As the Kansas City Royals head to Chicago on Monday still in search of anyone who can pitch effectively in relief, they probably will glance wistfully over at the White Sox bullpen and long to have Kelvin Herrera back in the fold.

Now a linchpin in the Chicago relief corp, Herrera was just one year ago the anchor of the Royals’ late-game plan.

Herrera, remember, was the seventh-inning specialist in arguably the greatest bullpen in history. He was one third of the famed “HDH” triumvirate of Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland. After Holland succumbed to injury, Herrera’s workload increased. He eventually became the team’s closer in 2017.

There was never a question that Herrera would be traded at some point in 2018. He was much too valuable to waste away in the bullpen of a losing club. So, sentimentality be damned, the Royals dealt away one of the last remaining pieces of the 2015 championship club mid season. To the Royals’ largely depleted farm system, he brought three highly touted prospects in return.

But as their current relief corp seems to dump gasoline on a fire nightly, the Royals now are in search of someone – anyone – who can replicate what Herrera used to provide.

Herrera’s allegiance is now with the White Sox, who host the Royals for a three-game set April 15-17. But he will never forget the accomplishments, and relationships, from his time in Kansas City. After spending the second half of 2018 in the National League, Herrera returned to Kauffman Stadium for the first time opening weekend.

“It’s great to be back,” Herrera said during the opening weekend in Kansas City. “I have a lot of great memories here. This is where everything began for me.

“I felt it when I was driving from the hotel to the stadium and I saw the lights, and I just had that emotion that this was such a special place for me, where we did such special things.”

As a Central Division opponent, he will face the Royals 19 times this season. During the opening weekend against his former teammates, he pitched a scoreless seventh inning in a Royals’ victory March 30. He gave up three hits and a run the next day, but the White Sox held on for the win.

The nine-year veteran admitted it was strange to pitch to players with whom he’d so recently shared a clubhouse.

“I’ve never been in that situation before,” Herrera said about facing the Royals. “It’s a little bit strange. But once you’re on the field, you aren’t thinking about that. You put that aside, because I know I have a job to do.”

For their part, the Royals will take the same attitude toward their old friend.

“It’s not awkward. It’s actually kind of cool,” Terrence Gore said about facing Herrera. “We like doing it. It’s competitive. We know each other so well. It’s like your big brother pitching to your younger brother.

“We’ll always see him as part of what we accomplished (in 2015) We all came from the same team. We will look at him as a brother, no matter what. So we wish him the best, as I’m sure he wishes us the best.”

Much as the players feel like brothers, baseball is, above all, a business. That reality sent Herrera to the Washington Nationals for a few months, then brought him to Chicago as a free agent in the offseason. He said the transition of moving his wife and two children to Chicago happened quickly: “But that’s part of baseball. We know that is just part of it.”

Recognizing that trading players nearing the end of their contracts for prospects is the quickest way to build for the future, the Royals acquired three minor leaguers for Herrera last June.

Rated #14 in the list of Royals’ prospects, Kelvin Gutierrez is the closest of the three to the majors. Gutierrez is playing third base in Omaha and should get at least a taste of the big leagues this season. Eighteen-year-old pitcher Yohanse Morel is years away from the majors, but he ranks #20 in the farm system based on his raw potential. Blake Perkins, rated #23, has moved slowly through the minor leagues, but is an advanced centerfielder and a switch hitter.

So while the Royals are mired in a long-term rebuild of their bullpen, Herrera serves as a key building block for the White Sox relief corp.

“I feel pretty good about being in that role,” Herrera said. “I saw that happen in KC, where I was one of a lot of young players, and we developed that into a winning team. I see that opportunity here, to provide leadership to this team. Anything the other pitchers need, I will do it to help them develop.”

“He’s been awesome, especially to me, a younger guy who hasn’t had a lot of time to get his feet under him at this level,” said Ryan Burr, a 24-year-old rookie reliever for Chicago. “He’s made it very apparent to us younger guys that he’s someone we can go talk to.

“I really look up to him. I remember watching him pitch during those years that the Royals went to the World Series. So obviously he has incredible amounts of talent, but also knowledge that he can share. He’s really taken that leadership role in the bullpen. He’s taking me and some of the other younger guys under his wing and really showing us the ropes.”

The Kansas City Royals major league season got off to a great start. But quickly reality set in – this team won’t be very good.

Rather than focus on that sad fact, however, Royals fans have somewhere to look for hope. The truly important baseball played this year will be at Wilmington, Delaware, and Lexington, Kentucky, not in Kansas City.

The Royals are doing their best to find a winning combination to put on the field this season. But more importantly, they are trying to ascertain which of the current Royals could play on a playoff contender in 2021 and beyond. Brad Keller and Adalberto Mondesi are definitely keepers. Whit Merrifield, Jorge Soler and Salvador Perez might still be around. Others are auditioning for roles.

But the Royals’ true hope for glory is still in the minors. A couple of solid drafts and some trades for prospects have restocked the developmental system. So while you grin and bear the current reality, keep an eye on the following farm teams, which kicked off their seasons on Thursday.

Omaha Storm Chasers: Several players starting the season for the Triple-A affiliate were only held off the big league squad to retain their service time for a more opportune window. And more than a handful will see time in Kansas City this season.

The big league Royals bullpen has been an unmitigated disaster thus far. The Royals elected to start the year with some veteran acquisitions in order to allow a few key prospects to activate their major league service time a little further down the road. But that time will come soon. Richard Lovelady should be an instant upgrade when he’s called up. The Royals might also find some pitching help in Scott Blewett, Josh Staumont and Arnaldo Hernandez.

Nicky Lopez is big-league ready and just waiting for the right time to step into the Royals infield. (If current Royals utility man Chris Owings doesn’t get things going, the right time may come sooner than later.) Humberto Arteaga is in the same boat and plays essentially the same position as Lopez. There will be room for one, if not both, in Kansas City soon.

Former big leaguers Jorge Bonifacio and Brett Phillips have got to prove they can hit in order to be reunited with the Royals. Meanwhile Bubba Starling appears ready to finally realize his immense potential, and a call to KC should happen later this year.

Northwest Arkansas Naturals: Most of the attention at Double-A will be on outfielder Khalil Lee, the Royals’ #2 prospect. He combines elite-level speed, power and athleticism, and just needs more polish. Playing in Lee’s shadow, but not to be overlooked, is Junction City native Nick Heath, who possesses the type of speed that plays well in Kansas City.

The Naturals’ catcher, Meibrys Viloria, is so advanced defensively that when the Royals were in need of a backup last season, Viloria was promoted from the Single-A level all the way to the big leagues. He’s starting the season in Double-A just to make sure he gets to play every day.

Wilmington Blue Rocks: This is the team to watch. The high-A affiliate of the Royals will be bulging with top prospects. In fact, if you want to see what the 2022 big league Royals will look like, just check out a Blue Rocks team photo. Eleven of the Royals’ top 30 prospects, including six of the top seven, started the year in Wilmington.

In last June’s amateur draft, the Royals loaded up on college pitching prospects, and now those elite prospects are all clustered in Wilmington. The Royals’ top rated prospect, Brady Singer, will front a rotation that includes Daniel Lynch (the #4 rated prospect) and Jackson Kowar (#7). That trio may soon make up three-fifths of the Royals’ big league rotation.

MJ Melendez, the Royals’ #3 prospect, will share catching duties with Sebastian Rivero, another prized backstop. Nick Pratto (#5) is at first base.

Seuly Matias, who clubbed 31 homers last season, headlines the outfield as the #6 prospect. He’s joined there by Kyle Isbel (#10), Brewer Hicklen (#13) and Blake Perkins (#23).

The Royals don’t always leave players at Wilmington for the entire season. If the top prospects excel at high-A, they may find themselves fast-tracked to Northwest Arkansas, bringing them one step closer to the big leagues.

Lexington Legends: This pitching staff merits close watch this summer. The rotation is packed with potential in Chris Bubic (#9), Austin Cox (#22) and Jonathan Bowlan (#29), and should soon be bolstered by Carlos Hernandez (#11), Yefri Del Rosario (#12), Yohanse Morel (#20) and Janser Lara (#30), who stayed back in extended spring training. That means seven of the Royals’ top 15 pitching prospects should pass through Lexington this summer.

The most intriguing member of the staff, however, will be Ashe Russell. Picked in the first round of the 2015 amateur draft, Russell ran into off-the-field problems and disappeared for more than a year. But he resurfaced in the Royals’ training program last summer and may finally be ready to realize his potential.

In the field, the Legends will feature the Royals’ #13 and #24 prospects in outfielder Michael Gigliotti and shortstop Jeison Guzman.

Prospect watching can provide a lot of relief during the lean years. Watching from afar as players like Perez, Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas and the late Yordano Ventura climbed the minor league ladder made all the Royals’ losing prior to 2013 a little more bearable. The same will be true during the current rebuild.

The Royals have essentially played two seasons in 2018. The first season, the disastrous one in which a group of veterans put up a 27-68 record at the All-Star break, had people worried they might just be the worst team in history (seriously!)

Then they played a second season, going for youth and speed. That team has gone 24-28 since the All-Star break and bolstered the minor league system at the same time.

Some of the choices made by Dayton Moore over the past nine months that produced such a dramatic switch were forced upon him by financial realities. Some were so obviously necessary (like moving Alcides Escobar aside for Adalberto Mondesi) that fans couldn’t figure out what took so long. And a few took serious nerve and ingenuity by Moore.

The list is long of players Kansas City jettisoned. Here’s how those moves are working out so far.

Changes prior to the 2018 season:

Eric Hosmer – The Royals allegedly tried hard to entice Hosmer to return to Kansas City with a hefty contract. Hosmer ultimately opted to sign with the San Diego Padres, and beloved as Hosmer was in Kansas City, the Royals lucked out on this one.

The Royals went with stopgap Lucas Duda and rookie Hunter Dozier at first base. But in the past month, Ryan O’Hearn has asserted himself as the first baseman of the immediate future. Hosmer has underperformed on his enormous contract with 16 homers and 62 RBI while playing essentially every day. O’Hearn has 10 homers and 24 RBI in less than one-fifth as many at bats. Hosmer’s Wins Above Replacement (WAR) total is just 0.9, while O’Hearn’s is already 1.2.

Lorenzo Cain – The Royals were loath to let Cain depart, but they feared his age and injury history made him a poor investment for a rebuilding team. They will ultimately be proved right, but it comes as no surprise Cain is tearing up the National League. He’s currently batting .313 with a .403 on-base percentage. In terms of WAR, Cain is the second best position player in the National League.

In Cain’s absence, the Royals have employed several options in centerfield, primarily Jon Jay (more on him later). None was a permanent fix, and current frontrunner Brett Phillips, acquired midseason, may not be either.

As compensation for letting Cain and Hosmer depart via free agency, the Royals received additional draft picks (in the 33^rd and 34^th slot) in the 2018 draft. By picking college pitchers Jackson Kowar and Daniel Lynch, the Royals may have added two pieces of their starting rotation of the very near future.

The Royals wouldn’t have been a good team in 2018 had they resigned Cain, and they were right to rebuild without him. But there is no doubt, they would be a much better team today with him. The same can’t be said about Hosmer.

Jason Vargas – The Royals let their top starting pitcher from 2017 walk, judging correctly that the 34 year old’s 18-11 record was unrepeatable. They were right. The New York Mets are paying Vargas $6 million for disastrous output. They are on the hook for $16 million more over the next two seasons, and the results are likely to get worse.

Vargas’ rotation spot was handed to Jakob Junis, and the 25-year-old looks like a building block of the future.

Brandon Moss – For some inexplicable reason, the Oakland A’s were willing to trade two minor league pitchers for Moss and pitcher Ryan Buchter. Moss’ skills had slipped to the point he was released by Oakland in spring training, and no other team wants him.

In exchange for Moss, the Royals acquired Heath Fillmyer and minor leaguer Jesse Hahn. Fillmyer has made some good starts in Kansas City, and Hahn, injured all of 2018, still holds some promise.

By not wasting playing time on Moss, the Royals have been able to audition outfielders like Phillips, Rosell Herrera and Brian Goodwin.

Joakim Soria and Scott Alexander – This one hurts when you look just at 2018. The Royals traded these two essentially to rid themselves of Soria’s contract. But Alexander was a valuable young piece of the bullpen and he’s been very good for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Soria was rejuvenated with the Chicago White Sox.

The Royals received two quality prospects in Trevor Oaks and Erick Mejia, but neither is setting any worlds on fire.

The Royals shipped out a long list of pitchers after 2017, including Chris Young, Matt Strahm, Peter Moylan, Trevor Cahill and Travis Wood. The good news is the Royals are giving all those innings to young pitchers who may be good in the future.

Changes during the 2018 season:

Jon Jay – Jay was very good in a short stint with the Royals, but he was signed expressly to flip for prospects. Eighteen-year-old Elvis Luciano has loads of talent and time to develop it. Gabe Speier is an organizational filler who may reach the big leagues eventually.

Kelvin Herrera – It was essential not only that Herrera be traded, but that it be done at just the right time. Score a big win here for Moore. Herrera was near perfect for half a season in Kansas City. He was dealt for three prospects and promptly went into decline.

The return for Herrera has been solid. Kelvin Gutierrez, a minor league third baseman who is exceeding expectations at Double A. Depending on how Dozier fares, Gutierrez may be the Royals third baseman of the future. Blake Perkins is a talented outfielder who needs time to develop. Another 18-year-old named Yohanse Morel was thrown in and may be a player eventually.

Mike Moustakas – Moustakas has been good for the Milwaukee Brewers since being dealt on July 27 – six homers and a .277 average. But trading him was the only choice.

The Royals hoped to rake in the prospects for Moose. They may not have done that, but pitcher Jorge Lopez nearly pitched a perfect game last week, and has been ok in his other five starts. Brett Phillips has loads of skill, but will have to learn to hit. Like Lopez, his talent is intriguing.

Having won 13 of 19 since August 24, the new season is inspiring hope. Like manager Ned Yost said Friday night, “It’s starting to get fun again.”

On June 3, the Royals had a record of 13-36, far and away worst in baseball. The 2018 season was already a lost cause. And to make matters even worse, their farm system was considered to be one of the weakest in the game as well. The team was horrible, and there was little hope in sight.

But when the team stumbled out of the gate and quickly ruined the year, it allowed the team to focus on talent acquisition, and to leverage the few assets it possessed.

General Manager Dayton Moore’s handling of the roster the past two years has been roundly scrutinized. But this summer, he leaped at a chance to improve the pipeline considerably.

First, the Royals utilized compensation picks in the amateur draft, which kicked off on June 4, to quickly inject an infusion of new talent.

The Royals were already pinning their hopes on a collection of youngsters in A-ball – the Lexington and Wilmington clubs – considered the next “wave” of talent comparable to when Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Danny Duffy, Salvador Perez and Yordano Ventura matriculated up through the system. On June 4, they doubled down on that wave by drafting a passel of college pitchers.

The decision to put so many eggs in this one basket was questioned by some. But by doing so, they essentially doubled the size of the wave. The farm system lacked quality arms, and they Royals added several who could move up quickly, particularly Brady Singer, Jackson Kowar, Daniel Lynch and Kris Bubic.

Then Moore kicked into action a plan he’d initiated during the winter.

Rather than just hand over positions in the major leagues to unproven rookies, Moore had chosen to stock up on cheap veterans under one-year contracts, hoping to flip them like one would a fixer-upper. While it didn’t work with each of his projects, Moore was able to sign and flip Jon Jay and Mike Moustakas for pennies on the dollar.

The Royals paid Jay about $1.2 million for a couple months of work, then on June 6, acquired a high-ceiling 18-year-old project named Elvis Luciano, plus a minor league pitcher with some potential in Gabe Speier.

On July 27, just before the trade deadline, Moore sent Moustakas to the Milwaukee Brewers for top prospect Brett Phillips and pitcher Jorge Lopez, both of whom had seen some action in the majors. Thus the Royals invested a mere $3 million in salary to Moustakas to acquire a top outfield candidate and major-league caliber arm.

Between those deals, the Royals flipped reliever Kelvin Herrera, whose contract was about to expire, for two developing minor leaguers in Blake Perkins and Kelvin Gutierrez, plus another young project in 17-year-old pitcher Yohanse Morel.

Beating the bushes even further, Moore picked up a versatile and speedy switch hitter of waivers from the Cincinnati Reds in Rosell Herrera. Then he traded a low-level prospect for former first round draft pick Brian Goodwin. The two joined the Royals and immediately paid dividends.

And just like that, Moore had dramatically restocked the empty cupboard that was the Royals farm system, and added some new blood to the big league team to boot.

Of the Royals top 19 prospects rated by MLB.com, nine were not in the Royals’ system prior to June 4. The wave at the lower levels of the system that was started in 2017 gained strength with college pitchers and college outfielder Kyle Isbel. The mid-level minors was fortified with Perkins, Gutierrez and Speier. Furthermore, Kansas City took a flier on a couple of “lottery tickets” in Luciano and Morel.

Talent wasn’t just injected into the minors. Judging by the recent play of Phillips, Rosell Herrera and Goodwin, help is already arriving in Kansas City.

Next up, the Royals will try to get something – anything – for short-timers Jason Hammel and Lucas Duda via deals that are permitted past the trade deadline. Over the winter, they might listen to offers for their three most prized possessions – Salvador Perez, Danny Duffy and Whit Merrifield.

And then they will be in line for one of the top picks in next June’s draft, the reward for being awful in 2018.

The Royals will continue to be bad for the foreseeable future. But perhaps the worst has passed. The youth movement will at least be entertaining to watch.