Royals add pitcher Trevor Rosenthal to their roster ahead of opt-out deadline
The Kansas City Royals officially added relief pitcher and Lee’s Summit native Trevor Rosenthal to their active roster Wednesday in a roster move they had to make this week, even with MLB in a holding pattern.
The Royals announced they’d selected the contract of right-hander Rosenthal, 29, and designated left-hander Eric Skoglund for assignment in a corresponding move. Rosenthal signed a minor-league contract with the Royals in December.
The Royals had to make a decision about whether or not to place Rosenthal on the active roster by Thursday afternoon — the original opening day for the MLB season — or Rosenthal could have opted out of his contract and become a free agent.
The Royals still must make a similar decision on veteran right-hander reliever Greg Holland. Both Rosenthal and Holland, KC’s former closer, were non-roster invitees to the club’s major-league spring training camp.
Last season was Rosenthal’s first back on the mound in major-league games since he underwent Tommy John surgery. He struggled in stints with the Washington Nationals and Detroit Tigers.
This offseason, the Royals signed the former All-Star closer to a minor-league deal worth $2 million in base salary and an additional $2.25 million attainable through performance bonuses.
Rosenthal had been impressive during Cactus League play. He showed elite velocity with a fastball touching 100 mph and he didn’t issue a walk, allowing just three hits in five appearances (five innings). He also struck out nine and posted a 0.60 WHIP in five scoreless outings.
The St. Louis Cardinals originally drafted Rosenthal in the 21st round in 2009, and he debuted in the majors in 2012. He recorded 45 saves in 2014 and 48 saves in his All-Star season of 2015.
Skoglund, who served an 80-game PED suspension at the start of last season, had only appeared in one spring training game this year. He’d been sidelined for a period of camp with “tenderness” in his throwing arm.
Community initiative
The Royals launched a new page on their website, royals.com/royalsrespond, in order to “remain connected” to what they described as their “Royals family” during this current period of uncertainty and concerns about the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
Royals Charities announced the creation of the Royals Respond Fund to support Kansas City-area nonprofit organizations in caring for those affected by the coronavirus crisis.
The partnership between Royals players, the ownership group and associates, as well as Price Chopper and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, will aim to support efforts to fight hunger as a result of school closures and quarantines.
Royals Charities also announced the first Royals Respond grants will be given to Harvesters, The Community Food Network, the Don Bosco Center’s Meals on Wheels program and Cross-Lines Community Outreach, Inc. The release did not specify a dollar amount for those grants.
