Why the Kansas City Royals had to send cash to the Dodgers in the Danny Duffy deal

Danny Duffy’s forearm injury certainly played a role in the Kansas City Royals having to send an undisclosed amount of money to the large-market and deep-pocketed Los Angeles Dodgers as part of Thursday’s trade.

Royals general manager Dayton Moore acknowledged the injury significantly altered the trade market for Duffy, a veteran left-hander who will become a free agent at the end of this season.

Duffy is slated to make $15.5 million dollars this season.

The Royals will receive a player to be named later in exchange for Duffy. They’ll select from a pool of Dodgers minor-league players at a later date. The group of players has been agreed upon by the teams, and the Royals will have a chance to do more in-depth scouting and analysis of the players in that pool before making a decision about whom to select.

“We’re comfortable with the pool of players we have to choose from,” Moore said. “You’re always trying to get as much value as you can there based on all the information we have on the Dodgers.

“Of course, they’re doing the best they can to protect their players. But we’re comfortable with the pool. And we’ll get an opportunity to scout those players over the next two months. And we’ll make a decision at the appropriate time.”

Duffy, 32, has gone 4-3 with a 2.51 ERA, a 1.21 WHIP and a .226 opponent’s batting average in 13 games (12 starts). He has 65 strikeouts, 22 walks and 52 hits allowed in 61 innings.

He’s also currently in the middle of his second stint on the injured list this season because of a left flexor strain.

Duffy, who has spent his entire career in the Royals organization, has been on the injured list for the Royals since July 17. He also spent May 17-June 22 on the IL.

Earlier in the week, Moore said he expected Duffy to return within the next three to four weeks.

Moore was asked if the cash sent to the Dodgers served to offset uncertainty about Duffy’s performance in the final months of the season as he’s coming off his injury.

“Yeah,” Moore replied. “The pool of players are what they are. We’ve agreed upon those. And the cash gives us a little bit of relief. Not as much as I’d hoped. Not as much as we tried to get in return. But at the end of the day, we made the best deal we could.

“And we believe we were able to move Danny to the place he really desired, and we made the best deal we could. So we’re comfortable with it.”