Royals add four to 40-man roster including prospect Khalil Lee, catcher Sebastian Rivero
The Kansas City Royals expect to see former third-round draft pick Khalil Lee make an impact in the big leagues, and on Friday they made sure to protect him from the clutches of the rest of the clubs in Major League Baseball.
Lee, the organization’s Player of the Year for 2019, was one of four players the Royals added to their 40-man roster in a series of roster moves that will set the stage for next month’s Rule 5 Draft.
Also added to the 40-man roster were left-handed pitcher Daniel Tillo, left-handed pitcher Angel Zerpa and catcher Sebastian Rivero. Clubs run the risk of losing any eligible player left unprotected by the end of business on Friday to another MLB team.
Lee, and Tillo, were all eligible players ranked among the top 25 prospects in the Royals’ farm system according to Baseball American and MLBPipeline.com. Tillo had been part of the club’s 60-player pool for spring training 2.0, but he got shut down and underwent Tommy John surgery this summer.
In order to make room on the roster, the Royals designated pitchers Glenn Sparkman and Gabe Speier for assignment. They also assigned pitcher Chance Adams outright to Triple-A.
The 40-man roster is now at a full 40 players.
The Rule 5 Draft will take place on December 10.
Baseball American ranks Lee, who turned 22 in June, the ninth best prospect in the Royals’ farm system. MLB Pipeline ranks him the eighth best.
Earlier this month, Royals general manager Dayton Moore spoke highly of Lee and his potential.
“Khalil Lee has got a chance,” Moore said. “He’s going to get on base. He’s going to hit with power. He’s extremely competitive, almost to a fault.”
In 2019, Lee’s most recent season in the minors, he collected career-highs for games played (129), hits (124), runs scored (74) and walks (tied, 65). He produced a slash line of .264/.363/.372. His 53 steals, also a career best, were the third-most in the minors.
Lee also earned a Texas League mid-season All-Star selection in 2019.
A non-roster invitee to big-league spring training this year, Lee was one of the organization’s top young players who took part in the spring training 2.0/summer camp in Kansas City. He also spent the summer working out under the direction of the Royals player development staff at the alternate training site, and he participated in the Royals’ Fall Camp at Kauffman Stadium.
Rivero, an international signing out of Venezuela in 2015, has excelled defensively in the minors. He’s been a non-roster invitee to big-league spring training the past two years. He was also a member of the 60-player pool this summer.
Rivero was an All-Star while sharing catching duties with M.J. Melendez for Low-A Lexington in 2018.
Zerpa, 21, pitched at the Rookie Level of the minors in 2019. He went 6-3 with a 3.40 ERA with 55 strikeouts in 55 2/3 innings combined between Burlington and Idaho Falls.
For the second year in a row, the Royals left power-hitting outfielder Seuly Matias unprotected. Other prospects rated among the top 25 in the organization who were left unprotected were outfielder Brewer Hicklen and right-handed pitcher Yefri Del Rosario. None have played above Single-A in the minors.
Players signed at age 18 or younger must be added to the 40-man roster within five seasons, and players who signed at age 19 or older must be added within four seasons or else they’re eligible for the Rule 5 Draft.
MLB clubs pay $50,000 for each player they select in the Rule 5 Draft to the team they’re taking the player from.
If a MLB club selects an eligible player left unprotected or off the 40-man roster, that player gets immediately added to their new team’s active major-league roster. The player must remain on the active roster for the entire season and can not be sent to the minors or be offered back to their previous club.
The Royals acquired starting pitcher Brad Keller, the young ace of their rotation, through the Rule 5 Draft — he was selected by the Cincinnati Reds and traded to the Royals — prior to the 2018 season.
Last December, the Royals selected right-handed pitcher Stephen Woods Jr. from the Tampa Bay Rays. The Royals and Rays negotiated a trade this summer that allowed Woods to remain in the organization without being on the active roster. The Royals sent outfielder Michael Gigliotti to the Rays in the trade.
The next significant deadline on the MLB calendar comes on December 2. That’s when teams must tender contracts to players on their 40-man roster. Players not tendered contracts will join the free-agent pool.
