The Kansas City Royals have opened a healthy lead in the American League Central, but to assure a division win, they have gone out and acquired one of the best pitchers on the trading market. The Cincinnati Reds surrendered their free-agent-to-be ace Johnny Cueto in exchange for three left-handed pitchers: Brandon Finnegan, John Lamb, and Cody Reed. All look to be decent pick-ups for the rebuilding Reds. The Reds are also kicking in some money in the deal.

This would appear to purely be a rental for the Royals, as Cueto is going to be a free agent after the season. Also, because he was traded, the Royals will not be able to offer Cueto a qualifying offer at the end of the season. FanGraphs projects Cueto to be worth about 1.5 - 1.6 WAR through the rest of the season, which could mean as much as two games difference in the standings. With Jason Vargas out for the year, Cueto will take his place. The Royals haven't had a true ace this year, so this move is definitely slated more towards having a strong Game One starter in the playoffs.

In return, the Reds get some very interesting talent. Finnegan has already seen the majors, but has been struggling with his control this year. Lamb is a 25-year old starter who's had a very strong year. Both Lamb and Finnegan are going to AAA for now, but will probably see the Major League roster in September.. Reed looks to be a talented arm, too, drafted by the Royals in the 2nd round of the 2013 draft. He'll report to AA, hoping to build off of this year's success. Finnegan may top out as a high-leverage reliever, but Lamb could very likely be a part of the Reds' rotation next year. Reed may be a year away or so from helping, but when he does he could be at least a valuable swing-man between the rotation and bullpen.

Did the Royals overpay somewhat? Perhaps not, especially as all three arms they sent away could end up being little more than bullpen arms or back-end starters. But the Reds can use all the talent that they can get right now. This is probably the best return they could have hoped for in exchange for two - three months of a starter that won't help them anymore this season. Cueto is easily going to be the Game One starter in the Division Series, and hopefully for the Royals, beyond. Therefore, he's really worth a lot more than two wins to them. If the Royals happen to win the World Series, this will be a pretty awesome move. Either way, the Reds have some solid arms for next season and beyond.

The Royals finished off the Angels at Kaufman Stadium in Kansas City. Angels starter C.J. Wilson simply didn't have it and was out of the game before even getting out of the first inning. The Royals clobbered a few more home runs against several Angels pitchers. Even when the Angels threatened to rally against starting pitcher James Shields, Royals center fielder Lorenzo Cain made a couple of “Web Gem” defensive plays to bail out Shields. Finally "Big Game" James lived up to his name gutting his way through 6 innings. Kelvin Herrera came in throwing 99 to 101 mph for an easy seventh. Wade Davis struggled in the eighth. But he only gave up one run before settling in. In the ninth, it was 8 to 3 in favor of the Royals. Closer Greg Holland finished the three game sweep of the "best team in baseball" by striking out arguably the best player in the game, Mike Trout.

A lot of analysts were shocked by these sweeps. The Tigers and Orioles series was a good one, but the Orioles’ starting pitching was a bit better than the Tigers’. Also, an ineffective Justin Verlander did not help the Tigers’ less-than-stellar bullpen out. Bud Norris was masterful for the Orioles until a walk in the seventh brought manager Buck Showalter to the mound. He then brought in the lefty Andrew Miller who got 5 big outs, setting up the ninth for closer Zach Britton and his nerve wracking save.

This means that the team with the best record in the major leagues was just defeated by an upstart wild card team, and the powerhouse Tigers fell victim to the flaws that almost cost them the division this season. Meanwhile, an Angels offense that carried the team for quite a while fell victim to a better than advertised royals pitching staff.

Now we go to the American League Championship Series next week, starting at Eutaw Street and Camden Yards in Baltimore. The best of seven series hopefully will be a good one. I pick the Orioles in six games, but with the great baseball that the Royals have been playing, it could go either way.