4 KC Royals players that may have lost their roster spot this offseason

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During Winter Meetings, the Kansas City Royals announced their intention to spend $30 million on bolstering their pitching, and now they're really, actually doing it. The Royals agreed to contracts with Seth Lugo and Chris Stratton on Tuesday on a three year, $45 million deal and a one year, $3.5 million deal respectively. It's refreshing to see a team be transparent about a strategy and also execute it during an offseason that has been largely shrouded in mystery.

The Lugo deal has officially been announced by the team and the Stratton deal hasn't been finalized, but the Royals will need to clear two spots off of their full 40-man roster in order to accommodate them when everything settles. The whole point of setting aside $30 million, of which the Royals theoretically still have $11.5 million to spend on another lower-mid tier starter or higher-mid tier reliever, so at least one more spot will need to open up. The Royals' pitching staff had the third highest ERA in the league in 2023, so it feels safe to say that they'll spend on pitching until they absolutely can't anymore.

Here are the KC Royals players whose roster spots are in jeopardy going into 2024

There are still more than a few free agents on the table who could fit into the Royals' profile, including Zack Greinke, who has announced that he's getting ready to pitch in 2024, and Jakob Junis, who the Royals let go of in 2022 but performed much better for the Giants in 2022 and 2023. No matter who they sign, some names will have to come off of the 40-man roster. Here are four Royals whose spots are in jeopardy going into next season.

Anthony Veneziano

The Royals called up reliever Anthony Veneziano for the first time in his career in mid-September, he pitched 2 1/3 innings in two games against Detroit, and didn't appear again for the rest of the season. He's remained on the Royals 40-man roster ever since, but it's likely that he'll be one of the first to go when the Royals need to clear spots. His brief appearance in the major leagues was likely a toe-dip, and the team will probably give him more of the same opportunities in the future. For now, with a veteran reliever like Chris Stratton incoming, a rookie like Veneziano is most vulnerable to get the bump.

His two major leagues innings are hardly an accurate picture of what he'll look like with more under his belt, but his performance in Triple-A this year doesn't entirely speak in his favor. He pitched 89 2/3 innings in Omaha for a 4.22 ERA after throwing 42 1/3 innings for a 2.13 ERA in Double-A. Clearly, he needs more time and development in the minors before he'll get more major league innings.

Jonathan Bowlan

Reliever Jonathan Bowlan is in a very similar boat to Veneziano; he pitched three innings this season, two against Detroit as an opener, and one against the Yankees in September, and the Royals have yet to send him back to the minors. In his start against Detroit, he gave up three hits, including one home run to Miguel Cabrera in what would go on to be a blowout in the Tigers' favor. During his one inning against New York, he gave up two hits but no earned runs.

Bowlan's minor league picture is a little dicey; he spent a little over two years in rookie/A-ball, moved quickly through Double-A despite pitching for a 7.06 ERA over 74 innings there. In Triple-A, he pitched only 67 innings for a 5.24 ERA before getting called up to the major league team, so he seems like an easy candidate to send back down to the minors.

Kris Bubic

Kris Bubic seems the most likely of the Royals' many listed starting pitchers to get the bump in order to accommodate Seth Lugo and/or another starting pitcher the Royals have yet to sign. Bubic was only able to give the team 16 innings this year after 130 in 2021 and 129 in 2022 due to arm strain issues that snowballed into a necessary Tommy John surgery. He spent some time in the minors for rehab and was officially activated again on Nov. 2. In his last start before injury, he gave up 10 hits and seven home runs over five innings. In 2022, he had the worst ERA of Royals pitchers with over 100 innings of work.

It's most likely that Bubic would be a DFA candidate for the Royals if they decide to cut him. MLB.com's Royals depth chart lists seven pitchers in their rotation, including Lugo and Bubic. The Royals could bump him down into a relief spot, but with 12 pitchers listed in their bullpen when you take Stratton into account, and given Bubic's recent injury, it seems safer for the Royals to let him go altogether.

Jonathan Heasley

After starting 21 games for the Royals in 2022 and following Kris Bubic with the second worst ERA of the team's pitchers with over 100 innings, Jonathan Heasley fell out of favor and only pitched 15 innings in relief this year for a 7.20 ERA as pitchers like Cole Ragans and Daniel Lynch moved into starter roles. Heasley went between the majors and minors three times over the course of the season, and he pitched 94 2/3 innings in Omaha for a 6.85 ERA.

Heasley could be another DFA candidate, or the Royals could just send him back to the minors and continue to recall him to the major leagues when they're in need of an extra bullpen arm. Either way, it seems incredibly likely that he'll get the boot form the major league team ahead of 2024.

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