Royals latest move twists the knife into the Guardians a little more

On Sunday afternoon, the Kansas City Royals secured a series win over the Guardians with a big 4-1 win. 

Three hours later, they added insult to injury by extending star pitcher Seth Lugo in another move that confirms that Kansas City is going to be a thorn in Cleveland’s side all year. 

Kansas City’s Seth Lugo extension confirms the Royals are going to be a factor in the postseason race 

At 52-54, the Royals are a 1/2 game behind the Guardians in the Wild Card and American League Central standings, which led to some insiders hypothesizing that the Royals would act as a seller at this year’s deadline. 

And while their trade for Randal Grichuk on Saturday night led some to believe that they’d made the decision to act as buyers (or at least not as outright sellers), they slammed that notion home on Sunday by extending Lugo to a two-year deal with vesting option for 2028.

While the Guardians dodged Lugo during their three-game series against the Royals, Sunday’s extension confirms that they’ll be seeing plenty of him over the next two-plus seasons. 

And what a pitcher for them to have to see. Lugo, 35, is in the midst of another strong season with Kansas City, posting a 2.95 ERA in 113 innings. Last year he had a 3.00 ERA in 206 2/3 innings and finished as the runner-up in the American league Cy Young race. 

It also comes at the perfect time for the Royals, who placed All-Star pitcher Kris Bubic on the injured list on Sunday with a left rotator cuff strain. He only managed to go 2 2/3 in Game 2 of Saturday’s doubleheader, which was Cleveland’s lone win of the series. 

Although the Guardians have worked their way back into the postseason picture thanks to a strong run of play as of late, the Royals have also been to hang around behind them thanks in large part to their starting rotation.

And although the Guardians haven’t picked a lane for what they want to do at the trade deadline, the Royals selling off pieces like Lugo likely would have made their decision a bit easier. 

That said, it’s looking more and more they’re going to need to make some additions if they want to stay in the postseason, especially since the Mariners and Yankees have already made moves to make their rosters better. 

The Guardians have talent on their roster (they did make it to the ALCS last year, after all), but it's becoming more and more clear that they have some holes on the roster that need to be filled. Most of the other teams in the American League Wild Card race have made a big move that's made their roster better for both the short-and-long-term.

Now the ball's in Cleveland's court.