The Kansas City Royals have a decision to make this offseason involving right-hander Carlos Estevez.
The Kansas City Royals bullpen has been a disaster all season long, one of the weakest units in all of baseball. Every arm that was supposed to be productive this year has disappointed, and none more so than right-hander Carlos Estevez.
Concerns over Estevez's velocity surfaced during spring training, though they were not taken too seriously at the time given it was early, and he was coming off an incredible first year with the Royals.
In January 2025, Estevez signed a two-year, $22 million deal with a team option for 2027. He responded by leading the American League in saves and posting a 2.45 ERA across 67 appearances.
Estevez is not a high-strikeout arm by nature, typically relying on inducing weak contact, which makes velocity not as important to his entire approach on the mound.
However, the problem quickly became impossible to ignore. His first appearance of the season was a nightmare as he blew a save against the Atlanta Braves and allowed six runs before being placed on the injured list with a left foot contusion.
While rehabbing from the foot, he still could not find his velocity and was later shut down entirely with right shoulder discomfort. He received a cortisone injection and spent August attempting to ramp up his throwing progression in Arizona. But the progress simply was not there and left him with no other path forward but to undergo surgery.
"Carlos Estévez will have shoulder surgery next week. He was throwing in AZ but wasn't progressing much," reported Anne Rogers of MLB.com.
With Estevez undergoing surgery, a significant portion of his 2027 season will almost certainly be affected, which makes the Royals' team option an easy decision not to exercise.
He could potentially return on a new and cheaper deal, but that seems unlikely given the circumstances and his age as he enters his mid-30s.
He has most likely thrown his last pitch for Kansas City, and the organization now has a clear and definitive answer heading into an offseason where rebuilding the bullpen from the ground up must be the top priority.
For Estevez personally, the road back will be difficult. The hope is that surgery restores his velocity to a functional level and allows him to contribute somewhere again, but how he responds to the procedure remains genuinely uncertain. Whether he would have been a meaningful part of the 2027 Royals picture was already in serious doubt before this news, and now Kansas City has moved on from that question entirely.
