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Royals Re-Sign Bubba Starling, Carlos Sanabria, Foster Griffin

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The Royals have brought back three familiar faces, announcing that outfielder Bubba Starling, right-hander Carlos Sanabria, and left-hander Foster Griffin have all been signed to minor league contracts.  The trio were all cut loose by the Royals within the last two weeks, with Starling being non-tendered and Sanabria and Griffin both electing free agency after being designated for assignment by the club.

Starling is the best-known name of the bunch, owing to his status as the fifth overall pick of the 2011 draft.  A local product from Gardner, Kansas, Starling never put things together in the minors (and considered retiring in 2017) until posting an .806 OPS in 285 PA for Triple-A Omaha in 2019, which earned him his first trip to the big leagues.  Over 261 plate appearances over the 2019-20 seasons, Starling has a .204/.246/.298 slash line against MLB pitching.

Sanabria was claimed off waivers from the Astros in October.  The righty (who turns 24 in January) made his Major League debut in 2020, tossing two innings over two games.  An international signing out of Venezuela in 2014, Sanabria has spent his entire career in Houston’s organization, posting a 3.81 ERA, 2.15 K/BB rate, and 8.9 K/9 over 354 minor league innings and working exclusively as a reliever over the last three seasons.

Griffin also made his MLB debut in 2020, throwing 1 2/3 hitless innings for the Royals on July 27 before suffering a tear in his UCL during that first outing.  Griffin will now miss the entire 2021 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery.  The Royals drafted Griffin with the 28th overall pick in 2014, and he has a 4.77 ERA, 2.19 K/BB rate, and 7.2 K/9 over 708 innings in Kansas City’s farm system.

Royals Sign Michael A. Taylor

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The Royals announced Monday that they’ve signed outfielder Michael A. Taylor to a one-year, Major League contract. A client of the newly formed ALIGND Sports, Taylor will receive a $1.75MM base salary and another $1MM worth of available incentives, reports Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter). In a corresponding move, the Royals have designated left-hander Foster Griffin for assignment.

Michael A. Taylor | Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Taylor, 29, was outrighted off the Nationals’ 40-man roster at season’s end and elected free agency. He would’ve been arbitration-eligible for the final time this winter, and the Nats opted to cut him loose early rather than pay him a raise on last year’s $3.325MM salary following a rough 2020 season.

Once ranked as one of the game’s premier outfield prospects, Taylor has struggled to find his footing as a consistent contributor in the big leagues. He looked to have broken out with a very solid age-26 campaign back in 2017, when he slashed .271/.320/.486 with 19 homers, 23 doubles, three triples, 17 steals and brilliant center-field defense. Taylor played in 118 games that season and was still worth about three wins above replacement per both Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs.

Unfortunately, Taylor wasn’t able to replicate his success in 2018 or at any point thereafter. He’s logged 581 plate appearances in the three years since that time — often being shuttled between Triple-A and the Majors — while posting a tepid .225/.284/.370 output at the plate. His blend of power and speed is plain to see, but Taylor’s overall offense is limited by a sky-high 31.7 percent strikeout rate to this point in his career.

Taylor has continued to post strong defensive marks, with a superlative 26 Defensive Runs Saved and a 12.1 UZR/150 in 1984 innings as a center fielder from 2017-20. Even if his bat doesn’t recover, he should give the Royals a high-quality defender capable of playing all three outfield positions. Per Statcast, Taylor ranked in the 91st percentile of all big leaguers in terms of outfield jumps, and his 82nd percentile sprint speed speaks to the value he can add on the bases.

Taylor joins a Royals roster that was already deep in outfield-capable players, though several of them are surely to be used in the infield at times (or even regularly) in 2021. Whit Merrifield and Hunter Dozier, for instance, can each be used on the right side of the diamond or in the outfield. Dozier could be the club’s long-term first baseman, though that’s probably somewhat dependent on any decisions the club makes with Ryan O’Hearn and/or Ryan McBroom this winter. Merrifield, meanwhile, can play all across the outfield and is a strong defender at second base as well.

Beyond that versatile pairing, the Royals have Franchy Cordero, Edward Olivares, Bubba Starling, Nick Heath and top prospect Khalil Lee all on the 40-man roster. Taylor could function as a simple platoon partner for the left-handed-hitting Cordero, or if he’s able to again approach his 2017 level of play, he could earn a bigger role in an outfield mix that is still largely undefined.

Griffin, 25, was the No. 28 overall pick by the Royals back in 2014. He made his MLB debut this past season and tossed 1 2/3 shutout innings, but Griffin underwent Tommy John surgery in August and will miss the 2021 season as a result.

Beyond that, Griffin has never developed into the pitching prospect the club had hoped at the time of that lofty selection. He posted solid ERAs through the lower minors even while walking more than 3.5 hitters per nine frames, but Griffin’s results bottomed out as he further climbed the organizational ladder. He pitched to an ERA north of 5.00 in 152 2/3 frames of Double-A ball in 2018 and saw that mark increase during his 2019 stint in Triple-A Omaha.

The Royals will have a week to trade Griffin, release him or attempt to pass him through outright waivers. Because he’s a former first-round lefty with multiple minor league options remaining, another club could place a speculative claim, but it’d be tough to carry him on the roster for the remainder of the offseason knowing he won’t be able to contribute at all next season while he rehabs.

Royals’ Foster Griffin Undergoes Tommy John Surgery

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Royals left-hander Foster Griffin revealed in a tweet tonight that he underwent Tommy John surgery last Tuesday in Los Angeles, with Dr. Neal ElAttrache performing the procedure.  As such, Griffin will be out of action for the next 12-14 months, quite possibly sidelining him until the 2022 season.

Griffin suffered a tear in his UCL during his very first Major League game, back on July 27 in Kansas City’s 14-6 win over the Tigers.  Griffin earned the win after tossing 1 2/3 innings of relief, retiring all five batters without a hit or a walk, and was perfect apart from one runner reaching via error.  Adding to the bittersweet nature of Griffin’s debut and subsequent injury, July 27 was also his 25th birthday.

Drafted 28th overall in 2014, Griffin was making his MLB debut after an inconsistent six-year stint in the Royals’ farm system.  The southpaw has a 4.77 ERA, 2.19 K/BB rate, and 7.2 K/9 over 708 minor league innings, starting 139 of his 141 games.  Given this lack of a track record, back-end starter or long man might be his eventual ticket to remaining in the big leagues, though obviously Griffin’s first order of business will be getting healthy after a long rehab period.

Royals Activate Ryan O’Hearn

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The Royals announced that they’ve activated first baseman Ryan O’Hearn from the injured list. Left-hander Richard Lovelady was optioned to the team’s alternate training site to make room on the 30-man roster. O’Hearn, who turned 27 yesterday, tested positive for Covid-19 three weeks ago and had been absent from the club since.

O’Hearn has spent parts of the past two seasons in the big leagues, and it’s been a tale of two seasons for the slugger. His 2018 debut was outstanding, as he raked at a .262/.353/.597 clip (153 wRC+, 154 OPS+ ) and belted a dozen homers, 10 doubles and two triples in 170 plate appearances. In 2019, O’Hearn’s production plummeted to .195/.281/.369 in a larger sample of 370 plate appearances. As it stands, his left-handed bat is likely to pair with the right-handed-hitting Ryan McBroom to share time at first base, although it’s possible that either could produce enough to play his way into the lion’s share of playing time.

Even as one southpaw was sent down, another came down with a potentially worrisome injury. Former first-round pick Foster Griffin was cruising through his MLB debut on his birthday before feeling something in his pitching arm. He’ll undergo an MRI on his left forearm to diagnose the problems.

In other Kansas City roster news, the club has formally added catcher Cam Gallagher to its taxi squad, as Lynn Worthy of the Kansas City Star reports on Twitter. He’s still on the injured list for a previous COVID-19 diagnosis but has obviously now registered the requisite negative tests. The 27-year-old saw 45 games of MLB action last year while helping the Royals fill in for the injured Salvador Perez.

Royals Designate Jorge Bonifacio, Three Others For Assignment

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The Royals announced that they’ve designated outfielder Jorge Bonifacio, catcher Nick Dini and right-handers Conner Greene and Arnaldo Hernandez for assignment in advance of tonight’s deadline to set 40-man rosters prior to December’s Rule 5 Draft. Those four roster spots will go to left-hander Foster Griffin, right-hander Carlos Hernandez, shortstop Jeison Guzman and outfielder Nick Heath, each of whom has had his contract formally selected, per the team. Kansas City’s 40-man roster is full.

Bonifacio, 26, was the team’s primary right fielder in 2017 and gave fans some cause for optimism, hitting .255/.320/.432 with 17 homers, 15 doubles and a triple in that rookie campaign. He’s since been tagged with an 80-game PED suspension, however, and has generally struggled to produce at the plate. Over his past 291 plate appearances in the Majors, Bonifacio hit .234/.317/.371. For a defensively limited corner outfielder who is out of minor league options, that lack of output was no longer sufficient enough to keep his place on the roster.

Greene, also 26, was claimed off waivers from the Cardinals late last November — nearly a year ago to the day. The once-well-regarded prospect struggled to a 5.13 ERA in 112 1/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A, though, averaging 4.3 walks per nine innings pitched along the way. His control issues expanded beyond walks, as he plunked nine batters and threw a whopping 21 wild pitches.

Dini made his MLB debut at the age of 26 this past season but hit just .196/.270/.357 in 64 plate appearances with Kansas City. He’s a lifetime .288/.347/.437 in five minor league seasons who hit .296/.370/.565 in last year’s supercharged Triple-A environment.

Arnaldo Hernandez, 23, tossed 23 sharp innings in Double-A but was hammered for a 6.39 ERA with a dismal 65-41 K/BB ratio and 24 homers allowed in just 105 1/3 Triple-A innings.

Griffin, 24, was a first-round pick in 2014 and has gone unselected in prior Rule 5 Drafts. He didn’t post particularly appealing Triple-A numbers in ’19 (5.23 ERA, 7.6 K/9, 4.4 BB/9) but notch a 49.2 percent grounder rate. He’s also impressed in the Dominican Winter League this offseason, tossing 23 1/3 innings of 2.31 ERA ball with a hearty 31-to-6 K/BB ratio.

Hernandez, 22, posted a 3.50 ERA with a 43-to-9 K/BB ratio in 35 innings with the Royals’ Class-A affiliate. Guzman didn’t hit much in A-ball and isn’t considered among the organization’s top prospects, but the Royals are bullish enough to protect him from being selected. Heath didn’t have much power, but he’s a prototypical Royals player, as evidenced by his 60 steals between Double-A and Triple-A in 2019.

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