Kansas City Royals add six to roster, including Pratto, Melendez and Bowlan
The Kansas City Royals made a flurry of roster moves in order to protect their young talent from potential pilfering. Now, they’ll wait and see how much of their farm system gets plucked away in next month’s Rule 5 Draft.
In the process, the Royals designated for assignment right-handed relief pitcher and former top draft pick Kyle Zimmer.
Friday afternoon at 5 p.m. CT marked the deadline for Major League Baseball teams to set their 40-man rosters before the Rule 5 Draft scheduled for December 8 at the conclusion of the Winter Meetings in Orlando, Florida.
The Royals added six prospects — right-handed pitcher Jonathan Bowlan, infielder Maikel García, catcher MJ Melendez, first baseman Nick Pratto, right-handed pitcher Collin Snider and right-handed pitcher Nathan Webb — to the club’s 40-man roster and shielded them from the possibility of being snatched away by another organization.
Baseball America rated the Royals’ farm system the third-best in baseball in it’s most recent rankings.
Melendez and Pratto have been ranked among the top 100 overall prospects in the game by both Baseball America and MLBPipeline.com. They’ve both also been selected to the MLBPipeline.com and Baseball America All-Prospect teams.
Melendez, 24, won the Joe Bauman Award as Minor League Baseball’s home run leader (41 home runs) this season. Pratto, 23, hit 36 home runs and won a minor-league Gold Glove as the top defensive player at his position this season.
Bowlan, one of the organization’s top 10 prospects, made four strong starts at Double-A this year before suffering a season-ending elbow injury that required surgery.
Snider, 26, and Webb, 24, have both pitched in relief in the minors. Snider spent time at Double-A and Triple-A in 2021, while Webb, a native of Lee’s Summit, began at Low-A and finished at High-A.
Garcia, 21, is a shortstop from Venezuela. He slashed .291/.380/.405 with 35 stolen bases in 104 games between Low-A and High-A this season.
Of their top-rated prospects who were eligible for the Rule 5 Draft, the Royals left exposed left-handed pitcher Austin Cox and right-handed reliever Zach Haake.
Cox, rated among the Royals’ 15 best prospects, was a starter at Double-A and finished the season at Triple-A. Haake has not pitched above High-A.
Zimmer, the No. 5 pick in the 2012 MLB Draft, battled through an injury-plagued career in the minors before he made his major-league debut in 2019.
In 83 appearances in the majors during the past three seasons, Zimmer posted a 5.19 ERA, 8.5 strikeouts per 9 innings, two saves, a 1.54 WHIP, a 1.53-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 95 1/3 innings.
Earlier this month, the Royals sent right-hander Jakob Junis outright to Triple-A, a move which opened a spot on the 40-man roster. Rather than accept the assignment, Junis became a free agent. The Royals also released first baseman/outfielder Ryan McBroom in order to allow him to sign a deal to play in Japan.
After the conclusion of the World Series, Royals pitchers Wade Davis, Jesse Hahn, Greg Holland and Ervin Santana became free agents and are no longer on the Royals 40-man roster.
The Royals cleared another spot on the 40-man roster prior to the deadline by designating for assignment infielder Lucius Fox, who they acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays in August 2020 in the Brett Phillips trade. The Baltimore Orioles claimed Fox off of waivers on Friday.
What to know about the Rule 5 Draft
Royals top prospect and Baseball America’s Minor League Player of the Year shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. is not eligible for the Rule 5 Draft and did not need to be added to the roster. He was drafted No. 2 overall out of high school in 2019.
Players signed at age 18 or younger in the year 2017 need to be added to the 40-Man roster or become eligible for the Rule 5 Draft, while players who signed at age 19 or older in 2018 need to be protected or else become eligible for the Rule 5 Draft.
If another organization selects a Royals player in the Rule 5 Draft, that team must keep the player on their 26-man major-league roster for the entire 2022 season. If the team wishes to remove the player from the 26-man roster, then the player must clear waivers and be offered back to the Royals for $50,000.
The Royals acquired right-hander Brad Keller via a Rule 5 Draft and trade — the Cincinnati Reds selected him and traded him to the Royals — in 2017. Keller has been the opening-day starter for the Royals in two of the past three seasons.
Some of the top players in recent history who were Rule 5 Draft picks at one point in the career include two-time Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana, former AL MVP and five-time All-Star Josh Hamilton, former AL MVP George Bell, two-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove winner Shane Victorino and former Royals relief pitcher and two-time All-Star Joakim Soria.
This story was originally published November 19, 2021 at 7:15 PM.
