The trade deadline moves are looking pretty good for the Royals

The early returns are promising.

It has been three weeks since the trade deadline - a small sample size for sure - but the early returns for the series of deals the Royals made are looking pretty good so far.

To remind you, on July 29 and 30, the Royals made three trades:

• They acquired pitcher Michael Lorenzen from the Rangers for pitcher Walter Pennington.
• They acquired infielder Paul DeJong from the White Sox for pitcher Jarold Rosado.
• They acquired pitcher Lucas Erceg from the Athletics for pitchers Will Klein and Mason Barnett and outfielder Jared Dickey.

After the trade deadline passed that evening, the Royals went out and beat the White Sox, part of a stretch where they have won 13 of 20 games. The Houston Astros are the only team with a better record in that time, and the Royals have made up 4.5 games on first place Cleveland over that stretch.

As for the players themselves, they have been terrific:

Lucas Erceg almost immediately became the most trusted reliever out of the Royals bullpen, allowing just four of the 35 batters he has faced to reach base, with opponents hitting .114/.114/.143 against him. DeJong has three home runs since the Royals acquired him - only Bobby Witt Jr. and Vinnie Pasquantino have more on the team in that time. Michael Lorenzen is tenth among all starters in ERA since the trade deadline, further solidifying the rotation.

Of course, this doesn’t include the acquisition of reliever Hunter Harvey on July 14. The Royals acquired him from the Nationals for third baseman Cayden Wallace and the 39th pick, and Harvey has struggled with command and is currently on the Injured List with a back issue. He does show some elite velocity and a good splitter, so hopefully he returns down the stretch, and the Royals will still have his rights next season.

What did the Royals give up? Walter Pennington has made five appearances with the Rangers, giving up two runs with six strikeouts but five walks. Mason Barnett has continued to pitch well in Double-A for the Athletics, although he gave up six runs in his start this week. Jared Dickey is hitting .264/.342/.361 in 19 games in High-A. Will Klein gave up two hits and three walks among the six batters he faced (all scored) in his last outing for the A’s before being demoted. We really won’t be able to judge the full effect of these deals for years.

What about the players the Royals didn’t acquire? They were once linked to Jazz Chisholm, who hit .316 for the Yankees in 14 games before landing on the Injured List with an elbow injury. There were some rumors about Tommy Pham, who was instead traded to the Cardinals, where he has hit .232/.323/.429 in 18 games.

The Angels inexplicably did not trade Luis Rengifo in the middle of a career season - and now he is out for the season with a hand injury. Taylor Ward might have been a decent bat to pick up, but he’s hitting .274/.308/.356 in 18 games since the deadline.

The Padres gave up a lot to get a two-month rental in closer Tanner Scott, and he has as 3.72 ERA in ten outings. There were some rumblings about the Royals kicking the tires on wild White Sox closer Michael Kopech, who went to the Dodgers and has dominated, allowing just one hit and one walk in 9 ¹⁄₃ shutout innings with 13 strikeouts.

The Royals addressed some pressing needs without depleting the farm system, and it sparked the team to play well for three weeks. I still argue they should have done more, and we will see if this is enough to sustain them over the final five weeks of the season. But the early returns look promising, and the Royals just might have the juice to play post-season baseball for the first time in almost a decade.