Traded: Royals send Bloomington's Will Klein to Oakland A's

Will Klein was all set to begin his third stint this season with the Kansas City Royals, climbing aboard the bus taking the team from its Chicago hotel to the White Sox's Guaranteed Rate Field on Tuesday afternoon.

During the ride, Klein's phone began to buzz and looked down to see Royals GM J.J. Picollo was calling. The Bloomington North grad soon found out he was part of a trade with the Oakland Athletics that was announced less than two hours before the deadline.

Pitchers Klein, Mason Barnett, a righty at AA Northwest Arkansas, and outfielder Jared Dickey were swapped for righty Lucas Erceg.

"I really didn't expect it," said Klein after the bus returned him to his hotel room to await his travel plans. "Especially after just getting up here. But everyone knows they are looking for backend guys with control. So I was not surprised but I was shocked at the same time.

"When I looked down and saw J.J. was calling me, oh, I knew what it was. I don't know what to do now. I texted my family. It's still a whirlwind to me."

Klein noted that as of about 6 p.m., an hour and a half after the trade announcement, his wife Carson had no idea of the transaction. She was incommunicado in Columbia, Missouri, taking her bar exam. It's a 24-hour drive from Nebraska to the California coast. His mother, Brittany, got word as she was headed back home from vacation.

Indeed the last three months have been a whirlwind for both of them. He was called up from AAA Omaha and made his MLB debut on April 28 in Detroit and was sent back down after a short stay. Then he was called back up again in the last days of May and spent just over a week in the Royals bullpen..

At Omaha, Klein was 2-1 with nine saves and a 3.58 ERA over 37⅔ innings. He struck out 38 and walked 27, giving up 25 hits. Opponents batted just .184 against him. With Kansas City, he was 1-0 with a 6.35 ERA, pitching in 5⅔ innings over five games.

Klein, still just 24, was considered the No. 18 prospect in the Royals chain and Barrett was No. 4.

An article on the A's website describes Klein thusly:

'With a four-pitch mix that also includes an above-average curveball, a hard slider and a changeup, Klein projects as a high-leverage reliever who could fit into the back of the bullpen, though his control remains a work in progress, evidenced by his high walk rate.'

Klein's travel plans were not set, he said, noting Carson had to make the drive back to Omaha before any packing could begin. The A's are playing in San Francisco and Klein has been in contact with their top front office people.

Oakland's AAA team is the Las Vegas Aviators. The A's, last in the AL West at 44-64, are playing their last season in Oakland. They are slated to spend the next two seasons in Sacramento in anticipation of moving into a new stadium in Las Vegas.

"I'm going to meet them in San Francisco, so I hope I'll be on the Major League roster, which would be nice," Klein said.

Mason Miller and his 103 mph fastball currently holds down the closer role, while Erceg was the set-up man, a role Klein hopes he can slide into.

"I'm hoping to bring what they lost, a good reliever," Klein said. "I want to follow in his footsteps. Obviously, he was doing things right and I want to learn how to go about that at the Major League level and show them that they won the deal."

More: 'He's been ready for this': Will Klein's family celebrates major league debut with Royals

Pitching late in high-leverage situations is what he looks forward to facing. He hopes to one day claim a role as closer and that this trade will open the door to that possibility.

"My favorite innings are toward the end of the game, 7-8-9," he said. "The more pressure and the adrenalin, the more exciting it is. But throwing any Major League inning is a good inning. I'm not too picky, especially this early in my career."

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Traded: Royals send Bloomington's Will Klein to Oakland A's