The Royals announced this afternoon that right-hander Jakob Junis cleared outright waivers. He’s elected minor league free agency, as is his right as a player with three-plus years of big league service.
Junis has spent a decade in the Kansas City organization, making his MLB debut in 2017. He broke in with passable back-of-the-rotation production over his first couple years, but his numbers have gone backwards recently. Junis managed just a 5.24 ERA in 175 1/3 innings in 2019, and he’s been limited to 64 2/3 frames of 5.71 ball since the start of 2020.
While Junis typically posts solid strikeout and walk rates, he’s also given up a fair amount of hard contact. That’s been reflected in a bloated home run rate, as Junis has served up more longballs than average in each of the last four seasons despite pitching his home games at spacious Kauffman Stadium.
The Royals have graduated a crop of highly-regarded pitching prospects over the past two seasons. The influx of younger talent temporarily bumped Junis to the bullpen midseason, but he struggled over ten outings in that new role. Eligible for arbitration for a second time this winter, he’d been projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for a $1.8MM salary. The front office determined not to make him that kind of financial commitment, and they’ll cut him loose a few weeks before the official non-tender deadline. It remains to be seen whether the 29-year-old Junis will secure a big league deal on the open market or be limited to minor league offers with Spring Training invitations.
I can see Mo spending CMart’s money on a guy like this
Another future Royals starter coming out of that rebuild. Uh-huh.
It takes longer to develop pitchers than position players in a rebuild. But the fact that the closest the Royals have had in developing a bona fide rotation starter in this rebuild is Keller, and he’s been slowly getting worse for 3 years and looks like a #4 or 5 starter.
Dayton Moore is my favorite FO person. He’s based this rebuild on pitching. The young starters that were given innings and worked with washed out. The most recent guys are going through growing pains. And now he says he wants a lockdown bullpen when the one last year was the AL’s answer to the NL Phillies.
I understand that young players don’t turn on a dime. But the 2015-16 Royals had one decent, consistent starter – Shields – who they got from the Rays. They had to trade for starters for the pennant push by depleting their farm system. Sure, it was worth it. But as of today their position players in no way resemble the young 2013-14 Royals in playing D, keeping rallies going, and beating other teams by the way they ran the bases.
In short, if the Royals don’t show some spark and progress in 2022, then this rebuild will not be successful – and most ML rebuilds aren’t successful – we only remember the Astros, Braves and Cubs; not the Rangers, DBacks, Rockies, Marlins, Reds and Pirates before Cherington….among others.
Rebuilds don’t work, tearing up the baseboards and tanking has been effective though.
The Royals rebuild that culminated in them going to the WS in 2015 & 2016 sure did.
The Dodgers under Friedman sure did. The Brewers under Stearns sure did. They didn’t tank. I could go on and on.
Too many of the comments here are binary – this always works, that never does. If there way one way of succeeding in anything in life, we’d all do it and we’d all be successful. On here the attitude is thjat if all owners would suddenly just spend, spend, spend on payroll then all teams would go to the WS each year. Tell it to the Reds owner.
Shields was 2014 and gone by 2015. Volquez anchored the staff in 2015 and Ventura was better than league average both seasons
Yes, you are correct. Shields served as a mentor to the staff. Having one starter “better than league average” is hardly a rec for the Royals acumen in developing starters.
I watched all the games, and forgot about Volquez and Ventura. Sure, they ate innings till the 3 guys in the bullpen came in the last 3 innings. Bu as I wrote – the Royals position players were exceptional on D and scored runs in bunches via rallies and baserunning. This Royals teams position players are nothing like that. This team is supposed to be based on pitching.
MLB has changed. Starters now only are allowed to throw around 100 pitches per game. It’s all about getting to the weak arms in the bullpen. But starters do have to get into the 6th – 7th inning at least in half their starts, else the bullpen pitchers arms will be falling off. Most staffs used to be 10 pitchers, Today it’s 13 – and teams call up and send down pitchers at least twice a week during the season because the bullpens are overworked and worn out. The days of a 3-man lights-out bullpen such as Herrera, Davis, and Holland coming in the last 3 innings and dominating are over. Brewers come closest.
But my point remains – the Royals have got to develop some starters. In todays MLB a team needs at least 7 each year due to injuries and downtime. In 2021 the book on the Royals was to stay close until you could get into their bullpen. Even if one or two guys were going good, the others would blow the game. Starters are not expected to pitch complete games, but to save the bullpen. Today MLB teams often use 6 or more pitchers per game. There is simply no way that the opposition aren’t going to get to one or two the majority of the time.
Anyone who claims to be a Royals fan and watched every game but “forgot” about Yordano Ventura is suspect to me.
One of the nastiest sliders I’ve ever seen, but if you can’t throw the fastball for strikes consistently, it doesn’t matter. Would not at all be surprised to see him end up being a shut down late inning reliever. Definitely has the stuff.