The Royals have acquired reliever Joel Payamps from the Blue Jays in exchange for cash considerations, according to announcements from both teams. He has been optioned to Triple-A Omaha. Kansas City had a vacancy on the 40-man roster, so no additional move was necessary.
Toronto somewhat surprisingly designated Payamps for assignment last weekend. The righty has had a nice season, pitching to a 2.70 ERA/4.59 SIERA across 30 innings of relief. Payamps has only struck out 18.5% of batters faced (the league average for relievers is 24.5%), but he’s generated swinging strikes on a decent 11.6% of his offerings. Payamps has thrown strikes at an average rate and has thus far been excellent at avoiding damaging contact. The 27-year-old ranks in the 75th percentile or better in terms of suppressing opponents’ barrel rate, hard contact rate and average exit velocity, per Statcast.
Payamps is in his final minor league option year, meaning the Royals can shuttle him back-and-forth between Kansas City and Omaha for the remainder of this season. If he sticks on the 40-man roster over the winter, he’ll need to break camp on the active roster in 2022 or else again be offered around the league.
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