Headlines

  • Josh Hader Diagnosed With Shoulder Capsule Sprain, Hopes To Return In Playoffs
  • Nationals Request Unconditional Release Waivers On Nathaniel Lowe
  • Cubs To Promote Owen Caissie For MLB Debut
  • Astros Place Josh Hader On Injured List Due To Shoulder Strain
  • Mets To Promote Nolan McLean
  • Pohlad Family No Longer Pursuing Sale Of Twins
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2026-27 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Royals Outright Austin Nola, Release CJ Alexander

By Mark Polishuk | September 4, 2024 at 3:10pm CDT

September 4: Nola has been outrighted to Triple-A Omaha and Alexander released, per the transactions tracker of each player at MLB.com.

August 31: The Royals announced that catcher Austin Nola and infielder CJ Alexander have been designated for assignment.  The moves open up roster space for Tommy Pham and Robbie Grossman, who are now officially part of the K.C. roster after being respectively claimed off waivers from the Cardinals and Rangers.

Nola signed a split contract with the Royals during Spring Training, but the veteran of five MLB seasons has yet to officially bank any big league playing time during the 2024 campaign.  The Royals briefly called Nola up in June but he was sent back to Omaha without appearing in any games, and Salvador Perez and Freddy Fermin have stayed healthy and handled every single inning behind the plate for Kansas City this season.  Injuries also cost Nola all of April, and he hasn’t provided much offense with only a .156/.248/.296 slash line over 163 plate appearances in Omaha.

This made Nola expendable, and now Brian O’Keefe and Rodolfo Duran are the remaining catching depth options at Triple-A.  The Royals might conceivably try to shore up the catching ranks with another veteran, or Nola might simply remain with the team if he clears waivers.  Nola has been outrighted before, so he can opt for free agency if he clears waivers and Kansas City tries to outright him off the 40-man roster.

Alexander has neither a past outright assignment on his ledger, nor the minimum five years of MLB service time to reject an outright, so he might just be optioned back to Omaha if no other teams make a claim.  Alexander just made his Major League debut this season, appearing in four games for the Royals and knocking one single in eight trips to the plate during his brief stint in the Show.

A 20th-round pick for the Braves in the 2018 draft, Alexander was acquired by the Royals as part of the Drew Waters trade in July 2022.  His minor league numbers generally consisted of solid power but low averages and OBPs prior to 2024, when he has put it all together to hit .303/.352/.554 with 16 homers over 350 Triple-A plate appearances.  In the field, Alexander has played mostly third base during his minor league career, with some time at first base and in both corner outfield slots.

Since Alexander just turned 28, he isn’t exactly an up-and-coming type of prospect, but could be another waiver claim candidate if a team is looking for some infield depth.  He also has two minor league option years remaining, making him a flexible roster piece going forward.

Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email0

Kansas City Royals Transactions Austin Nola CJ Alexander

Reds Outright Dominic Smith
Main
Cubs Place Jorge López On Injured List
View Comments (13)
Post a Comment

13 Comments

  1. DarkSide830

    12 months ago

    net loss tbh

    Reply
    • TheOtherMikeD

      12 months ago

      Hate to lose a 34 year old AAA cstcher.

      Reply
      • DarkSide830

        12 months ago

        Pham stinks and is a bad clubhouse guy, and Grossman doesn’t do anything of value besides walk decently well.

        Reply
        • TheOtherMikeD

          12 months ago

          Pham is having a better season than all the KC outfielders at the plate.and taking a walk is lauded now.

          Reply
  2. towinagain

    12 months ago

    Poor Nola, ugh

    Reply
    • mlb fan

      12 months ago

      He’ll be ok. He’s got a brother, Aaron, Who’s lined up to make around $200M in his pitching career. I know if my brother had near $200M in deals, I’d be expecting a little “Brotherly Love”.

      2
      Reply
  3. AHH-Rox

    12 months ago

    I think you mean “outrighted to Omaha” for Alexander. They can’t option him if he is being DFA’d.

    Reply
    • Edp007

      12 months ago

      He’s already with the A’s

      1
      Reply
    • NickTheDev

      12 months ago

      He also can’t be released if he was sent to Oakland…

      Reply
  4. cpdpoet

    12 months ago

    Nola to Pbilly as the 14th man for Sept..
    Vibes and all….

    3
    Reply
    • Longtimecoming

      12 months ago

      Good thought. I had visions of both in SD before Austin was cut loose and Aaron resigned with Philly.

      Reply
    • Edp007

      12 months ago

      Have they been a battery ever ?

      Reply
      • Longtimecoming

        12 months ago

        I doubt it as professionals. Austin came up in Seattle org and Aaron has been Philly.

        Correction – Austin came up in Miami’s system and signed with Seattle as FA.

        Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Josh Hader Diagnosed With Shoulder Capsule Sprain, Hopes To Return In Playoffs

    Nationals Request Unconditional Release Waivers On Nathaniel Lowe

    Cubs To Promote Owen Caissie For MLB Debut

    Astros Place Josh Hader On Injured List Due To Shoulder Strain

    Mets To Promote Nolan McLean

    Pohlad Family No Longer Pursuing Sale Of Twins

    Felix Bautista, Zach Eflin Done For The Season

    Shane McClanahan Undergoes Season-Ending Arm Procedure To Address Nerve Problem

    2025-26 MLB Free Agent Power Rankings: August Edition

    Write For MLB Trade Rumors

    Red Sox Extend Roman Anthony

    Buxton: Still No Plans To Waive No-Trade Clause

    Rob Manfred Downplays Salary Cap Dispute With Bryce Harper

    Tanner Houck To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Yankees Release Marcus Stroman

    Cubs Release Ryan Pressly

    Cubs To Host 2027 All-Star Game

    MLB Trade Tracker: July

    Padres Acquire Mason Miller, JP Sears

    Astros Acquire Carlos Correa

    Recent

    Phillies To Place Zack Wheeler On Injured List With Blood Clot

    Red Sox Expected To Show Interest In Nathaniel Lowe

    Josh Hader Diagnosed With Shoulder Capsule Sprain, Hopes To Return In Playoffs

    Phillies Notes: Duran, Bohm, Nola

    Nationals Request Unconditional Release Waivers On Nathaniel Lowe

    Pirates To Move Andrew Heaney To Bullpen Role

    Blue Jays Reinstate George Springer From Injured List

    Orioles Select Dylan Beavers, Designate Greg Allen

    Hector Neris Elects Free Agency

    Giants Place Matt Chapman On 10-Day Injured List

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Every MLB Trade In July
    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2026-27 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version