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Royals Designate Logan Porter, Josh Staumont For Assignment

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The Royals announced that they have selected right-hander Will Klein and outfielder Tyler Gentry to the 40-man roster. Today is the deadline to add players in order to prevent them from being available in the Rule 5 draft. In order to open roster space, they designated catcher Logan Porter and right-hander Josh Staumont for assignment.

Klein, 24 later this month, was a fifth-round pick in the 2020 draft. On his way up the minors leagues, he has racked up plenty of strikeouts and ground balls but has also given out batches of walks. In 2023, he pitched 64 1/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A with a 4.62 earned run average. He struck out 30.5% of opponents in that time but also walked 12.8% of them and kept about 45% of balls in play on the ground at both levels.

Gentry, 25 in February, was selected in the third round of the 2020 draft. As he has ascended towards the majors, he has shown an ability to put the ball over the fence as well as take a walk. He spent all of 2023 at the Triple-A level, hitting 16 homers, walking in 14.2% of his plate appearances and also stealing 14 bases. His .253/.370/.421 batting line translates to a wRC+ of 103. He’s not considered an especially strong defender but has a chance to become a regular option in a corner based on his bat.

Baseball America considers Gentry to be the club’s #9 prospect and has Klein in the #22 spot. The two of them will give the club some optionable depth going forward and should be battling for their respective major league debuts by Spring Training.

But their gain is a loss for a couple of other players. Staumont, 30 next month, was a second-round pick in 2015 and had some success in his first tastes of the majors but has hit some speed bumps of late. He made 106 appearances from 2019 to 2021 with an ERA of 2.93 but a 6.09 in the past two years, walking 15.9% of batters in that latter timeframe.

In July, he underwent surgery to address thoracic outlet syndrome, making his path forward uncertain. He made a salary of $1.025MM in 2023 and would have been due a raise via arbitration in 2024, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting him for a modest bump to $1.2MM, but it seems the Royals didn’t want to bring him back at that price point.

Porter, 28, was just added to the club’s roster in September as they were dealing with injuries to catchers Salvador Perez and Freddy Fermin. It seems they didn’t have him in their long-term plans, as he’s now been bumped off the roster. He had a strong season in 2022, hitting .301/.442/.476 in the minors for a wRC+ of 145, but that line fell to .232/.339/.377 at Triple-A in 2023.

The Royals will have one week to trade or outright both players. Staumont has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency.

Royals Outright Tyler Cropley

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Sept. 13: Cropley passed through waivers unclaimed and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Omaha, the Royals announced Wednesday. He’ll remain in the organization, as he does not have the prior outright or three years of MLB service needed to reject an assignment.

Sept. 11: The Royals announced that catcher Tyler Cropley has been designated for assignment. His roster spot will go to Logan Porter, whose upcoming promotion was reported yesterday.

The club has Salvador Perez as its main backstop but was also giving plenty of playing time to Freddy Fermin this year, with Perez spending some time at first base of late. Unfortunately, Fermin suffered a fracture in his right middle finger, forcing the Royals to find another backup. MJ Melendez came up as a catcher but doesn’t seem to be considered a realistic option there. Back in May, manager Matt Quatraro said they were going to keep him in the outfield in order to let him focus on his hitting and he hasn’t been behind the plate since.

Cropley had his contract selected on the weekend but has now been quickly designated for assignment without getting into a game, replaced by Porter. Prior to being selected Cropley was in Double-A while Porter was in Triple-A. On the surface, it’s a strange move to have added Cropley before Porter and then pivot two days later, but it’s possible it’s related to the schedule. The Royals were in Toronto this weekend and it has been speculated that Cropley had his passport ready to go while Porter did not. That’s not confirmed but it would make sense of why Cropley was selected and then quickly removed from the roster once the club crossed back over the Canadian border.

Whatever the reasons, Cropley got a very brief taste of major league life, albeit as a passive observer. Since the trade deadline has now passed, he will be placed on waivers in the coming days. In 43 Double-A games this year, he’s hit .234/.329/.359 for a wRC+ of 86.

Royals To Select Logan Porter

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The Royals are set to select the contract of catcher of Logan Porter, reports Ari Alexander of KPRC 2. The Royals have a full 40-man roster, so a corresponding move will be necessary to clear space for Porter.

The news is a triumph for Porter, 28, who joined the Royals organization as an undrafted free agent back in 2018. Porter broke out at the Double-A level last year, slashing .301/.437/.487 while acting as the team’s starting catcher. That garnered him a promotion to Triple-A late in the year, though his numbers since being promoted late last year have been closer to solid than excellent; in 144 career games at Triple-A, Porter has slashed .250/.370/.398. That includes a downturn in production this year at the plate that’s seen him hit just .235/.342/.381 in 109 plate appearances with a career-high 25.2% strikeout rate, though he’s still walking at an impressive 13.5% clip.

With youngster MJ Melendez not having played behind the plate since April and Freddy Fermin on the injured list due to a fractured finger, the Royals have an opening at catcher on their roster as they look for someone to share time with veteran backstop Salvador Perez behind the plate. While Perez plays most days, he’s split time at first base in recent months, opening up additional starts behind the plate for his backup.

The Royals selected Double-A catcher Tyler Cropley to the big league roster yesterday, though he has yet to make it into a game. It’s not yet clear whether the Royals will employ three catchers with each of Cropley and Porter spelling Perez behind the plate, or if Porter’s impending selection could spell the end of Cropley’s time with the big league club. In addition to Porter’s experience at the Triple-A level, where Cropley has not yet appeared in his career, Cropley’s offensive performance this season has been far below Porter’s, as the 27-year-old has slashed just .235/.329/.359 in 43 games at Double-A this season.

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