Royals option Carlos Duran back to Triple-A

Duran was acquired by the Royals from the Dodgers at the trade deadline for Kris Bubic and is set to join their big league bullpen. His fastball sits in the upper-90s, he has a great slider, and mixes in a sinker, but has consistently struggled with his command.

Duran throws extremely hard, but hasn’t been able to find the strike zone consistently enough to emerge as an impact reliever at the highest level. Still, the Royals will bring him in and take a look under the hood to see if they can make it work. He’s a zero-risk lottery ticket considering that Bubic was going to be a free agent in a couple months.

Reliever Carlos Duran will serve as the return. There’s probably a 10 percent chance of this paying off for the Dodgers, but why not? Bubic, a free agent at season’s end, has a 3.02 ERA and a 167/65 K/BB in 166 2/3 innings over 29 starts since the beginning of last year. He was also excellent in 27 relief appearances in 2024 after returning from Tommy John surgery. He’s currently on the shelf with a sore shoulder, but he’s back throwing again now and might be of some use in September, probably out of the pen.

Duran will remain stationed on the doorstep of the majors after being added to the Dodgers 40-man roster. The hard-throwing 24-year-old reliever hasn’t been back in the big leagues since making one appearance for the Athletics last year. He’s posted an encouraging 3.86 ERA and 50/25 K/BB ratio across 35 innings for Triple-A Oklahoma City this season.

DePaula is a top-20 prospect in dynasty formats and ranks alongside fellow outfielders Eduardo Quintero, Zyhir Hope and Mike Sirota at the top of Los Angeles’ farm system. The 20-year-old phenom has a chance to make his big-league debut later this season after hitting .250/.391/.400 with 12 homers and 32 steals in 445 plate appearances between Double-A Tulsa and High-A Great Lakes last year. It’s a tough break for Ward, who has been marooned at the Triple-A level for several years now and seemingly has nothing left to prove in the Pacific Coast League. He’ll have to wait a bit longer for his chance.

Duran returns to Los Angeles after being shipped to the Athletics back in April in the Esteury Ruiz trade. The flame-throwing 24-year-old reliever boasts triple-digit fastball velocity but has battled control issues throughout his career. He posted a lackluster 5.03 ERA — 5.21 FIP — and 67/55 K/BB ratio across 62 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level this past season.

Duran passed through waivers unclaimed after being jettisoned from the Athletics’ 40-man roster over the weekend. The hard-throwing 23-year-old righty made just one relief appearance earlier this season in the big leagues. He’ll remain stashed in the minors as organizational relief depth.

Duran has been booted from the Athletics’ 40-man roster to make room for journeyman catcher Austin Wynns. The 23-year-old righty made his major-league debut back on May 22 before being shipped back to the minors. He was acquired from the Dodgers in the Esteury Ruiz trade back in early April.

Duran’s stay with the big league club lasted just one day this time around. He did get into Thursday’s game though, giving up three runs on one hit and three walks over 1/3 of an inning in what turned out to be a forgettable major league debut. He’ll continue to refine his craft at the Triple-A level until his services are needed again.

The A’s wanted to add a fresh arm to their bullpen prior to Thursday’s battle against the Angels, so Duran was summoned with left-hander Matt Krook being optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas. The 23-year-old right-hander has yet to pitch in a big league game. He has posted a 6.75 ERA, 1.70 WHIP and a 29/19 K/BB ratio over 25 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level this season and gives the A’s an option that’s capable of working multiple innings out of the bullpen.