Royals continue pursuit of veteran depth by signing former Red Sox top prospect

The Kansas City Royals might still be reveling in their productive trade deadline, however their pursuit of organizational improvement hasn't stopped even if they can't rely on major trades to achieve it.

The Royals continued to be active on the midseason free agent market on Friday, like they have all season, by brining in yet another impactful former big leaguer to the organizational fold in infielder Bobby Dalbec on a minor league contract.

The former Boston Red Sox prospect has bounced around the league recently with Kansas City set to be his next stop after opting out of his minor league contract with the Milwaukee Brewers earlier this week.

Royals make Bobby Dalbec their latest midseason veteran depth signing

According to insider Francys Romero, after opting out of his minor league contract with Milwaukee, Dalbec was weighing his future options, whether that be finding another MLB organization or taking his talents overseas.

The Royals, however, seemed to have deterred him from from pursuing the opportunity to head to NPB or the KBO with a chance to, in all likelihood, join Triple-A Omaha for the time being.

Dalbec, a former top three prospect in the Red Sox system back in 2020, has struggled to really find his footing in the major leagues since 2022. After appearing in 117 games that season with Boston, he'd end up playing just 58 games over the next two campaigns. The Sox DFA'd him last September and he then elected free agency this past winter.

He ended up with the Chicago White Sox on a minor league contract in the offseason and would eventually crack the major league roster with them in late April, hitting .222 with an RBI and a .611 OPS in seven games, before being DFA'd on May 4 and electing free agency just days later.

Then came the Brewers, where Dalbec found some real success during his time with their Triple-A affiliate in Nashville, hitting .266 with 12 HR, 44 RBI and an .854 OPS in 61 games.

It's not a shock that there was interest here from Kansas City when Dalbec became available. They seem to be drawn to players like him who are positionally versatile - he's spent time all across the infield as well as in the corner outfield in his career. Adam Frazier, Nick Loftin and Tyler Tolbert are currently occupying utility style roles with the big league squad right now and they've also had the likes of Cavan Biggio come through their system this season.

If Dalbec is able to recreate some of that magic he had in the Brewers Triple-A ranks while in the Royals' system, when you also take into account his positional versatility, he could be an intriguing option for the Royals as potential late season call-up to bolster the bench.