Johnny Cueto to Royals: Latest Trade Details, Comments and Reaction

Johnny Cueto won 20 games last season and has followed up his best year with another outstanding campaign, yet the Cincinnati Reds opted Sunday to trade their All-Star pitcher to the Kansas City Royals.

The Reds confirmed they had traded their ace for Brandon Finnegan, John Lamb and Cody Reed. Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports first reported the agreement, with Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports and Jim Bowden of ESPN confirming the deal. 

Jon Morosi of Fox Sports also noted the Reds sent $1 million as part of the deal.

Cueto's first start with his new team will take place on Friday, as the Royals take on the Blue Jays, per Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star, who added it's expected either Chris Young or Jeremy Guthrie will leave the rotation to make room for the new arrival.

The trade comes a day after Cueto was nearly dealt to Kansas City. However, a medical issue with one of the players the Royals were sending to the Reds scuttled those plans, per Rosenthal and Morosi.

"They said something to me," Cueto told reporters after the game, via ESPN.com. "I don't want to use a bad word in this location. But it was really bad the way I found out what happened [before the game]. My head went around the whole way. My thoughts were all over the place.

"It was something really bad."

Cueto went on to throw eight shutout innings as the Reds beat the Colorado Rockies, 5-2.

Rosenthal reported as far back as December that Cueto was drawing significant interest from potential trade partners. Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported on July 14 that the Royals, Blue Jays and Houston Astros were all in hot pursuit.

Cueto is in the final year of his current contract, and Kansas City will hope that the competitive, winning environment the organization has fostered will keep him around for the long haul.

ESPN Stats & Info recently highlighted the power Cueto had in his arm in the latter stages of a two-hit shutout against Washington:

The sustained success Cueto has had in recent years has to excite the Royals. In 2014, he made 29 quality starts in his 34 appearances, posting a 20-9 record with a 2.25 ERA.

"I've been around some good pitchers and some guys who have won more games, but that's about as well-pitched a season as I've been around as a coach or manager," Reds manager Bryan Price said of Cueto's 2014 performance, per John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer.

This is the type of unique talent the Reds are giving up. It's yet to be determined whether the price was right for Cincinnati, which evidently feels its current nucleus can't produce a legitimate contender.

The Reds have had a tough go of it in 2015. Cueto has gotten little run support, evident in his 7-6 record despite a 2.62 ERA and lower WHIP (0.93) than he had in 2014 (0.96).

Cincinnati will be hard-pressed to find an ace of Cueto's caliber to headline its pitching staff after deciding to cash in on his talent. This trade suggests the Reds are waving the white flag on the current campaign and commencing a roster rebuild.

As for Cueto, he may receive more run support with the Royals, a team that will allow him to chase a championship and would love to lock up his services for the long term.