KC Royals DFA former Top 10 prospect to make way for Rich Hill's arrival

Out with the new, in with the old. That's how the saying goes right? Well not exactly, but that's precisely what the Kansas City Royals did on Tuesday afternoon.

To make room on the roster for 45-year-old veteran starter Rich Hill's historic return to the major leagues, the Royals had to make room on both the 26-man active roster and the 40-man roster.

To no one's surprise, the recently promoted Andrew Hoffmann finds himself on his way back to Triple-A Omaha as the 26-man roster casualty, but it was former Royals Top 10 prospect - and current 25th overall prospect in the organization according to MLB Pipeline - Tyler Gentry who was designated for assignment in order for Kansas City to select Hill's contract from the minors, as per the team's official announcement.

KC Royals DFA Tyler Gentry to make way for Rich Hill's arrival

To say things haven't gone to plan for Tyler Gentry in his career with the Royals is an understatement.

Drafted in the third-round back in 2020, Gentry found himself as a Top 10 prospect in the Royals system in both 2023 and 2024, including sitting as high as No. 8 in '23.

At the height of his pro-career, the outfielder found himself producing a 152 wRC+ and .965 OPS across 108 games between High-A and Double-A in 2022. He did drop off when he arrived in Triple-A in 2023 but still proved to be an average-performing hitter with a 100 wRC+ and .791 OPS.

But things went down hill last season for him at the plate. He fell to a 97 wRC+ and .760 OPS in Omaha. And while making his MLB debut that year, he mustered just five plate appearances across three games with nothing but a pair of strikeouts to occupy the stat sheet.

The now 26-year-old has yet to make it back to the big leagues to improve upon those numbers and it's easy to see why. He's followed up his decline in 2024 with a very poor performance with Storm Chasers this year, slashing just .205/.277/.365 with a 63 wRC+ in 249 plate appearances.

His future in the organization remains uncertain at this point. Some other team could use his DFA as an opportunity to take a flier on a once well-regarded prospect and claim him off waivers, the Royals could potentially trade him or he could clear waivers and be outrighted back to Omaha.

In the meantime, what the Royals do know is that his spot on the 40-man will go to Rich Hill, who's set to take the mound to start Tuesday's game against the Chicago Cubs - the same team that selected him in the fourth-round of the 2002 MLB Draft and he debuted with in 2005.