Kansas City Royals Make Trade for 5-Year MLB Veteran
· Yahoo Sports
The Kansas City Royals have had one of the worst starting rotations in MLB this season, thanks to both underperformance and injuries. The lack of reliable arms has been a major factor in the club's disappointing year.
Kansas City took Wednesday's series finale against the Washington Nationals, but they still own a 30-45 record and all signs point toward selling at the trade deadline. Even so, the team still needs rotation reinforcements just to make it through the rest of the season. After Wednesday's game, the Royals made a move to address that.
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"We have acquired RHP Randy Dobnak from the Seattle Mariners for cash considerations. Dobnak has been selected to the 40-man roster and optioned to Omaha (AAA)," the Royals wrote on X.
We have acquired RHP Randy Dobnak from the Seattle Mariners for cash considerations. Dobnak has been selected to the 40-man roster and optioned to Omaha (AAA).
— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) June 17, 2026
LHP Cole Ragans has been transferred to the 60-Day Injured List.
In a corresponding move, Cole Ragans was transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man roster spot for Dobnak.
Dobnak was in Triple-A with the Mariners prior to being acquired, making 13 starts and posting a 4.24 ERA. He did not generate many strikeouts, collecting just 39 in 70 innings, but that has never been his calling card.
He is a ground-ball pitcher who thrives at generating weak contact, and he showed the ability to do that at the minor-league level with Seattle.
Dobnak brings some big-league experience to the table as well. He has appeared in parts of five seasons for the Minnesota Twins, debuting for them in 2019, and operated as both a starting pitcher and reliever during his time there.
He owns a 4.86 career ERA in the majors but has shown flashes of being an above-average arm. Dobnak owned an ERA under 4.00 through the first two years of his career, before he was moved to the bullpen. He is also just 31 years old.
Kansas City has seen all three of its All-Star starting pitchers land on the injured list since the start of May, including Ragans, right-hander Seth Lugo and left-hander Kris Bubic. The rotation has been held together with depth options ever since, and the results have shown.
Dobnak will begin his Royals tenure in the minor leagues, but he is in a far better position for opportunity in Kansas City than he was in Seattle, where the Mariners have plenty of starting pitching depth. If he performs well in Triple-A Omaha and the Royals need an arm, he could find himself in the big-league rotation soon.