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Royals Could Trade Wade Davis, Jarrod Dyson

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Jarrod Dyson Drawing Trade Interest

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The Royals have received multiple trade inquiries on fleet-footed right fielder Jarrod Dyson, reports ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick (Twitter links). As is the case with teammates Lorenzo Cain, Mike Moustakas, Eric Hosmer, Alcides Escobar and Wade Davis, Dyson is a free agent following the 2017 season, so the Royals could conceivably feel compelled to part with him this offseason if they receive a solid return.

The problem, as Crasnick notes, is that Kansas City would probably need to add another right field option in his place, as Dyson currently projects as part of a platoon with Paulo Orlando in right field, and Orlando is best limited to facing left-handed pitchers. Given the number of corner options on the market, though, it’s certainly plausible that the Royals could move Dyson and add an affordable platoon partner for Orlando on a one-year deal.

Dyson, 32, is projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn a modest $2.5MM in 2017, so the scenario I just laid would probably result in Kansas City’s payroll rising a bit, unless they waited out the market and inked a left-handed-hitting veteran to a minor league deal. But, that $2.5MM figure also undoubtedly makes Dyson appealing to other teams. The lifetime Royal batted .278/.340/.388 last season, and while he offers next to no power, he’s a blistering baserunner that has averaged 31 steals per season over the past five years despite averaging just 284 plate appearances per season in that time. His wheels play well on the defensive side of the coin as well; Dyson received a +11 rating from Defensive Runs Saved in the outfield last year and +16.7 from Ultimate Zone Rating. He’s capable of playing all three outfield positions.

Dyson does have his shortcomings. In addition to the aforementioned lack of power — he has just seven career homers in 550 games — he’s also batted just .231/.305/.285 in his career against lefties, suggesting that he should continue to be platooned. Dyson’s speed, defense and affordable nature would make him an attractive target for any team looking for an upgrade at any of the three outfield spots, however, provided they can find a right-handed bat to complement him.

Angels Acquire Brooks Pounders From Royals

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The Royals announced that they’ve traded right-hander Brooks Pounders to the Angels in exchange for minor league righty Jared Ruxer. The move opens a spot on the Royals’ 40-man roster to make a selection in next week’s Rule 5 Draft, as MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan points out (on Twitter).

Pounders, 26, made his Major League debut this season but allowed 13 runs on 19 hits and three walks in 12 2/3 innings of work. He did pick up 13 strikeouts and average 92.6 mph on his fastball, and Pounders delivered solid results in his time at the Triple-A level. In 80 1/3 innings with Kansas City’s top affiliate in Omaha (seven starts, 24 relief appearances), Pounders notched a 3.14 ERA with 10.1 K/9, 4.1 BB/9 and a 38.5 percent ground-ball rate. He’ll give the Halos a depth piece that has minor league options remaining to help out in the ’pen in the coming season.

Ruxer, meanwhile, was the Angels’ 12th-round pick in 2014. He split the 2016 season between the Class-A Midwest League and the Class-A Advanced California League, pitching to a combined 3.08 ERA with 8.0 K/9, 2.5 BB/9 and a 45.7 percent ground-ball rate in 111 innings (19 starts, 10 relief appearances). Flanagan tweets that Ruxer had Tommy John surgery in his final season at Louisville in 2014 before being drafted, but Ruxer’s solid season certainly makes it seem as though he’s recovered nicely from the injury.

Royals Like Josh Staumont As A Starter

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In college, Royals prospect Josh Staumont was mostly just playing baseball for his scholarship, Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star writes. Suddenly, though, Staumont started throwing with electrifying velocity, and he soon became the Royals’ 2015 second-round pick — and, later, one of their better prospects. “It was a way for me to get into the school and get a couple thousand dollars off the tuition. And that was literally all it came down to. I could play a sport that I loved and get an education,” he says. “Of course, as soon as I started throwing harder, that all changed.” During his first scrimmage at Azusa Pacific University, Staumont suddenly started generating 99-MPH radar gun readings that he initially thought were mistakes. His work with the Royals has included plenty more blistering fastballs, although he still has work to do on his control — last season between Class A+ Wilmington and Double-A Northwest Arkansas, he had a 4.23 ERA and an excellent 12.2 K/9, but with a very high 7.6 BB/9. Those numbers might suggest potential as a future reliever, but the Royals aren’t yet giving up on him as a possible rotation option. “It’s easy to look at him in the pen, only because he throws hard,” says assistant GM J.J. Picollo. “But in this climate, in this industry, it’s all about starting pitching.” Here’s more from the Central divisions.

Royals Release Tony Cruz

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  • The Royals requested release waivers on catcher Tony Cruz, who was also recently designated, as MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan tweets. The 30-year-old will surely head onto the open market, as he’d otherwise be eligible for arbitration (with a projected $1MM salary). He spent most of 2016 at Triple-A, slashing .264/.347/.387 in 363 plate appearances.

Players Added To The 40-Man

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We’ll use this post to keep track of the players being added to their teams’ respective 40-man rosters today, which is the deadline to protect players from the Rule 5 draft. Players must be added to the big league roster within either four years (if they were 19 or older at the time of their original signing) or five years (if 18 or younger) of their signing year in order to be shielded from selection.

MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo took a look at some of the biggest names who face roster decisions, though most of those won’t be much in question. At the fringes, teams must also consider the major league readiness of the player, since that factors heavily into whether they’ll be taken and kept. Any drafting team, of course, must keep a player on its active MLB roster for the full season (with certain exceptions relating to the DL) in order for their control rights to vest. Adding a player to the 40-man too early can have its own risks, because it limits flexibility and could require a team to expose that player to waivers if a need arises. With 26-man rosters reportedly under consideration, the Rule 5 draft could be quite intriguing this year, and that may bleed into today’s decisions as well.

Below is a division-by-division rundown of the names that were added to each team’s 40-man roster (plus the various waiver claims that spawned from teams trying to outright players to protect Rule 5-eligible prospects). We won’t delve into each player’s background, but if you’re looking to a little more about the names that were added, I’d highly recommend this tremendous, in-depth examination of each team’s additions by Baseball America’s J.J. Cooper. If you want to see how the moves look in the context of a team’s roster, head over to Roster Resource for your club’s depth chart.

Onto the moves…

American League West

American League Central

American League East

National League West

National League Central

National League East

Royals Designate Tony Cruz; Tim Collins Elects Free Agency

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The Royals have designated catcher Tony Cruz for assignment, per a club announcement. The team also says that lefty Tim Collins has elected free agency.

Meanwhile, Kansas City has added four players to its 40-man roster, filling it to capacity. Righties Andrew Edwards and Jake Junis, catcher Cam Gallagher, and first baseman Samir Duenez all had their contracts selected.

MLBTR had projected Cruz to earn $1MM in arbitration, with Collins in line for a $1.5MM salary. Instead, both will likely find their way to other organizations. Cruz, 30, saw scant action last year in the majors but hit .264/.347/.387 in his 363 plate appearances at Triple-A. Collins hasn’t appeared since 2014, as he has required consecutive Tommy John surgeries.

Royals Sign Drew Butera To Two-Year Deal

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The Royals have announced a two-year deal with free agent catcher Drew Butera. He’ll receive a $3.8MM guarantee, with $1.5MM for the 2017 season and $2.3MM in 2018, according to Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star (via Twitter).

Butera, 33, had a career year last season in Kansas City. He only took 133 plate appearances, but produced a .285/.328/.480 batting line with four home runs. That represented rather a significant improvement over his typical output, which stood at just .185/.241/.266 entering the season.

Certainly, Kansas City won’t be banking on that kind of sustained production from the veteran. He’ll be tasked mostly with serving as a defensively capable reserve to workhorse backstop Salvador Perez.

Though it’s a bit surprising to see Butera land a two-year guarantee, we’ve seen a variety of utility infielders score multi-year pacts at similarly modest salaries in the recent past. Given the state of catching around the game, it was certainly an opportune time for him to turn in a useful season at the plate.

Royals Make Several Minor Moves

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Latest On Greg Holland

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Former Royals closer and current free agent Greg Holland held a showcase for interested teams that was attended by roughly 18 clubs on Monday. Since that time, he’s been an oft-discussed name and has been connected to numerous clubs around the league. There’s yet to be an indication as to when or where the two-time All-Star will sign, but here’s the latest on his market…

  • Agent Scott Boras told reporters today that Holland won’t be holding another showcase (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan). While Holland’s velocity wasn’t anywhere near its previous levels, Boras noted that the workout demonstrated that his client is healthy, which is what teams were more interested in. Certainly, given the fact that Holland is just over a year removed from Tommy John surgery, it’s not a surprise that his fastball was topping out in the low 90s as opposed to his previous 96 mph average. It’s reasonable to expect his velocity to continue ramping up as he regains strength and further distances himself from his operation.
  • Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star writes that Boras said Holland will be open to pitching in non-closing roles next season, so his market needn’t be limited to teams that have a potential vacancy in the ninth inning. Boras tabbed Holland as a potential “HeLP” pitcher — a “High-Leverage Premium” arm that could be used in a similar capacity to the way in which Kenley Jansen, Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman were used during the postseason. The Royals are believed to have interest in a Holland reunion, Dodd adds, although Boras told reporters that more than half of the teams in the league have reached out to him this week.
  • The Red Sox are showing “strong” interest in Holland, tweets WEEI’s Rob Bradford, who adds that the right-hander will take about six weeks off following his showcase before he resumes his offseason throwing program. Boston already has a big-name closer in Craig Kimbrel, but they’re losing three setup arms in Brad Ziegler, Koji Uehara and Junichi Tazawa, so their interest in relief help is plenty logical.
  • The Nationals watched Holland on Monday, writes Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post. General manager Mike Rizzo spoke a bit about Holland’s market, implying that an incentivized deal would be his preference in negotiations with Boras. “Those are usually deals that are heavily incentivized because if he pitches like Holland, he should be compensated for it,” said Rizzo. “But you also have to balance it off with the risk that the guy’s coming off Tommy John, didn’t pitch at all last year, and we’ve never seen him throw a pitch in anger since he’s come back. So you’re really going on track record, medical reports and what the doctor said. It’s a risky proposition.” Boras sounded open to a two-year deal that includes incentives when addressing the media following Monday’s showcase. Holland rated 23rd on MLBTR’s Top 50 Free Agent list, with our staff pegging him at two years and $18MM despite the lengthy layoff.
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