Royals Acquire Journeyman Arm To Patch Battered Bullpen
McGee, who had been designated for assignment by Milwaukee last week, was optioned to Triple-A Omaha.
To open a 40-man roster spot, the Royals transferred reliever Nick Mears from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day IL.
A Bullpen In Crisis
The move shows Kansas City's desperate pitching situation.
The Royals relief corps owns the worst ERA in baseball at 5.33, ahead of even the Twins and Athletics, and ranks second-worst in both strikeout rate and walk rate.
The injuries have been relentless.
We have acquired RHP Easton McGee from Milwaukee for cash considerations. He has been optioned to Triple-A Omaha.
— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) July 14, 2026
RHP Nick Mears has been transferred to the 60-day IL.
Carlos Estevez, signed to a two-year, $22.2 million deal to be the closer, has pitched just one-third of an inning this season, while Mears, James McArthur, Connor Seabold, and Alec Marsh are all also on the injured list.
McGee joins a long list of midseason depth additions the Royals have made this year, including Connor Seabold, Randy Dobnak, Matt Moore, Scott Barlow, and Vince Velasquez.
The Player
McGee, 28, has pitched in parts of four major league seasons but has only 26.1 total innings, with brief stops for the Rays, Mariners, and Brewers.
He tossed two scoreless frames for Milwaukee earlier this season and owns a 3.08 career ERA, though with just a 16.3 percent strikeout rate.
His walk rate and ground-ball rate have both been better than average in that small sample.
He was selected by the Rays in the fourth round of the 2016 draft out of Hopkinsville High School in Kentucky and made his MLB debut in October 2022 before being claimed off waivers by Boston and traded to Seattle within a month.
This is McGee's final minor league option year, meaning the Royals can freely shuttle him between Kansas City and Omaha for the rest of 2026, but he will be out of options in 2027.
He will not fix Kansas City's bullpen on his own, but for a team this thin, he is depth they could not pass up.
