Royals add four players to 40-man roster

The Royals on Friday purchased the contracts of pitchers Andrew Edwards and Jake Junis from Class AAA Omaha and catcher Cam Gallagher and first baseman Samir Duenez from Class AA Northwest Arkansas and added them to their 40-man roster, ahead of a 7 p.m. deadline to protect players ahead of the Rule 5 draft.

The moves left the Royals with 40 players on the major-league roster after left-hander Tim Collins elected to become a free agent instead of accepting an outright assignment to Omaha and catcher Tony Cruz was designated for assignment.

Junis, a 24-year-old right-hander, was a 29th-round pick in 2011 and was promoted to Class AAA Omaha in August and could project as a back-end-of-rotation starter.

Edwards, 25, is a hard-throwing right-hander who was selected in the 19th round out of Western Kentucky in 2011.

Duenez is a 20-year-old from Venezuela who reached Northwest Arkansas in 2016. He also played some left field in the minors and hit .284 with a .334 on-base percentage and 13 homers in 138 games last season.

Gallagher, 23, was the Royals’ second-round pick in 2011 and reached Northwest Arkansas last season after two seasons in Wilmington.

The Rule 5 draft is Dec. 8, on the final day of the winter meetings in National Harbor, Md.

The Royals’ 40-man roster already includes a number of their top prospects, including outfielders Jorge Bonifacio and Bubba Starling and right-hander Kyle Zimmer, who is recovering from a procedure to address thoracic outlet syndrome.

Among the highly regarded prospects who did not need protection: right-hander Josh Staumont, a second-round pick in 2015; first baseman Ryan O’Hearn, an eighth-round pick in 2014; Scott Blewett, a second-round pick in 2014; and left-hander Eric Skoglund, a third-round pick in 2014.

This story was originally published November 18, 2016 at 4:38 PM with the headline "Royals add four players to 40-man roster."