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Evan Longoria To Sign One-Day Contract, Retire As Member Of Rays

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Three-time All-Star and 2008 American League Rookie of the Year Evan Longoria will sign a one-day contract to officially retire as a member of his original organization, the Rays, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. He’ll be honored in a ceremony before the Rays’ game on June 7.

Longoria sat out the 2024 season and said last summer that he was not pursuing a return to playing but was also not formally filing his retirement paperwork just yet. That left the door ever so slightly cracked for one final comeback bid, but Longoria will now formally call it a career after nearly 2000 big league games and more than 8200 major league plate appearances.

Longoria, 39, was the No. 3 overall pick by the Rays out of Long Beach State back in 2006. He was in the majors less than two years later, getting his first call to the majors on April 12, 2008. He signed a six-year, $17.5MM extension just six games into his major league career. At the time, bets of that magnitude on such young and unproven players were nowhere near as commonplace as they are in today’s game.

That extension, which contained a trio of club options, was the largest deal ever guaranteed to a player with such little MLB experience at the time it was signed. Longoria wasted little time in proving it money well spent. He hit .272/.343/.531 with 27 homers, 31 doubles and a pair of triples as a rookie, making the American All-Star team just a few months into his MLB career.

From 2008-13, Longoria was on the short list of best players in MLB. Only Miguel Cabrera, Cliff Lee, Justin Verlander and Felix Hernandez generated more wins above replacement than Longoria’s 34.8 in that span, per FanGraphs. His 12th-inninng walk-off home run (video link) in the final game of the 2011 regular season wound up propelling Tampa Bay to the postseason that year, and Longoria’s celebratory trot with both arms above his head as he rounded first base is a timeless memory for Tampa Bay fans — one that the team commemorated with a statue outside of Tropicana Field.

Longoria proved such a bargain and such a critical piece to the Rays’ success that in November 2012, they extended him for a second time — this time on the first nine-figure contract in franchise history. Tampa Bay exercised all three of Longoria’s club options in one fell swoop and tacked on another six years and $100MM in new money (bringing the total guarantee to $136MM over nine seasons).

Longoria didn’t quite keep up his early career form, but in five subsequent seasons with the Rays (2013-17) after signing that second contract, he still slashed .265/.325/.457 (113 wRC+) while maintaining his brand of standout defense at the hot corner. FanGraphs (19.8 WAR) and Baseball-Reference (22 WAR) suggested he was still one of the game’s top 25 or so position players even if he wasn’t quite at the very top of the sport anymore.

With Longoria set to secure 10-and-5 rights early in the 2018 season — ten years of service, including five straight with the same team — the Rays made the decision to look for a trade in the 2017-18 offseason. Players with 10-and-5 rights gain full no-trade protection, and Longoria’s remaining five years and $81MM were more palatable to larger-market clubs than the cost-conscious Rays. In December 2017, the Rays lined up on a swap sending Longoria to San Francisco in exchange for outfielder Denard Span, infielder Christian Arroyo, lefty Matt Krook and righty Stephen Woods. At the time of the swap, Arroyo was a few years removed from being a first-round pick out of high school and was considered to be a top-100 prospect on some rankings.

Longoria’s first season as a Giant was a disappointment — the least-productive of what would end up being 16 seasons in the majors. He bounced back to league-average offense with solid defense in 2019, but at that point his days of star-level output were behind him. Longoria had a down showing in 2020 and posted big rate stats in a more limited, part-time role in 2021-22. He signed a one-year deal with the Diamondbacks in 2023 and had a nice first half of the season before fading down the stretch.

That 2023 season with Arizona, during which Longoria played in the second World Series of his career, will now officially prove to be his last. He’ll walk away from the game with a career .264/.333/.471 batting line, 342 home runs (tied with Ron Santo for 108th all-time), 431 doubles (145th all-time), 26 triples, 58 stolen bases, 1017 runs scored and 1159 runs batted in (185th all-time).

Longoria made three All-Star teams, won three Gold Gloves, won a Silver Slugger and landed MVP votes in six of his 16 MLB seasons. FanGraphs pegged him at 55.2 wins above replacement, while Baseball-Reference was even more bullish, crediting him with 58.9 (133rd all-time among position players). Between his pair of extensions and that final one-year deal with the D-backs, he earned more than $148MM in a 16-year career that will garner some legitimate consideration among the electorate when his name is on the Hall of Fame ballot five years from now.

White Sox Designate Gage Workman For Assignment

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The White Sox announced that infielder Gage Workman has been returned from his rehab assignment, reinstated from the 10-day injured list and designated for assignment. The club’s 40-man roster count drops to 39.

Workman started the season with the Cubs as a Rule 5 pick, selected from the Tigers. He managed to stick with the Cubs for about the first month of the regular season before being designated for assignment.

The White Sox acquired him for cash considerations, with the Rule 5 parameters transferring to Workman’s new club. He got into three games with the Sox before landing on the IL with a right hip flexor strain. He’s now healthy, but the Sox evidently didn’t want to add him back to their active roster. Per the Rule 5 restrictions, he can’t be optioned to the minors, so they have gone the DFA route instead.

The 25-year-old Workman shined for the Cubs in spring training, hitting .364/.420/.705 in 50 plate appearances. A contending Cubs team never found a way to get him any real playing time, however. He went 2-for-14 with a walk in his 15 plate appearances before being designated for assignment. He received even less playing time with the Sox, tallying all of two plate appearances.

Workman is viewed as a plus defender at third base with plenty of raw power and too much swing-and-miss in his offensive profile. He spent the 2024 season with the Tigers’ Double-A affiliate, where he batted .280/.366/.476 with 18 homers, 30 steals, an 11.7% walk rate and a bloated 27.5% strikeout rate in his third season of action at that level. He’s yet to appear in a Triple-A game.

The ChiSox could try to trade Workman in the coming days or simply put him on outright waivers. Any acquiring club would still be bound by the same Rule 5 limits. If he were to pass through unclaimed, he would be offered back to the Tigers. If that happens, Detroit could put Workman back in their system without having to put him on the 40-man roster. DFA limbo can last a week but the waiver process takes 48 hours, so any trade talks would have to come together in the next five days.

Eddie Rosario Elects Free Agency

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May 12: Rosario went unclaimed on waivers and rejected an outright assignment in lieu of free agency, per the transaction log at MiLB.com.

May 9: The Braves announced Friday that they’ve designated outfielder Eddie Rosario for assignment. His spot on the roster will go to infielder Luke Williams, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Gwinnett.

Rosario’s latest Braves stint will last under two weeks. He signed a big league deal back on April 28 after being cut loose by the Dodgers. Atlanta gave him only four plate appearances across three games this time around. The 33-year-old veteran went hitless in that minuscule sample. He’s 1-for-8 with a single between his limited stints with the Dodgers and Braves in 2025.

Of course, Rosario is no stranger to Atlanta. The Braves acquired him from the Guardians in a salary-dump deal at the 2021 trade deadline, and Rosario caught absolute fire down the stretch, helping to fuel an improbable World Series victory for an Atlanta club that was under .500 at the trade deadline. He re-signed on a two-year deal and also returned for a short stint in 2024. He’s spent the better part of the past five years in a Braves uniform but carries a tepid .235/.283/.413 batting line in that time — with most of his damage coming during that sizzling 2021 run.

Rosario was a solid regular with the Twins for the majority of his early career, but his best full-season production since leaving in 2021 have been league-average performances in 2021 and 2023. He’s struggled immensely outside those two seasons and carries an overall .231/.277/.394 slash in his past 1525 major league plate appearances (81 wRC+). The Braves will have a week to resolve Rosario’s DFA, though the likely outcome is that he’ll either be released or reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency.

As for Williams, he’s also returning for a third go-around with Atlanta. He appeared with the Braves in each of the past two seasons but turned in a .164/.233/.218 showing in 61 plate appearances. He’s struggled even more than that in Gwinnett this season, hitting only .132/.205/.145 in 83 trips to the plate. He’ll add a right-handed bat with experience at all four infield positions and all three outfield positions to manager Brian Snitker’s bench.

Pirates Sign Beau Burrows To Minor League Deal

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Right-hander Beau Burrows, who opened the season pitching with los Tecos de los Dos Laredos in the Mexican League, has signed a minor league deal with the Pirates. Beisbol Puro first reported the signing, which Burrows himself has also announced on social media this morning.

Burrows, 28, was selected by the Tigers with the No. 22 overall pick out of Weatherford High School in Texas back in the 2015 draft. He ranked among the Tigers’ top prospects for several years following that draft and garnered some top-100 fanfare at MLB.com and Baseball Prospectus in the 2017-18 offseason after logging 135 frames of 3.20 ERA ball between High-A and Double-A. The 6’2″ righty punched out 24.9% of his opponents that season and limited walks at a solid 8% clip.

A second year at the Double-A level in 2018 yielded lesser results (4.10 ERA in 134 innings), but Burrows reached 26 starts and topped 130 innings for a second straight season. He seemed like a good bet to make his big league debut in 2019 — at least until the injury bug bit. Burrows missed more than two months at the beginning of that ’19 season due to biceps tendinitis and inflammation in his right shoulder. He returned in June and was back on the shelf two months later after straining an oblique muscle, which cost him another month. He pitched only 74 innings across three levels — including his Triple-A debut — and worked to a 4.84 ERA.

Burrows felt very much like a pitcher who could use a mulligan at Triple-A in a hopefully healthier 2020 season. Of course, the pandemic wiped out the entire minor league season that year, depriving him of that opportunity. Burrows pitched at the Tigers’ alternate site and wound up making his MLB debut with five relief appearances (four runs in 6 2/3 innings). He was trounced for 17 runs in just 11 big league innings the following season and struggled to an ERA north of 5.00 in Triple-A between the Tigers and the Twins (who claimed him off waivers following a midseason DFA).

In the three years since that time, Burrows has pitched between the Dodgers, Phillies and Braves organizations but never returned to the majors. His work in a tiny sample during Mexican League play this season hasn’t exactly stood out; he’s tossed 5 2/3 innings out of the bullpen and allowed six earned runs on seven hits and nine walks.

Rough as those numbers appear, Beisbol Puro notes that Burrows’ velocity and curveball have caught the attention of major league scouts. He’s typically sat around 93 mph in recent Triple-A stints but has bumped that a couple ticks in 2025 and has seen his heater climb as high as 97 mph. This would only be Burrows’ second full season as a pure reliever, and if those velo readings are accurate, it’s a jump over his 2024 stint in the Phillies’ system, when he averaged 93.3 mph even following a move to short relief.

For the Pirates, there’s little harm in betting on ostensibly improved stuff from a former first-round pick who’ll still pitch nearly the entire 2025 season at 28 years of age. (Burrows turns 29 in mid-September.) He’ll presumably head to Triple-A Indianapolis, and if he can rein in his command while maintaining the improved stuff, Burrows could pitch his way into consideration for a big league look later this summer. Pittsburgh relievers rank 20th in the majors with a 4.24 ERA this season, but that includes a combined 20 2/3 innings of excellent work from Justin Lawrence and Tim Mayza, both of whom were recently moved to the 60-day injured list.

Orioles Outright Matt Bowman To Triple-A

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TODAY: Bowman accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A after clearing waivers, the Orioles announced.

MAY 8: The Orioles announced Thursday that they’ve designated right-hander Matt Bowman for assignment and recalled fellow righty Colin Selby from Triple-A Norfolk. Selby will give the O’s a fresh arm for today’s series finale in Minnesota, which is set to begin at 12:10pm CT. Selby was already on what was a full 40-man roster, so Baltimore now has a vacancy after designating Bowman.

Bowman, 33, pitched in each of the past two games against the Twins and now finds himself on the outs in Baltimore as the O’s look to get some reinforcements for a beleaguered pitching staff. Bowman actually came to the O’s last summer after opting out of a minor league deal with Minnesota. The Orioles eventually passed him through waivers but re-signed him on a new minor league deal after he opted for free agency.

Baltimore selected Bowman to the major league roster late in spring training. He’s been a heavily used arm for manager Brandon Hyde, appearing in 16 of the Orioles’ 35 games (46%). The journeyman right-hander posted a sparkling 1.98 ERA through his first dozen appearances but has hit a rough patch of late, surrendering seven runs across his past four outings. Overall, Bowman carries a 5.19 earned run average with a sub-par 15.2% strikeout rate but a terrific 3.8% walk rate.

Bowman pitched for four teams in 2024, including both the Twins and Orioles. He’s now suited up for seven teams across parts of seven major league seasons. In 233 1/3 frames at the MLB level, he’s produced a 4.24 ERA, 18.7% strikeout rate and 8% walk rate. Bowman doesn’t miss many bats and has never thrown hard — his 91.3 mph average on his sinker in 2025 is an exact match for his career mark — but he’s consistently proven capable of avoiding hard contact. Opponents have mustered a putrid 86.3 mph average exit velocity against Bowman in his career and posted similarly bleak barrel and hard-hit rates of 5.1% and 29.6%, respectively.

Because he’s out of minor league options, Bowman couldn’t simply be optioned to Norfolk to bring up a fresh arm. The O’s will have five days to find a trade partner for him before they have to place him on outright or release waivers (which is another 48-hour process). He could be waived at any point prior to that, of course, but his DFA will be resolved within a maximum of one week.

The Biggest Trade In Nationals History Looks Better Every Day

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The 2022 Nationals found themselves at a crossroads. Washington had sold at the prior year's trade deadline, shipping Max Scherzer and Trea Turner to the Dodgers, sending Kyle Schwarber to the Red Sox, dealing Daniel Hudson to the Padres and trading Jon Lester to the Cardinals. The organization's steadfast hope had been that even while rebuilding, Juan Soto would be at the heart of those efforts to build back up. Longtime general manager Mike Rizzo acknowledged as much in June, plainly stating on the record that he had no intention of trading Soto.

The Nats offered Soto an extension reportedly worth $440MM in guaranteed money. It would've been the largest deal in MLB history at the time. Only after Soto turned that offer down -- drawing plenty of criticism for doing so -- did Washington begin to seriously explore the possibility of trading him. Moving the game's best young hitter when he had two and a half seasons of club control remaining was no small undertaking. It'd require a seismic haul of young talent -- the type of prospect package that several interested parties simply didn't have the inventory to assemble. Most other clubs simply couldn't stomach the asking price.

A limited market of suitors for Soto emerged. To no one's surprise, the hyper-aggressive Padres entered the bidding and made a strong push. San Diego president of baseball operations A.J. Preller throws his hat in the ring when nearly any star-caliber player is available. From the moment Soto hit the market, the Padres -- then armed with one of baseball's best farm systems -- were among the most logical landing spots.

San Diego indeed wound up reeling in their big fish, and it took the type of trade haul we might not see again for years to come. Soto and Josh Bell went from the Nats to the Padres in exchange for shortstop CJ Abrams, left-hander MacKenzie Gore, outfielder James Wood, outfielder Robert Hassell III and right-hander Jarlin Susana. The Padres also sent first baseman Luke Voit to the Nats as something of a financial counterweight, and in a separate deal they shipped Eric Hosmer -- who'd invoked his no-trade rights to block his inclusion in the Soto trade -- to the Red Sox.

It was a jaw-dropping haul. Abrams, Gore and Hassell had all been top-10 draft picks within the past five seasons. Abrams was a consensus top-10 prospect in the sport at the time. Gore had struggled through some mechanical issues in the upper minors but was only a few years removed from being one of the consensus top pitching prospects in the game. Wood was a 19-year-old who was just a year removed from being a second-round pick, and his stock was firmly on the rise at the time of the swap as he ripped through A-ball. Hassell entered the 2022 season as a top-40 prospect in the game. Susana was only 18 at the time of the trade and was in his first season of pro ball after signing out of his native Dominican Republic; Baseball America likened his upside to that of a high schooler who might go in the first round of the MLB draft.

While not every blockbuster trade pans out -- Washington hasn't gotten a ton of value from that Scherzer/Turner stunner, for instance -- the Soto trade has produced a bumper crop that seems likely to form the nucleus of the next contending Nationals club.

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Astros Place Hayden Wesneski On Injured List Due To Elbow Discomfort

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The Astros announced Friday that right-hander Hayden Wesneski is being placed on the 15-day injured list due to discomfort in his right elbow. Right-hander Logan VanWey will be recalled from Triple-A Sugar Land to take Wesneski’s spot on the roster. An exact diagnosis or expected timetable for Wesneski’s return has not been provided. His IL placement is retroactive to May 7.

It’s ominous any time a pitcher hits the injured list due to a nebulous designation such as “elbow discomfort.” Teams will typically provide further details — specific symptoms, diagnoses, timetables, etc. — not long after making announcements such as this one. The Astros are notoriously tight-lipped with any and all medical updates, however, so time will tell when they opt to divulge more information.

Regardless, the loss of Wesneski stings. One of three players acquired from the Cubs in exchange for Kyle Tucker, he opened the season in Houston’s rotation and has played a key role. His most recent start (four runs in four innings) bumped his ERA up to 4.50, but Wesneski had been sitting at a solid 3.86 mark prior. His most recent appearance was the first time in 2025 that he worked fewer than five innings and the first time he yielded more than three runs in a start.

Houston only just welcomed Lance McCullers Jr. back from an injury absence of more than two years. He joined Wesneski, Hunter Brown, Framber Valdez and Ronel Blanco in manager Joe Espada’s rotation, bumping rookie Ryan Gusto a long relief role. With Wesneski down for at least two weeks, it seems likely that Gusto will step back into the starting five, although Houston has righty AJ Blubaugh and lefty Colton Gordon both on the 40-man roster down in Triple-A.

Whoever steps into the rotation vacancy could be looking at an abbreviated stint on the starting staff. Certainly, the ’Stros will hope for a swift return for Wesneski. But even if he requires an absence of some note, other reinforcements could be on the way. Right-hander Spencer Arrighetti has been out since April 7 with a fractured thumb, but the Astros’ original hope was that he’d be able to return in about six weeks. That timetable might be hard to meet if he’s yet to resume throwing, but there’s yet to be any indication that he’s facing a substantially longer absence than originally hoped. Prospect Miguel Ullola has been dominant in his two most recent Triple-A appearances, tossing 10 scoreless innings and allowing only two hits and three walks while punching out 15. Looking further down the road, the club hopes to have righty Cristian Javier back later in the summer after he underwent Tommy John surgery last June.

Generally speaking, the Astros are reasonably well equipped to handle one loss of note in the rotation. A second injury, particularly one to Brown or Valdez, would prove a far greater test to the organization’s depth.

Brewers Designate Vinny Capra For Assignment

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The Brewers announced Friday that they’ve designated infielder Vinny Capra for assignment. Infielder Andruw Monasterio and lefty Bryan Hudson have been recalled from Triple-A Nashville in a pair of corresponding moves. (Righty Elvin Rodriguez was optioned to Nashville yesterday, hence the recall of two players.)

Capra, 28, is out of minor league options and thus cannot be sent to the minors without first clearing waivers. He homered on Opening Day but has been in a lengthy slump ever since, recently snapping an 0-for-32 with a single. That prolonged cold spell leaves Capra with an eyesore of a batting line: .074/.121/.130. Between this year’s struggles and his sparse track record prior to 2025, Capra is just a .105/.170/.163 hitter in 96 big league plate appearances.

It’s a rough look, certainly, but the versatile infielder has unsurprisingly been worlds better in Triple-A. He’s appeared in parts of four seasons at the top minor league level and slashed .271/.366/.384 with 15 homers, 45 doubles, three triples, 21 steals (in 27 tries), a 12.2% walk rate and just a 16.5% strikeout rate. He’s compiled those results while splitting time between shortstop, second base, third base and (much more briefly) all three outfield positions.

Capra started five of Milwaukee’s first seven games but has seen his playing time diminish amid that cold snap and following the Brewers’ promotion of Caleb Durbin, whom they acquired from the Yankees in the offseason Devin Williams trade. Durbin hasn’t exactly seized an everyday spot with authority, but his .224/.313/.328 performance is a clear improvement over Capra and the already-optioned Oliver Dunn. Brewers third basemen have been far and away the least-productive group at the position in all of MLB this year, hitting just .168/.221/.256 (33 wRC+).

The Brewers will have five days to trade Capra. If no deal comes together by then, he’d need to be placed on outright waivers or release waivers. He can be waived at any point beforehand, but waivers are a 48-hour process and, by rule, his DFA must be resolved within a week’s time. If Capra clears outright waivers, he’ll stick with the organization as a depth option. He does not have the requisite service time or prior outright needed to elect free agency after going unclaimed.

Rays Select Connor Seabold, Transfer Ha-Seong Kim To 60-Day IL

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The Rays have selected the contract of right-hander Connor Seabold from Triple-A Durham, as first reported by Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. To open roster space, the Rays optioned righty Mason Englert to Durham and transferred infielder Ha-Seong Kim to the 60-day injured list. The team has since announced the moves.

Seabold, 29, is a former top prospect in the Phillies and Red Sox organizations who’s struggled to find his footing in the majors. He’s pitched in parts of three seasons between the Red Sox and Rockies, working to a combined 8.12 ERA in 108 2/3 innings. His 16.6% strikeout rate is well below average, though the right-hander carries a sharp 7.3% walk rate. Home runs have been his downfall; he’s surrendered a whopping 25 long balls in his career (2.07 homers per nine innings pitched).

That said, Seabold pitched well for the Samsung Lions of the Korea Baseball Organization last year and has had decent start in Durham. He piled up 160 innings in the KBO last season and notched a 3.43 earned run average. Seabold punched out 23.8% of his opponents with the Lions and limited walks at a strong 6% clip. He’s pitched 27 2/3 innings with the Bulls this season (five starts, one relief appearance) and logged a 4.55 ERA, 22.4% strikeout rate and 6% walk rate. Seabold is sitting just 90.9 mph with his four-seamer — down from the 92.5 mph he averaged in his most recent MLB work — but is relying on the pitch less. He’s throwing more changeups and sliders than in the past and has notched an impressive 13.5% swinging-strike rate.

Kim’s move to the 60-day injured list comes as little surprise. There’d been some thought that in a best-case scenario, he could be recovered from last October’s shoulder surgery by mid-May. Late last month, the Rays suggested it’d be closer to mid-June or perhaps even July before Kim was ready. The 29-year-old hasn’t had a setback, but the Rays are taking his progression slowly and cautiously.

Kim signed with the Rays on a two-year, $29MM deal over the winter. That contract affords him the opportunity to opt out at season’s end. It’s impossible to tell which way he’ll go with regard to that decision until he gets back to the field and we see how he performs in the wake of a major shoulder procedure. Kim hit .250/.336/.385 with plus defense at three infield spots and plus baserunning across the past three years in San Diego. Once he’s healthy, he’s expected to slot in as the Rays’ primary shortstop, though his versatility opens up several paths to get him into the lineup, depending on the health and performance of the rest of Tampa Bay’s infield mix in the weeks ahead.

The move from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL is largely procedural. It does not reset the clock, so to speak, on Kim’s IL stint. He’s required to be on the injured list for 60 days dating back to his original placement on the 10-day IL. He’s already logged 47 days of IL time and wasn’t going to be ready for activation within the next 13 anyhow, so today’s shift doesn’t impact his expected return in any meaningful capacity.

Royals Notes: Outfield, Caglianone, Harvey

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The Royals enter the weekend with the American League’s fourth-best record (23-16) and in possession of the league’s second Wild Card spot. Their starting rotation, as highlighted by MLBTR’s Anthony Franco yesterday, looks exceptional. Their top four relievers, by workload, have ERAs of 2.65 or better.

Pitching was never going to be the question with this Kansas City roster, however — at least as long as they stayed mostly healthy. (So far, so good.) The lineup was a far more glaring question heading into the season. Kansas City traded from its rotation depth in an effort to bolster the lineup over the winter, sending Brady Singer to Cincinnati in return for Jonathan India. The move hasn’t panned out as hoped just yet. India’s .340 on-base percentage is strong, but he’s hitting .237 and slugging .313.

But while India hasn’t been as productive as hoped, he’s hardly the culprit in the Royals’ lackluster offense overall. Rather, that lies primarily in the outfield. Kansas City outfielders have been the second-worst offensive unit in the majors, by measure of wRC+ (72). Their collective .229/.286/.332 batting line is 28% worse than league-average when viewed through that lens.

Drew Waters has provided some offense, but MJ Melendez was optioned to Triple-A after an awful start recently. Center fielder Kyle Isbel is a strong defender but currently has a .253 on-base percentage; he’s walked once in 98 plate appearances. Hunter Renfroe’s already disappointing 2024 production has declined even further, making his signing all the more regrettable for the club.

The Royals’ outfield was woefully unproductive in 2024 as well. Early last May, in a piece for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers, I explored the team’s near decade-long drought when it comes to developing outfielders. In essence they haven’t drafted/developed or traded for/developed an above-average outfielder since the days of Alex Gordon and Lorenzo Cain. Suffice it to say, a lack of outfield production isn’t new. Since 2019, no team’s outfield has produced a lower wRC+ than Kansas City’s 83 — and that’s including 916 plate appearances of better-than-average production from Andrew Benintendi, who was acquired as an already-established big leaguer. The Royals’ homegrown outfielders have struggled even more.

The hope within the organization is that top prospect Jac Caglianone, last year’s No. 6  overall pick, can end that drought. Caglianone starred as a first baseman at the University of Florida, but with Vinnie Pasquantino set at first base, the Royals have given the former Gator a few looks in right field. He’s made five starts there, all of which have come in the past 15 days.

Caglianone is just 22 and has yet to even play in Triple-A, but his bat has been so prodigious that there are increasing calls to bring him to the majors as soon as possible. One glance at his .328/.404/.586 slash line and eight homers in 136 plate appearances in Double-A makes it easy to understand the reason for that clamor.

Sam McDowell of the Kansas City Star took a look this week at Caglianone’s possible timeline to the majors and spoke to Kansas City GM J.J. Picollo about the possibility of a promotion. Picollo spoke in general terms but was, of course, complimentary of Caglianone and optimistic about his outlook.

“We like what he’s doing. We’re happy with what he’s doing,” said the GM. “We’re trying to allow him to develop properly as a hitter, and when this offense settles in, that might be a proper time for him to come up.”

McDowell points out that Caglianone has still only faced faced a repeat opponent once this year. His second meeting with said team brought a very different approach from their pitchers. He was attacked differently and had some uncomfortable swings. Caglianone’s contact rate on pitches within the strike zone, his overall swinging-strike rate (currently a lofty 14.5%) and his chase rate on balls off the plate are all elements the team is considering.

“…[W]hen you get a strike thrown to you in the major leagues and you don’t do something with it, that’s a missed opportunity,” Picollo added. “You might get that second opportunity in the minor leagues, but you’re not going to in the major leagues.”

While the Royals wait for Caglianone to check the necessary boxes, they’ve at least contemplated alternatives. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that the Royals considered placing a claim for outfielder Leody Taveras when the Rangers placed him on outright waivers but held off due to the financial commitment it would have required. Taveras is earning $4.75MM in 2025 and had about $3.73MM yet to be paid out at the time he was claimed by the Mariners.

On the one hand, it’s understandable if Royals brass took a look at the .231/.285/.350 line produced by Taveras and decided he wasn’t productive enough to merit a claim. On the other, even that sub-par production would still be an improvement over what the Royals have trotted out dating back to last year (and, really, dating back to 2019).

More concerning is the mention that Taveras’ salary might’ve been too steep and cut too heavily into any potential payroll flexibility they’ll have leading into the 2025 trade deadline. Kansas City’s Opening Day payroll of $126MM is the team’s largest since 2017 and the third-largest in franchise history. Under owner John Sherman, who purchased the club from the late David Glass in Nov. 2019, the Royals have averaged a $103MM payroll during 162-game seasons (i.e. excluding the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign).

This year’s spending is already way up relative to Sherman’s prior comfort levels. Balking at a readily available upgrade due to a relatively modest salary would seem to suggest there might not be a ton of cash left in the team’s reserves.

That doesn’t mean there won’t be any upgrades available, of course. The Royals presumably have at least a few million in wiggle room, and there will be affordably priced outfielders, relievers and others on the market. They could also pay a slightly higher price in terms of prospects to persuade trade partners to pay down the salary of any veterans sent to Kansas City. Sherman could be heartened by a strong run through mid-July and simply approve a larger budget to further strengthen his club’s World Series hopes. However it plays out, the Royals seem likely to be eyeing outfield upgrades from within (Caglianone) and from outside the organization as well in the months ahead.

The bullpen could conceivably be an area of focus on the summer trade market as well, though right now it looks like a strength. Kansas City has been without setup man Hunter Harvey for more than a month now, however, due to a strained teres major muscle. Recent updates on him from manager Matt Quatraro weren’t overly encouraging. Via Anne Rogers of MLB.com, Harvey threw live batting practice earlier this week but felt some continued discomfort the following day. Quatraro said they’ll accordingly slow down his throwing progression a bit. While the manager cautioned that it’s “nothing alarming,” that also doesn’t bode well for a return in the short term.

Harvey was terrific to start the season, rattling off 5 1/3 scoreless innings with one hit, no walks and seven strikeouts. He looked far more like he did in the first half of 2024 with the Nationals, before back troubles torpedoed his season shortly following a trade to the Royals. Harvey’s velocity was down noticeably even during that terrific start (97.8 mph average four-seamer in 2024; 95.3 mph average in 2025).

The quartet of Carlos Estevez, Lucas Erceg, Daniel Lynch IV and John Schreiber has produced brilliant results thus far, lessening the urgency to get Harvey back into the fold. Erceg, Scheriber and Evan Sisk are the only healthy Royals relievers with above-average strikeout rates, though, and Sisk has pitched just 2 1/3 innings. Harvey adds an element of power and swing-and-miss that the majority of Quatraro’s bullpen currently lacks, making his efforts to return worth keeping a watchful eye on for Royals fans.

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