Left-hander Jay Groome and right-hander Nate Webb have signed with the Kansas City Monarchs of the independent American Association. The league itself announced the Groome transaction this week while the Monarchs announced the Webb deal.
Groome, 27, was once a prospect of some note. The Red Sox drafted him 12th overall in 2016 and he initially posted good numbers in the lower levels of the minors. Baseball America ranked him the #43 prospect in the league going into 2017.
His stock dipped from there. He posted a 5.69 earned run average on the farm in 2017 then missed all of 2018 and most of 2019 due to Tommy John surgery. The minor leagues were canceled by COVID-19 in 2020. Despite having a rough time in those years, the Sox still gave him a 40-man spot in November of 2020 to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. Groome then had a 4.81 ERA in 2021. He was a bit better in 2022, a season that saw him get flipped from the Red Sox to the Padres in the Eric Hosmer deal. Between the two clubs, he posted a 3.44 ERA in the minors that year.
But there were more speed bumps to come. He struggled badly in 2023, with an 8.55 ERA in Triple-A that year. In the summer of 2024, he was one of four players who received a one-year suspension for betting on major league games while playing in the minor leagues. When his suspension was up in June of 2025, the Padres non-tendered him. Groome is obviously not as enticing as he was a decade ago but he’s only 27, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility that he can pitch his way back into affiliated ball.
Like Groome, Webb has spent time on a 40-man roster but hasn’t appeared in a big league game. Now 28, he was a 34th round pick of the Royals in 2016. In 2021, he struck out 37.7% of the batters he faced in the minors. Even though he hadn’t yet cracked Double-A, the Royals didn’t want to lose him. They added him to their 40-man roster in November of 2021 to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft.
Unfortunately, he battled some injuries in 2022 and posted an awful 9.99 ERA on the farm that year. The Royals non-tendered him after just one year on the 40-man. He signed a minor league deal with the Pirates but Tommy John surgery wiped out his 2023 season.
He signed a two-year deal with the Orioles for 2024 and 2025 but left Achilles tendon surgery prevented him from pitching in the first year. He was back on the mound in 2025 but his 17.1% walk rate was almost as high as his 17.6% strikeout rate as he posted a 4.70 ERA on the year. Like Groome, he is still a few years shy of his 30th birthday, so a strong showing in indy ball could lead to a return to the affiliated ranks.
Photo courtesy of Gaby Velasquez, Imagn Images
Jay Groome…How do you do
Jay Groome. Not. A. Fan.
Groome is another overrated Jersey guy. New Jersey has good baseball but not great baseball. Years ago it was probably better but now it’s just warehouses of kids playing 12 months out of the year. Instead of good athletes you wind up with injury machines. The fields in New Jersey are mud pits right now so let’s trot them off to the warehouse where they can practice using the same muscles until they blow out.
Groome and Anderson Espinoza, two big time “can’t-miss prospects” that missed big time for the Sox…
Groome betting on himself. Cant get suspended for that.
@halfromlv
While that’s true I heard he used his translator to place the bet on himself just to be safe
Wasn’t he the guy I think last year they got busted for betting on baseball along with like three other people
I wonder if Jay Groome regrets not going college route first.