Carlos

Estévez

Instead, they’ll pay the 33-year-old right-hander a buyout of $2 million. After a brilliant 2025 season in which he notched a league-leading 42 saves and posted a 2.45 ERA across 66 innings of work, Estévez was limited to just one appearance in 2026 due to recurring shoulder issues. He finally underwent surgery in early September, which puts his outlook for the start of the 2027 season in jeopardy.

Erceg got the call to protect a one-run margin in Kansas City’s season finale and managed to work around a two-out single by Daniel Schneemann to slam the door. The 31-year-old righty converted just 13 of 19 saves this season as the Royals had four different relievers (Erceg, Alex Lange, Steven Cruz and Nate Pearson) record multiple saves after Carlos Estévez missed the entire season with shoulder issues.

It’s astounding Estévez didn’t wind up requiring surgery sooner. He dealt with persistent shoulder issues over the last few months after a disastrous spring training where his velocity was down significantly throughout. The odds of Estévez returning to a high-leverage role are extremely slim at this juncture.

There’s a decent chance that Estévez doesn’t make it back for the Royals this season after this latest development. He’s been dealing with a rotator cuff strain in his shoulder since early May. The 33-year-old is going to be racing the clock to make it back in the late stages of the second half if he’s cleared to resume throwing. It’s impossible to dismiss the potential that he winds up requiring shoulder surgery.

The procedural move was made earlier on Monday to free up a spot on Kansas City’s roster for trade acquisition Connor Seabold. Estévez has started a throwing progression but isn’t remotely close to making it back from the injured list yet.

It’s a bit remarkable that Estévez has been cleared to resume throwing just a couple weeks after being shut down with shoulder discomfort. The 33-year-old’s fastball velocity will be monitored like the raptor pen in Jurassic Park once he heads out on another minor league rehab assignment. There’s a real possibility that he reclaims the closer role in Kansas City if he’s back throwing in the mid-90’s again. That won’t be clear for at least a couple weeks and fantasy managers shouldn’t expect him back until the second half.

Estévez had been on a minor league rehab assignment at Triple-A Omaha where he exited Wednesday’s outing with shoulder discomfort after experiencing diminished velocity throughout the appearance. That’s not good. Even if he resumes throwing once this three-week period is up, it’s going to take him another couple of weeks to build back up and head back on a rehab assignment, pushing a return to the Royals’ bullpen way into the future. Lucas Erceg will continue to hold down the fort in the ninth inning for the foreseeable future.

Not good. Estévez’s fastball velocity was down noticeably, just like it was all throughout spring training, as he averaged just 90 mph on six fastball before leaving his rehab debut after 14 pitches. There’s clearly something going on here and the emergence of a shoulder issue helps explain his diminished velocity over the last few months. There should be an update on his status soon, but it doesn’t sound like Estévez is close to returning after this latest incident. It’ll be Lucas Erceg continuing to close for Kansas City.

Erceg walked one before getting Daniel Schneeman to ground out to end the game. Through 16 appearances, he has a 3.52 ERA and a 14/11 K/BB in 15 1/3 innings. He hasn’t been bad, but he’s definitely left the door open for Carlos Estévez to reclaim closing duties if Estévez’s velocity is back. Ideally, we would have found that out tonight, but Triple-A Omaha was rained out in what would have been his first rehab appearance.

The proverbial million dollar question is whether Estévez has a shot at reclaiming Kansas City’s closer role from Lucas Erceg, who has converted nine of 11 save opportunities this season. The 33-year-old hit the shelf with a foot contusion, after several weeks of diminished fastball velocity, back in early April. It’ll be fascinating to see if his fastball is back to last year’s levels during his rehab assignment.