Royals Trade Lefty Reliever Jake Diekman to Oakland A's

After garnering a lot of attention on the trade market from contenders in both leagues, the Kansas City Royals have traded left-handed reliever Jake Diekman to the Oakland Athletics, per ESPN's Jeff Passan.

Left-handed reliever Jake Diekman has been traded to the Oakland A's, league sources tell ESPN. Diekman had been pursued by a number of teams on trade market before Kansas City agreed to deal him to A's. Oakland bullpen has monster stuff with Treinen, Hendriks, Trivino, Diekman.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 27, 2019

Oakland may not have a starting rotation that scares their opponents, but with Diekman in the fold, the A's have one of the more impressive bullpens in the sport, led by closer Blake Treinen, All-Star Liam Hendriks and right-hander Lou Trivino.

Athletics Acquire Jake Diekman https://t.co/dDCWnMTog0 pic.twitter.com/mIt9K4fmAc
— MLB Trade Rumors (@mlbtraderumors) July 27, 2019

In 48 appearances for the Royals, Diekman owns a 4.75 ERA, but has a whopping 63 strikeouts over 41.2 innings. The 32-year-old southpaw hasn't allowed a lot of base runners via the hit, but he has allowed too many free passes (5.0 BB/9).

While waiting on the return, Jon Heyman gave us a highly unnecessary and generic update.

KC gets 2 prospects for Diekman. a CF and RHP.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 27, 2019

Turns out, however, that adding the names to the equation doesn't help clarify the terms much at all; both men sit outside the A's current top 30 prospects list.

The #Athletics send 20-year-old Dominican RHP Ismael Aquino and 26-year-old Cuban OF Dairon Blanco to the #Royals for Diekman. Neither was in the @Athletics' Top 30 list. Here they are in the A's org: https://t.co/2HaZZ85cfW pic.twitter.com/hfVWuiLnJE
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) July 27, 2019

Diekman gives Oakland a much-needed presence from the left side on the mound.