Kansas City Royals: Homer Bailey signed to minor league deal

Early Saturday morning, it was announced that Homer Bailey had signed a minor league deal with the Kansas City Royals and received an invitation to Spring Training.

Homer Bailey is the latest free agent to sign. With Bryce Harper and Manny Machado still up for grabs, this isn’t the biggest news, especially with it being a minor league deal. But, he has also been invited to Kansas City Royals Spring Training in Surprise, Arizona.

The righty was a first round draft pick of the Cincinnati Reds, seventh overall out of La Grange High School in Texas. After 12 years with the Reds, he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers as part of the Yasiel Puig deal for salary purposes, but he was immediately released, before the night was even over, becoming a free agent. The Dodgers are still on the hook for the remaining 23 million dollars left of his contract

Career Statistics

His big league career began in 2007 at age 21. He threw for a 5.76 ERA and a 4-2 record, starting nine games. The next 11 years of his career were also spent with the Reds in a starting role.

Most recently, in the 2018 season, he went 1-14 in 20 starts with an ERA of 6.09. He tallied a WAR of -1.5 and a WHIP of 1.636. Not the best numbers by any means, but his amount of experience could serve as an asset to the young up and comers in the system.

2019 Projected

Baseball Reference predicted his statistics for the 2019 season. At 33 years of age, they estimated he will toss a total of 122 innings and yield a 5-12 record overall with an ERA of 5.53. They also projected a WHIP of 1.549, 10.6 hits/9, 3.3 BB/9, and 7.3 K/9.

With a rotation that is definitely not set in stone, Homer Bailey does have a shot at finding himself on the mound at Kauffman Stadium in the 2019 season. If he has a great showing at Spring Training, it is entirely possible. However, judging by the statistics, it isn’t the likeliest to happen.

If his Spring Training performance is not enough to earn him a place on the big league roster and he is sent to Omaha, it is possible that he will want to request his release from the organization.

Having spent the past 12 seasons in the major leagues, it’s likely he will hunt for an opportunity to immediately find his way back instead of settling for the minors.