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Erick Mejia

Royals Re-Sign Erick Mejia To Minor League Deal

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The Royals announced Monday that they’ve agreed to a new minor league contract with infielder/outfielder Erick Mejia, whom they’d non-tendered earlier in the month.

The 26-year-old Mejia has appeared in 17 games with Kansas City over the past two seasons, batting at a .167/.244/.222 clip in 43 trips to the plate while logging time in center field (46 innings), at third base (26 innings), second base (six innings), left field (six innings) and at shortstop (one inning).

Mejia, originally signed by the Mariners, was traded to the Dodgers in exchange for Joe Wieland in 2016. The Dodgers shipped him to Kansas City in the three-team swap that sent Joakim Soria from the Royals to the White Sox and lefty Scott Alexander from K.C. to L.A., netting the Royals Mejia and righty Trevor Oaks. In parts of three Triple-A seasons, Mejia is a .268/.336/.378 hitter — numbers that fall in line with his career .274/.339/.380 slash across several levels through eight minor league campaigns.

Royals Non-Tender Maikel Franco, Bubba Starling

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6:52pm: The Royals have non-tendered Franco, infielder Jeison Guzman, infielder/outfielder Erick Mejia and outfielder Bubba Starling, Lynn Worthy of the Kansas City Star tweets. This could end Starling’s tenure in KC. He was the fifth overall pick in 2011 but hasn’t come close to living up to his draft status.

3:22pm: The Royals are expected to non-tender third baseman Maikel Franco, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected Franco to earn between $4.5MM and $8MM in his final year of arbitration eligibility, but those figures were too rich for the Royals’ blood.

Although he was a star prospect with the Phillies, Franco didn’t pan out in their uniform after an excellent rookie showing in 2015. The Phillies non-tendered him after last season as a result, and Franco then caught on with the Royals on a $2.95MM guarantee. It ended up as a decent investment for Kansas City, with which Franco slashed .278/.321/.457 (106 wRC+) and totaled eight home runs in 243 plate appearances. He also chipped in playable work at third base with zero Defensive Runs Saved and a plus-1.3 Ultimate Zone Rating in 51 games.

While Franco took a step forward this past season, the Royals obviously don’t think that production merited a sizable raise in arbitration. That means the 28-year-old Franco will head back to the open market, where he’ll join the likes of Marwin Gonzalez and Todd Frazier after top option Justin Turner.

Royals’ Greg Holland Earns Roster Spot

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The Royals made a few moves on Thursday, adding right-handers Greg Holland and Tyler Zuber, infielder/outfielder Erick Mejia and catcher Oscar Hernandez to their roster.

Holland is the only member of the quartet with significant major league experience, and he has thrived at times, as shown by his three All-Star nods in Kansas City from 2010-15. He threw 319 2/3 innings of 2.42 ERA/2.23 FIP ball with 12.11 K/9 and 3.52 BB/9 during that span, but August 2015 Tommy John surgery stopped Holland from contributing to the Royals’ World Series-winning run late that year and has knocked his career off course in the ensuing seasons.

Since he underwent his TJ procedure, Holland has recorded a 4.20 ERA/4.02 FIP with 10.21 K/9 and 5.3 BB/9 over 139 1/3 innings as a Rockie, National, Cardinal and Diamondback. But the the former lights-out closer will get a chance to revive his career with the Royals, who signed him to a minor league contract in the offseason.

Zuber, 25, ranked as FanGraphs’ 13th-best Royals prospect in April. The 2017 sixth-round pick climbed to the Double-A level for the first time last season and pitched to a 2.42 ERA/2.95 FIP with 10.38 K/9 and 1.73 BB/9 in 26 innings. Also 25, Mejia saw a bit of major league action last year in KC, but the overwhelming majority of his work came in Triple-A, where he hit .271/.339/.382 in 556 plate appearances. Hernandez, whom the Royals signed to a minor league pact earlier this month, appeared briefly with the Diamondbacks from 2015-16. He batted a paltry .209/.274/.399 in 168 PA last season with Boston’s Triple-A affiliate.

Royals Re-Sign Humberto Arteaga, Erick Mejia

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The Royals have re-signed infielder Humberto Arteaga and outfielder/infielder Erick Mejia to minor league contracts, the team announced.

Both players have quickly returned to the Royals two weeks after the club non-tendered them. The two debuted in the majors last season, but the 25-year-old Arteaga garnered more experience. Arteaga totaled 135 plate appearances, but he batted a nonthreatening .197/.258/.230 without a home run during that span and managed minus-0.7 fWAR along the way. The light-hitting Arteaga didn’t pack much of a punch over 302 PA in Triple-A ball, either, as he slashed .299/.333/.394 with five HRs and 11 stolen bases.

Mejia, whom the Royals acquired from the Dodgers in a 2018 three-way trade, went to the plate 27 times at the big league level in 2019 and hit .227/.333/.273. Like Arteaga, the 25-year-old Mejia also produced at a below-average rate in Triple-A ball, where he put up a .271/.339/.382 line and logged seven long balls with 19 steals over 556 PA.

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