3 Royals non-roster invitees who squandered their chance at big league redemption

I love what a non-roster invite communicates to a player in spring training. For the Kansas City Royals, that meant some players were simply needed in camp so the coaching staff could get extended looks, but many others were thrown a lifeline to keep their MLB careers going.

There is nothing wrong with leaving the big leagues for an extended stretch in the minors or independent ball, but the odds of reaching the MLB mountaintop again are slim even in the best cases.

The Royals added a bevy of players this offseason on minor-league deals, inviting the most experienced or highest-upside names from that group to major-league camp.

A handful of players stood out with the opportunities they were given, both on the position-player side and in the pitching corps. But similarly, there were a few who did not meet expectations and look no closer to reaching the majors again.

Judging off spring training performance alone, here are three players who squandered the chance Kansas City gave them in the Cactus League.

It's hard to see a big league path in 2026 for these Royals non-roster invitees

Jose Cuas - Right-handed pitcher

The former Royals reliever returned to the organization where he made his MLB debut, though with little fanfare. After pitching in 92 games across the 2022 and 2023 seasons with Kansas City, Cuas also spent time with the Chicago Cubs and Toronto Blue Jays as recently as 2024.

His struggles after leaving the Royals pushed him back to the minors in 2025, where he pitched in the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies organizations with little success. He did, however, return to the spotlight a bit in the Dominican Winter League, allowing just one run in 12.1 innings for Águilas Cibaeñas.

The right-hander was always a long shot to make the Opening Day roster because of Kansas City’s depth of right-handed relievers. But his stat line this spring did not help those already-slim odds.

Cuas made eight appearances for the Royals, mostly against non-MLB talent, and got shelled. Batters tagged him for six hits and drew six walks, which fueled seven earned runs across 8.0 innings. He did strike out 10 batters, but those came more as a byproduct of hitters selling out than any real domination on his part.

Cuas lacked even one especially strong outing, and without those flashes, it is hard to say he had the kind of spring he needed.

Kansas City will likely still be happy to have him in the organization as depth waiting in the wings at Triple-A Omaha. Even that level gave Cuas trouble last year, though. Hopefully the club where he once found his groove can help him get back to being a serviceable MLB reliever.

Kevin Newman - Infielder

After making the Los Angeles Angels’ Opening Day roster in 2025, infielder Kevin Newman’s MLB outlook has only grown dimmer.

The California native joined Kansas City in early December 2025, hoping to reestablish himself as an experienced, positionally versatile, contact-first hitter. But that version of Newman did not really show up for most of the spring, and opening the season in the minors feels all but certain now.

The eight-year veteran has never been a power bat, but he found some value as a depth piece over the past three seasons because he could put the ball in play and move around the diamond.

Newman did some of that with the Royals, but not enough to stand out. His .244/.273/.341 line came with streaky contact and very little patience, even though working counts and avoiding empty at-bats felt like part of the sales pitch.

Newman did move around the field for the Royals, logging multiple games at shortstop and third base. While he did not look like a defensive liability, he needed to show more with the bat to carve out a real role.

His numbers trailed plenty of others in Kansas City’s utility competition, and that should leave him as organizational depth at best.

Héctor Neris - Right-handed pitcher

At 37 years old, Héctor Neris is far removed from his best years with the Philadelphia Phillies and Houston Astros. The Dominican won a World Series ring in 2022 and followed it up with a career year in 2023, but he has scuffled since, bouncing between four different organizations in the last two seasons while performing like a below-average reliever.

Kansas City seemed like a soft landing spot for the veteran, a place without immediate big-league expectations and with a pitching infrastructure trending upward. But Father Time comes for everyone, and Neris looked very much like a pitcher at the end of the line this spring.

Neris threw 6.1 innings for the Royals and allowed an absurd 13 hits while walking five more. Three home runs pushed the damage higher and higher, and he finished the spring having allowed 10 earned runs in seven appearances.

The stuff just does not seem to be there anymore. The split-finger has lost bite, and the overall velocity drop is glaring. He was at least still a strong strikeout pitcher in 2025, punching out 35 batters in 26.2 innings, but he did not strike out a single hitter this spring.

Kansas City has shown a willingness to keep veterans around in the minors, but Neris might not have much longer in the Royals system at all.