning. It’s the second season of a two-year, $22.2MM contract. Mears was acquired in the offseason to be one of the team’s primary setup men. He’s pitched only 19 1/3 innings due to shoulder troubles. McArthur previously served as the team’s closer but hasn’t pitched since 2024. He underwent surgery to address an elbow fracture in the 2024-25 offseason and, after some setbacks, underwent a second elbow about seven weeks ago.
Mears, 29, came to the Royals alongside Isaac Collins in a different trade with the Brewers: the offseason swap that sent lefty Angel Zerpa to Milwaukee. It hasn’t worked out for either team. Collins has produced league-average offense with poor left field defense. Mears has been out since late May due to a shoulder impingement and will now be sidelined into at least August. Zerpa underwent Tommy John surgery in early May.
The Royals control Mears through next season. He’ll be eligible for a small raise on this year’s $1.9MM salary in his final trip through arbitration this winter. Though he’s pitched to a 5.12 ERA with nearly as many walks as strikeouts in 19 1/3 frames as a Royal, he notched a 3.49 ERA (20.8 K%, 5.9 BB%) in 56 2/3 innings with Milwaukee last season.
