The Royals announced Tuesday that they’ve designated lefty Jake Brentz, right-hander Nate Webb and first baseman/outfielder Brent Rooker for assignment. Their roster spots will go to right-hander Alec Marsh, catcher Freddy Fermin and outfielder Diego Hernandez, each of whom has been selected to the 40-man roster in advance of tonight’s deadline to protect players from the Rule 5 Draft.
Kansas City also announced a one-year deal with non-tender candidate Ryan O’Hearn, avoiding arbitration and ostensibly locking him into a roster spot for the 2023 season. Lynn Worthy of the Kansas City Star reports that O’Hearn will be guaranteed $1.4MM and can earn another $250K of bonuses. O’Hearn was paid $1.3MM in 2022 and is controllable through the 2024 season via arbitration.
Brentz, 28, had a nice rookie season with the Royals in 2021 when he pitched to a 3.66 ERA with a 27.3% strikeout rate in 64 innings of relief. A 13.3% walk rate always served as a red flag, but as a bat-missing lefty with an average fastball of 97 mph and a 49% ground-ball rate, Brentz showed plenty of promise. His 2022 season was unfortunately blown up by injury, however. Brent tossed just 5 1/3 innings with a woeful 9-to-11 K/BB ratio and a 23.63 ERA (14 earned runs) before undergoing surgery to repair a torn UCL in his pitching elbow. That procedure, performed in late June, ended his season.
Webb, 25, was limited to just 33 1/3 innings across three minor league levels this season, struggling at each stop and spending more than two and a half months on the injured list. Although he was healthy to finish out the season, Webb concluded his 2022 campaign with a combined 9.99 ERA and 39-to-27 K/BB ratio in those 33 1/3 frames.
Rooker, acquired on Aug. 2 in a trade that sent backup catcher Cam Gallagher to the Padres, appeared in only 14 games with the Royals and went 4-for-25 with four walks and a double. Drafted by the division-rival Twins with the No. 35 overall pick back in 2017, Rooker was a bat-first prospect touted for his plus raw power but has managed just a .200/.289/.379 batting line in 270 Major League plate appearances. He’s a career .274/.387/.590 hitter in parts of three Triple-A seasons, so it’s possible another club will take a look on waivers or in a minor trade — particularly since he still has a minor league option year remaining.
The Royals again opted against non-tendering the now-29-year-old O’Hearn, despite the fact that four full seasons have elapsed since his productive rookie effort in 2018. Since hitting .262/.353/.597 in 170 plate appearances as a 24-year-old rookie, the lefty-swinging O’Hearn has managed only a .211/.282/.351 slash in 901 plate appearances. Even with a pair of younger, highly touted first base prospects in Vinnie Pasquantino and Nick Pratto needing playing time next season, though, Kansas City will continue to hope O’Hearn can eventually recapture that rookie form and factor into the first base/DH mix.
Hope Brent Rooker stays.
I just don’t get it. what do they see in O’Hearn?
I agree he was one of the players I thought for sure would be non-tendered. Could still be traded, I guess.
I just read they thing he will do better with the new shift rule.
ahhhh yes. KC never disappoints with stupid moves. designate a lefty that throws almost 100, for a hitter that can’t hit off of a Tee. It’s why they’re unwatchable. Do Witt a favor and trade him somewhere he’ll win before he’s retirement age. I really hoped new ownership would be different. it appears J.J. Pinocchio is as dumb as Dayton Moore as well.
Why not just DFA him and sign him to a minor league contract with a lower pay?
Royals gave the stupidest extension in the world to Hunter Dozier.
I’m not a huge fan of him but I’ll give him credit that he hit around .340 when he came off the bench. That might be what they are looking at. A hitter that knows how to hit off the bench late in a game.
I’m not a huge fan of him but I’ll give him credit that he hit around .340 when he came off the bench. That might be what they are looking at. A hitter that knows how to hit off the bench late in a game. So why not I guess
I have no idea why the Royals love O’Hearn. It makes zero sense to me.
I’m not a huge fan of him but I’ll give him credit that he hit around .340 when he came off the bench. That might be what they are looking at. A hitter that knows how to hit off the bench late in a game.
And so it begins…
What was the point of activating Nate Webb from the 60 day IL on Thursday only to DFA him on Tuesday?
No IL in the off-season
I am aware of that. I am just saying it doesn’t make sense to allocate a 40 man roster spot to him for all of 4 days. I’m sure they knew on Thursday they were going to remove him from the 40 man roster today, so why not do it ahead of time?
As long as they didn’t have to DFA/outright another player from the 40 man, it was no harm no foul.
If there’s nobody in the Royals system that’s worth adding to the 40 man roster over O’Hearn, their rebuild may not be going according to plan. Especially with Vinnie, Nick and Salvy available to cover 1B/DH.
This is the new regime’s first head-scratching move. I do not understand why this guy is worth anything more than a minor league deal and an NRI to ST.
Matheny gets another notch in his belt for overusing Brentz in 2021 and blowing his arm out. The way he overused his best relief pitchers in STL and KC bordered on being criminal.
The love affair with O’Hearn is mind-boggling. I was hoping that with Moore out of the picture, O’Hearn would follow.
Piccolo is gonna run the team just like Moore. Royals say they wanna change, and hire Daytons lap dog. Clowns
I can’t follow this team anymore. An organization too stubborn to get rid of crappy players makes for a joke of a franchise.
What a terribly run franchise. It’s embarrassing the decisions these clowns make. New GM?? Who cares. He was Daytons lap dog. Royals are gonna be ran the same exact way
What pictures does O’Hearn have to stick around?
Looking at Brentz baseballsavant page and it is night and day.
In 2021 hitters hit .211 and .191 against his fastball and slider respectively but those jumped to .353 and an unreal .556. The slugging numbers against are .588 and .667 respectively.
What was wrong? Was he constantly behind in the count so hitters knew what was coming? Or was he just injured and not as effective.
He’s intriguing for a team with a good pitching coach.
Matheny overused him and blew his arm out, just like he did to the bullpen guys in STL.
Dumb move in keeping O’Hearn.
Actually not. This guy is thrilled to just be on the roster. Will not sulk if he only gets 5-10 ABs a month. You would rather have a Nate Eaton playing every day at Omaha than getting sporadic ABs on the Big League club if he does not win an everyday job.
And if you DFA O Hearn in July, you own him little.
New GM, New Manager, New Bench Coach…Same stupid decisions. smh.
Wow, just looked at Marsh’s 2022 numbers. YIKES.
So basically same old same old with the roster construction for the Royals. Waste a spot on bum O’Hearn every season no matter who is im charge