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Royals Outright Wily Peralta

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Right-hander Wily Peralta cleared waivers and has been outrighted from the Royals’ 40-man roster, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com reports. He’ll head to Triple-A Omaha.

As MLBTR’s Steve Adams noted earlier this week, Peralta was signed to a fully-guaranteed MLB deal. As such, the Royals will be on the hook for his entire salary unless he lands elsewhere, in which case his new team will pay him the prorated portion of the league minimum salary. Peralta allowed 14 earned runs across just eight innings during spring training. His 2017 campaign with the Brewers wasn’t much better, as the righty posted a cataclysmic 7.85 ERA across 18 appearances (nine starts) with the Brewers. The 28-year-old saw his walk rate skyrocket to a career-high 5.02 BB/9, while his HR/9 ended the year at a 1.57 figure.

Poor recent performance aside, Peralta’s designation was likely affected in part by Kansas City’s desire to hold Rule 5 picks Burch Smith and Brad Keller on the roster. The team is in a bit of a rebuilding period, so the upside of keeping these two young players for the long term probably outweighs the value of holding onto the struggling Peralta.

 

Royals Designate Kyle Zimmer, Wily Peralta For Assignment

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The Royals have designated right-handers Wily Peralta and Kyle Zimmer for assignment, tweets Rustin Dodd of The Athletic. MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan adds that right-hander Nate Karns has been placed on the 10-day disabled list, and he’ll be replaced in the rotation by lefty Eric Skoglund for the time being. Relievers Tim Hill, Brian Flynn and Burch Smith have all made the big league roster, per Flanagan.

Peralta, 28, signed a fully guaranteed one-year deal with the Royals early this offseason, so Kansas City will remain on the hook for that salary unless another team claims the former Brewers hurler. That seems unlikely, particularly when considering that Peralta was hammered for 14 runs on 16 hits and eight walks in eight spring frames (though he did tally a dozen strikeouts as well).

Zimmer, 26, was the fifth overall pick in the 2012 draft and long rated as one of the game’s better prospects, but injuries have devastated his young career. He’s appeared in just 111 1/3 regular-season innings dating back to the 2014 season and struggled to a 5.40 ERA in 36 2/3 frames with Triple-A Omaha when healthy in 2017.

As for Karns, he’s headed to the DL with elbow issues after seeing his 2017 campaign cut short by surgery to alleviate thoracic outlet syndrome. While the Royals aren’t giving up on him as a contributor, it seems they’re shutting the door on Karns as a starter for the time being. Flanagan tweets that manager Ned Yost said Karns will work in relief when he returns to the roster, ideally in a two- to three-inning role to provide some length to the relief corps.

That, of course, will open up a long-term spot in the K.C. rotation, though it remains unclear as of yet who will seize that opportunity in the long run. Skoglund will have the first crack, though the 25-year-old struggled in his first look in the Majors last year.

AL Notes: Dozier, Rays, Tucker, Lincecum, Royals

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Extension talks between the Twins and Brian Dozier are “dead,” reports ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, who notes that the slugging second baseman has no intention of discussing a long-term deal during the season and will hit the open market next offseason (Twitter link). That much has looked apparent for much of the spring, as Dozier has reportedly been disheartened by Minnesota’s lack of engagement in extension negotiations despite a vocal desire on his behalf to remain in the Twin Cities for the long haul. A lack of an extension, of course, doesn’t mean Dozier’s days in Minnesota are numbered; he’ll assuredly receive a qualifying offer if he has a characteristically strong season in 2018, and the Twins will likely keep up with his market in free agency next winter. It seems probable that Dozier will remain with the Twins for the bulk of the season, as the AL Central features three rebuilding clubs — the Royals, Tigers and White Sox — and looks to be largely a two-horse race between Cleveland and Minnesota even before the season begins in earnest.

More from the American League…

  • The Rays were already planning on a four-man rotation with a somewhat regular “bullpen day” before getting news of Nate Eovaldi’s need for surgery to remove loose bodies from his elbow, and Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports that they’ll now deploy an even more radical strategy. Tampa Bay will lean on Chris Archer, Blake Snell and Jake Faria as its top three starters, and there’s no current plan to replace Eovaldi with another starter. The Rays’ early reaction, per Topkin, is to stick to their plan and see how things go; there are enough off-days early in the year that they can get by with only one required bullpen day for the first several turns through the rotation. It’s tough to imagine that they won’t eventually need to put Matt Andriese back in the rotation or turn to youngsters like Ryan Yarbrough or Yonny Chirinos, however. Tampa Bay’s depth is being tested to extreme levels, as they’ve lost both Brent Honeywell and Jose De Leon to Tommy John surgery after already having traded Jake Odorizzi to the Twins.
  • Jake Kaplan of The Athletic tweets that Astros top prospect Kyle Tucker will open the season in Triple-A despite possessing only a half season’s worth of experience at the Double-A level. The former No. 5 overall draft pick looks to be on the fast track to the big leagues, having slashed .265/.325/.512 in 72 Double-A games as a 20-year-old last year in addition to a robust .409/.438/.818 slash in 48 spring plate appearances with the ’Stros this year. Tucker entered the year as a consensus top 20 overall prospect and is considered to be a key long-term cog for an already youthful Astros organization.
  • Tim Lincecum has been slowed by a blister on his middle finger but will play catch tomorrow, tweets Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The two-time NL Cy Young winner, hoping for a career renaissance in the Rangers’ bullpen, didn’t pitch in a game this spring and believes that May 1 is a realistic target for his Texas debut. It’s been a half-decade since “The Freak” was a substantial big league contributor, but this, of course, will be his first season as a full-time reliever — a role that could lead to greater success for the former ace.
  • With Salvador Perez sidelined for four to six weeks due to an MCL tear, Cam Gallagher will pair with veteran Drew Butera to comprise the Royals’ primary catching tandem, writes MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan. But the Royals won’t announce their Opening Day roster until tomorrow morning as they make the final deliberations regarding their bullpen. Non-roster invitee Blaine Boyer looks to have a spot locked up behind Kelvin Herrera, Brandon Maurer, Justin Grimm and Rule 5 pick Brad Keller, per Flanagan, who also notes that Ryan Goins will likely make the team as a utility infielder. With Goins and Boyer both in camp as non-roster players, the Royals will need to clear at least a pair of 40-man roster spots, though further moves could certainly be made.

Salvador Perez To Miss 4-6 Weeks With MCL Tear

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Royals catcher Salvador Perez suffered a Grade 2 MCL tear in his left knee and will miss the first four to six weeks of the season, Rustin Dodd of The Athletic reports. The injury occurred when Perez slipped while carrying luggage on Tuesday, per Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com. He’s unlikely to require surgery, manager Ned Yost told Flanagan and other reporters.

Perez’s accident may well lead to a career low in games played this season for the 27-year-old, who has been eminently durable throughout his Kansas City tenure. Since 2013, his first full season, Perez has appeared in no fewer than 129 games in any regular-season campaign. He logged that total last year during a season in which he hit .268/.297/.495 (103 wRC+) with a personal-best 27 home runs across 499 plate appearances. On the defensive side, Perez threw out a league-average 27 percent of would-be base stealers – a significant decline from the 48 percent he caught in 2016 – and ranked as one of Baseball Prospectus’ worst pitch framers.

Statistics aside, Perez is arguably the heart and soul of the Royals, which brings value that’s impossible to quantify. He and the re-signed Mike Moustakas are the leaders of a position player group that said goodbye to Eric Hosmer and Lorenzo Cain in free agency. Kansas City will have to make do without Perez for the first several weeks of the season, though, and that should lead to a Drew Butera–Cam Gallagher duo behind the plate (depth chart).

AL Roster Decisions: Sunday

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The latest from around the American League on players facing cuts, or earning Opening Day roster spots…

  • The Orioles all but finalized their 25-man roster today, re-assigning left-handers Joely Rodriguez and Josh Edgin to Triple-A while sending Luis Sardinas, Alex Presley, and Cedric Mullins to minor league camp.  (Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun was one of several reporters with the details.)  While not officially announced, it seems as though Rule 5 draft pick Nestor Cortes Jr. has made the team based on these moves.  Rodriguez’s minor league deal with the O’s contains an opt-out clause sometime this summer, MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko reports, and Rodriguez may have already attracted some attention after an impressive performance in camp.  Rodriguez has an 0.87 ERA over 10 1/3 Spring Training innings, with just one walk against six strikeouts.
  • It “seems likely” that veteran righty Blaine Boyer will make the Royals roster, MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan tweets.  Boyer signed a minor league deal with K.C. in February in the wake of a 2017 that saw him post a 4.35 ERA, 2.36 K/BB rate and 7.2 K/9 over 41 1/3 innings out of the Red Sox bullpen.  In making the Royals’ Major League roster, Flanagan reports that Boyer will earn $1MM in salary, plus another $250K available in incentives.
  • The Rays have informed southpaw Jonny Venters that he won’t make the team, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports (Twitter link).  Venters has already said he’ll accept a Triple-A assignment and is likely to remain in the organization unless another team offers him a job in their big league bullpen.  That scenario seems improbable, however, as Venters hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2012 due to three Tommy John surgeries, though he hasn’t yet given up his hopes for what would be an incredible comeback.

Royals Release Michael Saunders, Ricky Nolasco

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Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com tweets that the Royals have elected to release outfielder Michael Saunders and right-hander Ricky Nolasco from their respective minor-league contracts.

The Royals will become the second team to release the 31-year-old Saunders this offseason, as the Pirates did so earlier in the winter after acquiring Corey Dickerson from the Rays. Saunders hit just .202/.256/.344 last season across 234 plate appearances between the Phillies and Blue Jays. He was in camp competing with some other non-roster invitees a chance to play some outfield for the Royals, but even a .356 on-base percentage during spring training apparently wasn’t enough wipe injury and production concerns from the minds of the club’s front office.

As for Nolasco, he allowed eight earned runs in just 3 2/3 innings this spring, and has long been an average starter at best. Though he’s managed to throw at least 180 innings in each of the past two seasons (which would seem to present some appeal to a rebuilding Royals club), he sports a 4.66 ERA during that span with just 6.82 strikeouts per nine. Entering his age-35 season, Kansas City evidently didn’t see enough upside to pay Nolasco the $1.5MM he was promised if he made the major league roster.

Central Notes: Indians, Cards, Pirates, Royals

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Indians first baseman/designated hitter Mike Napoli and outfielder Rajai Davis will be able to opt out of their minor league contracts Thursday, according to Paul Hoynes of cleveland.com. It’s unclear whether one or both will vacate their deals, though Napoli has seemed especially likely to do so since his late-February signing with the Indians, who don’t have an opening for him in the majors. Asked Wednesday if Napoli could stay in the organization in a minor league role, manager Terry Francona said: “The next step is for him to talk to (president) Chris (Antonetti) a little bit more to figure out what he wants to do and what is available as far as the organization goes. Obviously, we think a ton of Nap and respect him a lot. There’s just a lot of unknowns.”

More on Cleveland a few other Central clubs:

  • Indians infielder Giovanny Urshela will miss 10 to 14 days with a right hamstring strain, Hoynes tweets. Urshela may open the season on the DL, which would enable the Indians to delay their decision on him and Erik Gonzalez, who are each out of options and battling for the same bench role.
  • Although Cardinals president John Mozeliak suggested over the winter the team would deploy offseason pickup Luke Gregerson as its closer, it now appears the Redbirds will take a communal approach to the ninth inning to open 2018, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch explains. “We don’t have a closer,” manager Mike Matheny said. “Ideally, would we like to have that title on somebody? Ideally, yeah. But right now we’ve got a bunch of guys who can do that. Over time we’ll figure it out. We have a bunch of guys who can pitch any inning.” The Cardinals’ general bullpen plan is “to maximize the flexibility,” Matheny revealed, meaning they’re likely to shuttle optionable relievers between the majors and minors throughout the season.
  • Pirates righty Tyler Glasnow, a former top prospect, had a rough time in the majors last year, but pitching coach Ray Searage has seen legitimate progress this spring, Liz Bloom of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette details. “Oh, yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes,” said Searage, who added that Glasnow “has embraced” the adjustments the Pirates have suggested this year. Searage likened the 2017 version of Glasnow to a deer in the headlights, but now, even though there’s still work to be done, “he’s mature.” The 6-foot-8 Glasnow, 24, will kick off the season in the Pirates’ bullpen, though their hope is that he’ll ascend to the rotation, per Bloom. He made 13 starts in 15 appearances last year and pitched to a 7.69 ERA/6.30 FIP with 8.13 K/9 against 6.39 BB/9.
  • Royals middle infielder Adalberto Mondesi is dealing with a right shoulder impingement, and he could begin the year in extended spring training as a result, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com reports. Mondesi appeared to be the Royals’ likely Opening Day starter at shortstop a couple months back, but that was before they re-signed Alcides Escobar in late January. Thanks to both Escobar’s presence and Mondesi’s injury, the 22-year-old certainly won’t be a factor in KC at the start of the season.

Blue Jays Acquire Sam Gaviglio, Designate Matt Dermody

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The Blue Jays have acquired right-hander Sam Gaviglio from the Royals for cash considerations or a player to be named later, according to an announcement from Toronto. To make room for Gaviglio, the Blue Jays designated left-hander Matt Dermody for assignment, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet tweets.

The 27-year-old Gaviglio lost his spot on the Royals last weekend, when they designated him to make room for newly signed reliever Justin Grimm. Gaviglio came to the Royals via waivers from the Mariners last September and closed the year by throwing 12 innings of four-run ball with KC. Between the two teams, Gaviglio racked up 74 1/3 innings across 16 appearances (13 starts) in 2017 – his rookie year – and posted a 4.36 ERA/5.81 FIP with 5.93 K/9, 3.15 BB/9 and a 49.4 percent groundball rate. With two options remaining, he figures to begin his Blue Jays tenure by serving as minor league depth.

Dermody, also 27, has been a member of the Toronto organization since it used a 28th-round pick on him in 2013. He debuted in the majors two seasons ago, throwing three innings, and is coming off a 22 1/3-frame campaign. The results haven’t been great for Dermody, who has logged a 5.33 ERA/6.12 FIP despite playable strikeout and walk rates (7.11 K/9, 1.78 BB/9). A low grounder rate (37.3 percent) and a propensity for giving up home runs (2.49 per nine) have hurt his cause in the majors, though he has been considerably better at preventing runs at the Triple-A level (3.34 ERA, 6.8 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 in 59 1/3 innings).

Royals Agree To Terms With Clay Buchholz

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The Royals have agreed to a minor-league deal with righty Clay Buchholz, a report from Bob Nightengale of USA Today indicates (Twitter links). If the deal is finalized, Buchholz can earn at a $1.5MM rate in the majors.

Buchholz can also reach up to $250K in incentives. He’d earn $25K apiece for making his tenth through 19th starts, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag tweets. The contract also includes an opt-out opportunity on May 1st.

Kansas City seems like a good spot for the veteran hurler to attempt a comeback. After all, the team’s rotation is not exactly overflowing with depth and the Royals have good cause to seek some low-risk upside after adding a few veterans on one-year deals.

[RELATED: Royals Depth Chart]

Buchholz, 33, missed virtually all of the 2017 season with a partially torn flexor pronator mass. The Phillies had acquired him from the Red Sox and assumed his $13.5MM salary. (Boston had picked up its club option over Buchholz in the final year of control under the extension the sides agreed to back in 2011.)

It’s tough to say what the Royals will get out of Buchholz, who had plenty of ups and downs even before his injury. He compiled 113 1/3 innings of 3.26 ERA ball in 2015, then struggled for much of the ensuing season while showing declines in strikeouts (6.0 K/9) and groundball induction (41.2% groundball rate). Yet Buchholz also finished the 2016 season on a tear, running up 44 frames of 2.86 ERA ball to close out the year.

First, though, the veteran starter will need to earn his way back to the majors. Presumably, he won’t be a candidate for the Opening Day roster, given that he has missed almost all of camp. But Buchholz could present an option if and when a rotation need arises.

Quick Hits: Brewers, Yankees, Red Sox, Royals

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The minor league contract left-hander Wade Miley signed with the Brewers last month contains a March 22 opt-out clause, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com tweets.  Miley can ask for his release if the Brewers don’t inform him that he has made the club by then, McCalvy adds. The latest we’ll know Miley’s fate is March 24, as he’s an Article XX(B) free agent whom Milwaukee must either cut loose or put on its roster by that date. The 31-year-old Miley has a legitimate chance to win a spot in the Brewers’ rotation, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentintel suggested Saturday.

  • More on the Brewers, who are “monitoring the catching market,” according to Haudricourt. Their backstops at the moment are Manny Pina and Jett Bandy, while Stephen Vogt will open the season on the disabled list, manager Craig Counsell told McCalvy and other reporters Sunday. Assuming the Brewers don’t change their minds and release Vogt, his $3.065MM salary will become guaranteed on Opening Day. Vogt has been out since late February with a capsule strain in his right shoulder. He has a fan in Brewers general manager David Stearns, who said (via Haudricourt): “We want him here. Stephen brings a lot to this team.”
  • Even after acquiring Brandon Drury from the Diamondbacks in late February, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said the team would give Miguel Andujar a chance to win its starting third base job. That bid officially came to an end Sunday, as the Yankees optioned the highly touted Andujar to Triple-A, setting up Drury to start at the hot corner. The 23-year-old Andujar held his own during spring action, though, with a .916 OPS in a team-leading 42 at-bats.
  • Red Sox infielder Deven Marrero is drawing interest from other clubs, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe reports. Marrero’s out of options, meaning the Red Sox will have to roster him, deal him or risk losing him for nothing in the coming week-plus. The 27-year-old saw action across the infield with the Red Sox from 2015-17, but he produced a meager .208/.259/.309 batting line over that 258-plate appearance sample size.
  • Before reliever Justin Grimm signed with the Royals on Sunday, he consulted with his friend, former Cubs teammate and ex-KC closer Wade Davis, per Maria Torres of the Kansas City Star. Davis, a Royal from 2013-16 (and a World Series champion in ’15), offered glowing reviews for the franchise and the city, which helped the Royals reel in Grimm. “He had really nice things to say about the city of Kansas City, the organization, the training staff, the coaches, from the top down,” Grimm said. “That’s one guy that I look up to … It definitely swayed my decision.”
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