Bubba Starling signs a minor-league contract to stay with the Royals
Former Kansas prep three-sport star and fan favorite Bubba Starling will remain with the Kansas City Royals after having been non-tendered earlier this month.
Starling, an outfielder and the No. 5 overall pick in the 2011 MLB Draft out of Gardner Edgerton High School, signed a minor-league contract with the Royals. The club announced on Saturday that left-handed pitcher Foster Griffin, right-hander Carlos Sanabria and Starling had each signed minor-league deals.
All three players were non-tendered at MLB’s Dec. 2 deadline in order to make room on the 40-man roster. While all immediately became free agents, they were expected to return to the organization.
Griffin, who made his MLB debut this summer, underwent Tommy John surgery this summer. The Royals claimed Sanabria off waivers from the Houston Astros in late October.
The Royals previously non-tendered Starling following the 2018 season, but he signed a minor-league contract to remain with the organization in 2019.
Starling, 28, made his MLB debut in 2019 after having been a Triple-A All-Star. While he played stellar defensively, he struggled offensively in the majors in 2019.
The 6-foot-4, 215-pound right-handed hitter posted a slash line of .215/.255/.317 with four home runs, seven doubles and 56 strikeouts in his first 56 MLB games.
After a strong spring training this year, he made the major-league opening day roster for the first time in his career.
This summer, Starling slashed .169/.219/.237 in 35 games. The Royals used him largely as a late-inning defensive replacement as manager Mike Matheny repeatedly referenced his “elite” defense in center field.
Starling missed time during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season because of an illness, not coronavirus-related, in August, and he finished the season on the injured list because of back spasms.
Earlier this month, the Royals also signed free-agent center fielder Michael A. Taylor, who projects as the club’s everyday starter.
Watson LA-bound
Longtime scout and executive Gene Watson will leave the Royals’ front office to join the baseball operations staff under new Los Angeles Angels general manager Perry Minasian, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
The Royals senior director of pro scouting/assistant to the general manager, Watson recently completed his 14th season with the organization. In his most recent role, he oversaw the professional scouting department.
Promoted to senior director of pro scouting in 2018, Watson previously worked as a scout (2006-08), coordinator of pro scouting (2008-12) and director of pro scouting (2012-18). He’d been a key figure in the front office during their back-to-back World Series runs in 2014 and 2015 and the championship-winning club in 2015.
He worked as a scout under Royals general manager Dayton Moore while the two were in the Atlanta Braves organization in the early 2000s before Watson became a professional scout for the Florida Marlins.
Watson has been a part of USA Baseball’s selection committee for the Olympics, World Cup, World Baseball Classic and Pan-Am Games dating back to 2008. He’s also been honored by the Professional Baseball Scouts Foundation (2018) as a recipient of the Legends in Scouting Award.
He’d been a candidate in several general manager searches in recent years including the Houston Astros and the Angels’ opening that went to Minasian in November.
The Royals were reportedly adding as many as three veteran scouting/front office executives who’d been let go by other teams this offseason.
Those additions aren’t expected to become official until 2021, though MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reported former Seattle Mariners special assistant Tom McNamara had joined the Royals as a special assistant.
