Royals send closer Davis to Cubs for Soler

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Royals general manager Dayton Moore came to the Winter Meetings with a mission: Moore needed to cut payroll while still remaining competitive for a possible championship run in 2017.

Moore may have completed phase one of that process. The Royals have completed a trade that sends closer Wade Davis to the Cubs for outfielder Jorge Soler. 

• Hot Stove Tracker

The Royals will save about $6.4 million in payroll. Davis, a pending free agent after 2017, is set to make $10 million this season. Soler is due $3.6 million this season and is signed through ’20.

The Royals’ payroll had been expected to reach a franchise-record $145 million prior to the Davis deal.

The Royals had been receiving calls on Davis for weeks. And earlier Tuesday, Moore indicated that there were “deals on the table” for some of his players, though he didn’t specify which players.

“It was a tough deal to trade an All-Star closer in Wade Davis, someone who has been so instrumental to our success,” Moore said in a news conference on Wednesday. “We certainly wouldn’t have been able to win a World Series without Wade.”

Royals officials have felt they could maintain a strong bullpen without Davis, because of the emergence of left-hander Matt Strahm as a setup man and the belief that Joakim Soria will have a bounce-back year in 2017. Kelvin Herrera is expected to assume the closer’s role. The Royals also have prospect Josh Staumont, who can throw 100 mph, as a possible …

continue reading in source mlb.mlb.com