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Whit Merrifield Announces Retirement

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Longtime infielder/outfielder Whit Merrifield has announced his retirement, via his agency at Warner Sports Management.

“Hey guys,” Merrifield says, “You all should know that I decided a while back to retire. When it came down to it, it was an easy decision. Many factors played a role in my decision, but the main one was a 6 pound 6 ounce gift from God my wife and I were blessed with in March of 2024. I was never talented enough to just show up and play. Baseball required my full focus and energy for me to compete at the level I wanted to, and I realize I can no longer give that effort. At this point in life, I’d much rather chase around a toddler than chase sliders.” He goes on to thank the various clubs he played for and their fans while acknowledging those who believed in him along the way.

As Merrifield alluded to in his statement, he had a reputation for being a scrappy grinder, as opposed to the most naturally gifted athlete. But he nonetheless was able to carve out an impressive career in the big leagues as a late bloomer.

A ninth-round pick of the Royals in 2010, Merrifield was never really on the radars of prospect evaluators as a minor leaguer. Regardless, he climbed the ladder, impressing the Royals in various ways. He could bounce all over the diamond on defense. Offensively, he didn’t have a ton of power or draw many walks, but he didn’t strike out much and could steal plenty of bases once he got on.

He got called up to the majors in May of 2016 at the age of 27, significantly older than when most players make their debuts. At the time, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com tweeted that many people within the organization viewed Merrifield as the ideal guy to have the final spot on the roster. In other words, a utility guy.

His usage in that 2016 season reflected that. He was optioned to the minors and recalled a few times, eventually getting into 81 big league games and taking 332 plate appearances. He only hit two home runs and didn’t walk much but produced a .283/.323/.392 batting line and 91 wRC+. He stole eight bases and played the three non-shortstop infield positions as well as the outfield corners.

In 2017, he showed he was capable of being more than just a utility guy. He broke out at the plate that year by hitting 19 home runs, helping him produce a .288/.324/.460 line and 105 wRC+. He also swiped 34 bags and effectively took over as the club’s everyday second baseman, while still occasionally moving to other spots.

He had arguably the best season of his career in 2018. His home run total dropped to 12 but his walk rate almost doubled compared to the year prior, jumping from 4.6% to 8.6%. A .352 batting average on balls in play also helped him out, leading to a .304/.367/.438 line and 119 wRC+, with another 45 stolen bases to boot. FanGraphs credited him with 5.0 wins above replacement that year, the best tally of his career.

Going into 2019, the Royals and Merrifield agreed to an extension. The deal guaranteed him $16.25MM over four years with a club option for a fifth year. That total looks fairly modest to compared to some more recent deals but it was a product of his late-bloomer status. Since he didn’t debut until his age-27 season, he wasn’t going to qualify for arbitration until after he turned 30 and wasn’t slated for free agency until after his age-33 season. That deal may have sacrificed a bit of future upside but it allowed him to guarantee himself some life-changing money ahead of schedule.

His performance held pretty steady for the next couple of years. Over 2019 and the shortened 2020 season, he slashed .297/.342/.456 for a 109 wRC+ while stealing another 32 bases, while the emergence of Nicky Lopez bumped him to spending more time in the outfield and less at second base. He was selected to the All-Star team for the first time in that 2019 campaign, the first of three honors he would eventually earn.

His offense dipped a bit in 2021, as his .277/.317/.395 line translated to an 89 wRC+, though he still stole 40 bases. Going into 2022, it felt like maybe the end of his time as a Royal was drawing close. It was the final guaranteed year of that extension. He was also going into his age-33 season. The Royals were rebuilding during this whole era and had rebuffed plenty of trade calls, but given his age and contract status, the window appeared to be closing.

He stuck with the Royals into the start of the 2022 season. He and the club agreed to a reworked contract, with the club preemptively triggering his 2023 club option and shifting some of the salary commitments to the ongoing 2022 campaign. The Royals were still mired in their rebuild and would eventually finish the year with a record of 65-97, so trade talk picked up that summer.

Merrifield was eventually dealt to the Blue Jays for minor leaguers Max Castillo and Samad Taylor. It was a bit of a surprising landing spot at the time. With travel restrictions still in place for the COVID-19 pandemic, ten Royals players were unable to cross the border to play in Toronto earlier that summer due to not being vaccinated. Merrifield was one of them, which led to the question of how he would be able to play for the Jays down the stretch, but he eventually agreed to receive the jab.

Though his production was a bit lackluster at the time of the trade, he caught fire down the stretch, hitting .281/.323/.446 for a 120 wRC+. He helped the Blue Jays earn a Wild Card spot, which allowed him to appear in the postseason for the first time in his career. However, the Jays were swept out of the Wild Card round, falling 2-0 to the Mariners. He stuck with the Jays in 2023, stealing another 23 bases with offense just a bit below league average. The Jays grabbed another Wild Card spot but were swept out again, this time by the Twins.

He finally reached free agency for the first time in his career, ahead of his age-35 season, and landed an $8MM guarantee from the Phillies on a one-year deal. That didn’t really pan out, as he hit .199/.277/.295 and was released in July. “Philly, I liked you way more than you liked me,” he said in his statement today. “Sorry I stunk for you.”

He then signed with Atlanta, which was a personal thrill for him. In his statement today, he described them as his “childhood team,” having grown up in the Carolinas. He had a solid .248/.348/.336 showing in 42 games for Atlanta and made the club’s Wild Card roster but didn’t appear in a game as the club was swept by the Padres.

Merrifield was a free agent this winter and didn’t appear in any rumors. In hindsight, it seems that was because he had no intention of playing this year. He hangs up his spikes having played in 1,147 games with 4,866 plate appearances. He knocked 1,249 hits, scored 632 runs, drove in 485 and stole 218 bases. FanGraphs credits him with 19.8 wins above replacement for his career, with Baseball Reference giving him 17.9. BR also pegs his career earnings justs over $35MM. And he managed to do all of that despite not making it to the majors until well after his 27th birthday.

We at MLB Trade Rumors salute Merrifield on a fine career and wish him the best in whatever comes next.

Photos courtesy of Ron Chenoy, Wendell Cruz and Isaiah J. Downing, Imagn Images

Royals Option Kyle Wright

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The Royals announced today that right-hander Kyle Wright has been reinstated from the 15-day injured list and optioned to Triple-A Omaha. He had been pitching on a rehab assignment but the club has decided to have him stick in the minors a while longer, as opposed to adding him to the big league roster.

As of a few years ago, the idea of optioning Wright to the minors would have been a huge surprise. In 2022, he made 30 starts for Atlanta, going 21-5 and logging 180 1/3 innings. He had a 3.19 earned run average, 23.6% strikeout rate, 7.2% walk rate and 55.6% ground ball rate. He then tossed six shutout innings in his lone playoff start of that year. He finished 10th in National League Cy Young voting.

It’s been rougher sledding since then. He only tossed 31 innings in the 2023 season due to shoulder issues which eventually required surgery. The Royals acquired him ahead of the 2024 season, even though they knew he was likely to miss all of that campaign. He eventually did miss that entire season while the Royals paid him $1.8MM. They agreed to pay him that same salary figure this year.

The hope was that Wright could potentially help them in 2025 and 2026 after recovering from his shoulder surgery, which hasn’t come to pass yet. His shoulder was still enough of an issue for him to start this year on the 15-day IL. He started a rehab assignment in early May but was pulled off that due to shoulder fatigue after just two starts. He restarted that rehab assignment on May 25th and has since made six starts, two at Double-A and four at Triple-A.

Rehab assignments for pitchers can last as long as 30 days, so Wright was coming to the end of his window, but his results in those rehab outings weren’t especially impressive. His four Triple-A outings resulted in a 6.23 ERA. He did strike out 23% of batters faced but also gave out walks at a 14.8% clip. Perhaps there’s still some rust to shake off or he’s still building strength. He averaged over 95 miles per hour on his fastball in 2022 but has only been at 92 mph at Triple-A so far this year.

The club’s current rotation likely played a role in the decision as well. Even with Cole Ragans on the IL, Kansas City’s starting group is quite strong. It’s anchored by a solid trio of Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha and Kris Bubic. They have Michael Lorenzen as a solid back-end guy. Rookie Noah Cameron has a 2.08 ERA through his first eight big league starts.

The combination of the strength of that group and Wright appearing as though he still needs some fine tuning has seemingly blocked his path back to the majors for now. It makes for an interesting situation for the Royals with the deadline now just over a month away. Ragans may be close to a return by the end of July. If the rest of the group stays healthy, they may have a relative surplus of starting pitching. Trading away from that surplus would be dangerous, especially with the rate of pitching injuries in the modern game, but it could be a way for the club to add some more offense.

Wright came into this year with four years and 62 days of major league service time, 110 shy of the five-year mark. By my count he has added 88 days so far here in 2025, though the clock now stops ticking with this option. He is making a relative modest salary, as mentioned. If he doesn’t have a spot in the Royals’ rotation now and Ragans is coming back, perhaps they could consider making him available. Lorenzen is also one a one-year deal and likely wouldn’t be part of the club’s planned playoff rotation, so perhaps he could end up on the block as well.

This optional assignment could also impact Wright personally. As mentioned, he is still shy of five years of service. If he stays in the minors the rest of the year, it would delay his path to free agency, though he may end up a non-tender candidate in that scenario. He has just one option remaining and will be out of options next year if this assignment last 20 days or longer.

Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images

Poll: AL MVP Race Check-In

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While days off and postponements leave each clubs around the league without a uniform number of games played, one of the games in this week’s slate will represent the halfway point in the season for every team across MLB. With an MVP set to be crowned in both leagues after the season, that means two players are already halfway through a year that will earn them the sport’s most prestigious individual award. Who are the frontrunners to claim the trophy for themselves this offseason? We’ll be looking at both leagues over the next two days, starting with the American League:

Aaron Judge

Major stars like Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto, and Kyle Tucker have migrated to the National League in recent years, but Judge would arguably have entered the season as the odds-on favorite even if he were still competing with them. The slugger already won the MVP award in both 2022 and ’24. Ohtani won back-to-back MVP awards in 2023 and ’24, but those were for two different teams in two different leagues. Judge would be the first player to win back-to-back MVPs in the same league since Miguel Cabrera in 2012 and ’13. Uncommon as the feat may be, Judge seems well positioned to pull it off. His .367/.468/.727 (225 wRC+) slash line is nothing short of comical, and he already has an absurd 6.0 WAR season according to Fangraphs through just 77 games.

That’s a higher total than stars like Jackson Merrill and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. were able to cobble together in a full slate of games last year, and it’s hard to argue with those numbers. Dominant as Judge has been, however, it must be pointed out that he’s currently benefiting from an eye-popping .453 BABIP. That figure is 100 points higher than his career mark, which is already at the high end of the spectrum for sustainable BABIP figures. It would be the highest BABIP by a qualified player since 1871 if he were to maintain it over a full season, and just the second time a player posted a BABIP of even .400 since 2002, joining Yoan Moncada’s 2019 campaign.

Cal Raleigh

If anyone has a chance to challenge Judge for the title, Raleigh likely has the best shot. He’s hit a whopping 31 home runs this season to capture the MLB-wide lead, and his .276/.383/.659 (191 wRC+) slash line is almost as incredible as that of Judge. Raleigh’s 5.1 fWAR is second in the majors to Judge as well, and he’s even managed to chip in on the bases by swiping nine bags in 11 opportunities. Of course, the most impressive thing about Raleigh’s season is that he’s doing all of this while playing the game’s most taxing defensive position. He’s caught 58 of the 75 games he’s appeared in, and if he keeps this up over the full season he’d surpass legendary seasons by Buster Posey in 2012 and Johnny Bench in 1972 to put together the best season behind the plate in MLB history.

The biggest obstacle to Raleigh turning this first-half momentum into an MVP win is, of course, Judge. While Raleigh has the edge in terms of baserunning, defense, home runs, and strikeout rate, Judge is leading in WAR, wRC+, walk rate, all three triple slash categories, and games played. There’s no question about whose season has been more productive when stripping away the context of Raleigh’s position, and Judge might need to cool off significantly in the second half just for their numbers to be comparable when all is said and done.

Bobby Witt Jr.

After finishing second to Judge in 2024 AL MVP voting with a stellar campaign, Witt is back at it this year with another banner year. His elite shortstop glove has made him the second most valuable defender in baseball according to Fangraphs, and he’s already stolen 21 bases after swiping just 31 total last year. With that being said, the power that allowed him to swat 32 homers last year has taken a big step back. The drop off in power has left him with a .286/.343/.490 (123 wRC+) slash line that’s well above average but not quite MVP-caliber, and he would likely need to turn things up a notch in the second half and benefit from steps backward by Judge and Raleigh in order to have a chance at coming home with the trophy.

Jeremy Pena

Perhaps the most surprising entrant into this list, Pena has never so much as made an All-Star appearance in his career but is in the midst of an incredible season. He’s slashed .326/.380/.493 (149 wRC+) in 78 games so far this year with 11 homers and 15 steals in 17 attempts alongside an excellent 16.1% strikeout rate. That wRC+ is seventh-highest among qualified AL hitters, and Pena benefits further from playing a valuable defensive position in shortstop. With that being said, he’s not quite on the level of Witt defensively and his .365 BABIP is elevated well outside the range of his career norms. Like Witt, he’ll likely need a massive slowdown in production from Judge and Raleigh in order to be a serious contender for the award this year.

Other Options

Judge, Raleigh, Witt, and Pena are all more or less in a class of their own at this point in the season, and even Witt and Pena would need a lot to go right in order for them to catch the two front-runners. With that being said, there are some other at least plausible candidates. Tarik Skubal continues to dominate on the mound and his 3.9 fWAR tally matches that of Witt and Pena. Jose Ramirez remains as consistent as ever and could put up another 30-30 season this year. Jonathan Aranda has been one of baseball’s best hitters this year but doesn’t play a premium position. Byron Buxton has flashed all five tools this year with strong defense, elite speed, and a 155 wRC+ but will have trouble garnering much attention with just 60 games played so far.

Who do you think will ultimately come out on top in AL MVP voting? Will Judge reign supreme once again, or could another challenger like Raleigh step up to claim the trophy? Have your say in the poll below:

Latest On Cole Ragans

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Royals left-hander Cole Ragans went on the 15-day injured list due to a rotator cuff strain on June 11th, retroactive to June 8th. It was reported shortly thereafter that he would be getting a second opinion on his shoulder. Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports that the second opinion confirmed the rotator cuff strain, with a recommended four-week shutdown period from his initial injury.

His most recent outing was on June 5th, so four weeks from that date would be July 3rd. He’ll be re-evaluated at that point and, if declared healthy, will start to ramp back up. It therefore seems like, even in a best-case scenario, he won’t be available until after the All-Star break.

That will be a situation to monitor for the Royals, as a healthy Ragans is a key piece of their optimal roster. He logged 186 1/3 innings for them last year with a 3.14 earned run average, 29.3% strikeout rate and 8.8% walk rate. Here in 2025, he’s had to work around a groin strain and this shoulder injury but has actually improved his strikeout and walk rates to 36.4% and 7.7%. His ERA has unfortunately climbed to 5.18 but that seems to be mostly bad luck, as his .382 batting average on balls in play and 62.1% strand rate are both to the unfortunate side.

That will be a situation to monitor throughout the month of July, with the deadline on July 31st. They are currently 1.5 games out of a playoff spot and will likely be looking to buy. The rotation is a strength for the Royals, so they will presumably be more focused on offensive upgrades. Even if Ragans isn’t fully back by the end of July, if he is trending in that direction, it would presumably give them more confidence about that plan.

For now, the Kansas City rotation is fronted by Seth Lugo, Kris Bubic and Michael Wacha. That trio is backed up by Michael Lorenzen and Noah Cameron. Lorenzen is a serviceable back-end guy, with a 4.91 ERA this year. Cameron’s 1.91 ERA looks far nicer but is misleading. His 7.4% walk rate is a solid number and his 42.7% ground ball rate close to average but his 19.6% strikeout rate is subpar. A .191 BABIP and 89.5% strand rate are doing him some favors, with his 3.63 FIP and 4.22 SIERA pointing to regression.

Kyle Wright could also be a factor soon, as he is on a rehab assignment and tossed four scoreless innings in his most recent Triple-A start. However, he’s a big unknown since he missed most of 2023 and all of 2024 due to a shoulder injury which required surgery.

Photo courtesy of Peter Aiken, Imagn Images

Latest On Rich Hill, Royals

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Rich Hill is still cruising along at 45 years young, biding his time in the minor leagues with the Royals while waiting for a big league opportunity. The southpaw recently passed on a June 15 opt-out date in his minor league arrangement with Kansas City, Robert Murray of FanSided reports, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s sticking with the Royals indefinitely. Murray adds that the Royals wouldn’t stand in Hill’s way if another team presented him a big league offer. Whether it’s expressly written in Hill’s contract or there’s merely a handshake agreement, it seems Hill effectively has a rolling upward mobility clause — similar to the situations of Craig Kimbrel and James McCann in Atlanta.

Hill is the oldest player in affiliated ball, but you wouldn’t know it based on his results. He’s pitched 24 minor league innings and limited opponents to a 3.38 ERA despite sitting just 88.9 mph on his fastball. He’s punched out 33.7% of his opponents against a 7.4% walk rate.

Hill started ramping back up with the Royals’ Complex league affiliate — mentoring many young teammates in his short time there — but has now made three starts in Triple-A and continued looking sharp: 16 innings, 2.81 ERA, 29.7% strikeout rate, 10.9% walk rate. He’s pitched five, six and five innings in his three starts with Omaha, running his pitch count up to 94 in his most recent outing.

It’s been a few years since Hill has enjoyed sustained big league success. He logged a respectable 4.27 ERA in 124 1/3 innings for the 2022 Red Sox and had a nice first half with the 2023 Pirates before fading badly after a trade to San Diego. That second-half slide contributed to a 2024 plan that saw Hill wait until the final third of the season to sign, hoping to stay fresh for a contender down the stretch. It didn’t really work out as hoped; Hill pitched just 3 2/3 innings in the majors last year (all with the Red Sox).

This year’s timing seems like it could have the potential for better results. Hill signed with the Royals in mid-May and is now fully built up at a time when there are several clubs around the league in need of pitching but very few arms available on the trade market. The Royals themselves could be one such team, with Cole Ragans gathering multiple opinions due to a rotator cuff injury that seems sure to sideline him for a significant period. Righty Alec Marsh is also on the 60-day IL for Kansas City.

Of course, at any point in the season, there are myriad teams looking for options while arms are in short supply. Several of Hill’s former clubs — Twins, Cubs, Dodgers, Mets, Padres — have notable starting pitchers on the injured list at present. All are quite familiar with Hill as a pitcher, teammate and person. The Astros, Rangers and Blue Jays have each incurred recent injuries in their starting rotations as well.

Hill isn’t likely to dial it back to his 2015-20 form (2.92 ERA in 505 innings), but he could potentially hold down a fourth or fifth starter’s gig for a team in need while their injured arms mend and/or until the trade market picks up in earnest. At the moment, it seems like he’s all but freely available to a club that is willing to give him a look in what would be his 21st season with at least some action at the major league level.

Trevor Richards Elects Free Agency

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The Royals announced that right-hander Trevor Richards has become a free agent after clearing outright waivers.  Kansas City designated Richards for assignment earlier this week, and since he has been previously outrighted in his career, Richards had the ability to reject an outright assignment to Triple-A in favor of re-entering the open market.

As a free agent this past winter, Richards signed a minor league contract with the Cubs that didn’t yield any MLB playing time, as Chicago released him in early May.  The veteran righty caught on with the Royals on another minors deal a few days later, and a 1.69 ERA over 10 2/3 innings with Triple-A Omaha earned Richards a ticket back to the big leagues last weekend.

Unfortunately, Richards allowed four runs over his three innings and three total appearances as a Royal, resulting in an ugly 12.00 ERA.  Most of the damage came on June 8, as Richards was charged with three runs when he couldn’t retire any of four White Sox batters faced.  While a total sample size of 18 batters isn’t that much to go on, Richards allowed two walks and threw three wild pitches during his brief time in K.C.

Richards has enough MLB service time (six years and 70 days heading into the 2025 campaign) that he can’t be optioned to the minors without his consent.  This makes his roster situation a little tricky going forward, and he’ll almost surely be limited to minor league offers in his latest trip to free agency.  It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Richards re-sign with the Royals on a new deal after he’s tested the market, or the 32-year-old might seek out another stop in what has been something of an itinerant career.  Richards has a 4.54 ERA over 563 innings with six different clubs in his eight Major League seasons, beginning as a starter and then moving into long relief or swingman roles in recent years.

Cole Ragans To Go For Second Opinion On Injured Shoulder

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It seems the Royals will be without Cole Ragans for a while. Manager Matt Quatraro tells Anne Rogers of MLB.com that the lefty will go for a second opinion on his ailing shoulder next week. Kansas City placed Ragans on the 15-day injured list with a rotator cuff strain yesterday. Quatraro indicated that the team does not expect the issue will require surgery but suggested that Ragans will be shut down from throwing for a decent amount of time.

It’s the second injured list stint of the season for the All-Star lefty. Ragans missed a few weeks between late May and early June with a groin strain. He returned for one start and was tagged for five runs in three innings against St. Louis on June 5. Ragans didn’t feel right during his between-starts routine, leading to the testing that revealed the rotator cuff strain. He’ll surely miss more time with this injury than he did for the groin.

The Royals will operate with a five-man starting staff comprising Seth Lugo, Kris Bubic, Michael Wacha, Michael Lorenzen and rookie Noah Cameron. It’s still a good group overall, but it’s obviously far better when Ragans is at full strength. He finished fourth in Cy Young balloting while recording 223 strikeouts over 32 starts a season ago. While he was on an even better strikeout pace this season, an unsustainably high .382 average on balls in play had led to an earned run average north of 5.00.

Kansas City will have a better idea of Ragans’ timetable next week. It’s hard to envision him returning before the All-Star Break. The front office is unlikely to pour many resources into the rotation even if Ragans is out into or beyond the end of July.

A top three of Lugo, Bubic and Wacha remains excellent. Cameron pitched well over his first five MLB starts before the Yankees knocked him around on Tuesday. Lorenzen has been up-and-down but is generally a serviceable fifth starter. Kyle Wright has made four rehab starts and might not be far away from his team debut; he could work in long relief or push Lorenzen or Cameron for the final rotation spot. Improving a punchless bottom half of the lineup figures to be the top priority if the Royals — who have dropped below .500 after being swept by the Yankees — remain close enough to contention to add.

Royals Place Cole Ragans On IL With Rotator Cuff Strain

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The Royals announced a series of roster moves today. Right-hander Lucas Erceg has been reinstated from the 15-day injured list and righty Jonathan Bowlan has been recalled from Triple-A Omaha. In corresponding moves, right-hander Trevor Richards has been designated for assignment while lefty Cole Ragans has been placed on the 15-day IL due to a left rotator cuff strain, retroactive to June 8th.

The Royals have not yet announced how long they expect Ragans to be out of action but it’s obviously a concern whenever a pitcher’s throwing shoulder is injured. It’s also the second IL stint for Ragans in as many months. A left groin strain sent him to the shelf in mid-May. He just came off the IL recently and started on Thursday. His velocity was down a bit and his results weren’t great but that wasn’t necessarily alarming since it was his first start in three weeks due to the groin injury.

Now it’s possible there’s a more serious issue at play, which could be awful news for the Royals. Ragans had a tremendous breakout last year, posting a 3.14 earned run average over 186 1/3 innings. His ERA has jumped to 5.18 this year, though all signs point to that being bad luck. His 36.4% strikeout rate and 7.7% walk rate are both improvements over last year’s 29.3% and 8.8% figures. This year’s .382 batting average on balls in play and 62.1% strand rate are both on the unfortunate side, which is why his 2.40 FIP and 2.46 SIERA suggest he’s actually been pitching better than last year.

For the Royals, they started strong but have been in a bit of a skid lately. From May 10th to the present, they have gone 10-17, dropping them out of playoff position. Pulling out of that skid will be a little more difficult without Ragans in the mix.

What will be working in the club’s favor is that they should still have a strong rotation even without Ragans. The club has a collective 3.32 ERA from their starters this year, one of the top five marks in the majors. Kris Bubic, Michael Wacha, Seth Lugo and Michael Lorenzen are a fine quartet. Rookie Noah Cameron was recently called up while Ragans and Lugo were both on the IL. He has decent numbers through six starts, although he was just torched by the Yankees in his most recent outing. Kyle Wright is also on a rehab assignment and could rejoin the club shortly. Veteran Rich Hill is also in the system on a minor league deal, though he could opt-out of that deal in a few days.

One thing that will also help the Royals is that their bullpen gets Erceg back. He was dealing with a lower back strain in late May and landed on the IL because of it. He has a 1.96 ERA on the year while working as the primary setup guy to closer Carlos Estévez and can continue building on that performance after a brief rest period.

Richards, 32, signed a minor league deal with the Royals last month and was only added to the roster a few days ago. He tossed three innings over three appearances but allowed four earned runs while recording just two strikeouts. He issued two walks and three wild pitches.

As a veteran with years of experience, Richards can’t be optioned to the minors without his consent, so he’s been bumped off the 40-man entirely. He’ll likely end up on waivers in the coming days and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him clear.

He has had some good results at times in his career but struggled late last year, which is why he had to settle for minor league deals this year. In Triple-A with the Cubs and Royals, he has a 4.19 ERA this year, giving out walks at a 13.3% clip with three wild pitches. After being traded from the Jays to the Twins at last year’s deadline, he walked 11 batters, an 18.6% clip. He also hit another couple of opponents and threw seven wild pitches. He was passed through waivers late in the year and hasn’t gotten on a better track here in 2025.

Photo courtesy of Peter Aiken, Imagn Images

Royals Outright Thomas Hatch

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TODAY: Hatch cleared waivers and was outrighted to the Royals’ Triple-A affiliate, as per the righty’s MLB.com profile page.

JUNE 5: Between games of today’s doubleheader, the Royals made a roster move. Left-hander Cole Ragans, the scheduled starter for the second game, has been reinstated from the 15-day injured list. Right-hander Thomas Hatch has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move. The club’s 40-man roster count drops from 40 to 39.

Hatch was only added to the 40-man roster earlier this morning. The Royals wound up using five relievers to cover three innings, but Hatch wasn’t among them. He was always going to be a relatively short-term addition, though it’s not clear whether a turnaround this quick was the plan or whether yet another sensational start from rookie Noah Cameron forced the team’s hand. Cameron today became the second pitcher in MLB history to pitch at least six innings and allow one or fewer runs in the first five starts of his big league career, joining the late Fernando Valenzuela in that regard (stat via Sarah Langs and the MLB Network research department).

The 30-year-old Hatch signed a minor league deal with Kansas City over the winter. He’s appeared in parts of four big league seasons (not including today) and pitched 69 innings with a 4.96 ERA, a 19.7% strikeout rate, a 10.7% walk rate and a 46.9% grounder rate. He’s also spent time in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball and looked to be headed to the Korea Baseball Organization this past offseason, before concerns surrounding his physical exam caused the Doosan Bears to void their one-year deal.

Health hasn’t been an issue for Hatch in 2025, even with that offseason medical snag. He’s started 10 games for the Royals’ Triple-A squad in Omaha and pitched to a 4.59 ERA with slightly below average strikeout marks (20.8%) and solid command (8.6% walk rate). Hatch was torched for eight runs in one start back on April 15 but has since rattled off seven starts with a 3.68 ERA.

Now that he’s been designated for assignment, Hatch will be traded or placed on waivers within five days. Waivers are a 48-hour process, so his DFA will be resolved in a maximum of one week. If he clears waivers, he’ll stick with the Royals as a depth option, given that he lacks the requisite three years of MLB service or prior outright assignment to reject in favor of free agency. Hatch will collect big league service time and pay for his quick promotion today and for however long he’s in DFA limbo, so even he’s immediately placed on waivers and clears, he’ll still add three days of service and more than $12,500 in pay without throwing a pitch — not a bad few days.

Rich Hill Has June 15 Opt-Out In Royals Deal

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Veteran left-hander Rich Hill signed a minor league deal last month. It appears the club will soon have to make a decision on whether or not to call him up. Robert Murray of FanSided reports that there’s a June 15th opt-out in that deal.

Since signing that pact, Hill has made four minor league starts, two in the Complex League and then two more for Triple-A Omaha. He went four scoreless in the first outing but allowed four earned runs in four frames in the next one. In his first Triple-A start, he allowed three earned runs in five innings. Most recently, he went six innings without allowing an earned run.

Put it together and Hill has a 3.32 earned run average in 19 innings. He struck out 31.5% of batters faced and only walked 4.1%, though those numbers were far better in the two Complex League outings, striking out 41.9% of batters faced with no walks there compared to a 23.8% strikeout rate and 7.1% walk rate in the Triple-A starts.

However you cut it up, it’s a small sample of work. Hill is 45 years old and it’s hard to guess how effective he can be against major league hitters at this point. He had a decent stretch as recently as the first half of 2023, posting a 4.23 ERA through his first 13 starts with the Pirates. However, he faded from there, with a 6.57 ERA in the remainder of the season. The Bucs flipped him to the Padres but San Diego ended up bumping him to the bullpen and he finished the year with a 5.41 ERA overall.

He tried to get creative last year, with a plan of not signing until midway through the season. The idea was to spend more time with his family and also save his bullets for a second-half playoff push. It didn’t play out as he imagined, however. He signed a minor league deal with the Red Sox in the middle of August and got called up for four relief outings before being released.

Hill has a lot of big league success under his belt, including solid seasons with ERAs near 4.00 in both 2021 and 2022. But given his age and the less consistent results of late, he’s more of a gamble now.

The Royals also don’t have a strong starting pitching need. In fact, they have one of the best rotations in baseball. Cole Ragans and Seth Lugo were on the injured list not too long ago but both are now active again. Noah Cameron got some starts to cover for those injuries and has been great, with a 0.85 ERA through five appearances now. He won’t be able to keep that up forever, especially with a subpar 16% strikeout rate. Still, even if he’s the club’s #6 behind Lugo, Ragans, Kris Bubic, Michael Wacha and Michael Lorenzen, that’s a great setup for the club.

The club is off today and also has off-days on the next two Mondays. Cameron is listed as tomorrow’s probable starter but it’s possible he’ll get optioned after that, now that Lugo and Ragans are back. He could then be recalled towards the end of the month if the club wants a sixth starter when they start a stretch of 16 games in a row. Kyle Wright is also on a rehab assignment and building up his workload at the moment.

There’s not an amazing path for Hill, unless the Royals want to add some long relief to the bullpen. It’s possible the situation changes in the coming days. Perhaps Lugo or Ragans will re-aggravate their respective injuries, or someone else could get hurt. Though other clubs around the league are already dealing with plenty of injury absences, so perhaps there are better opportunities for Hill elsewhere.

Hill should have a chance to make one more Triple-A start before his opt-out decision but it’s possible he’ll be a free agent again soon. If he makes it to the majors, with the Royals or any other club, he’ll be easily the oldest player in the league. Justin Verlander is currently the oldest at 42 years old, born in February of 1983. Hill was born in March of 1980, almost three years earlier.

Photo courtesy of Rick Osentoski, Imagn Images

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