Royals' losing result in DFA gamble with explosive young right-hander was written on the wall

The Kansas City Royals have been active when it comes to roster turnover this season. With how many names have been taxied from Kansas City to Omaha in 2026, it'd be easy to mistake the Midwest for Times Square right now. However, not all options to Triple-A are straightforward, as every team has to adhere to the rules of the 40-man roster. In this case the Royals are experiencing the consequences of creativity after losing the once promising-looking prospect Eric Cerantola to waivers on Monday.

After being designated for assignment by Kansas City last week to make room on the roster for Luke Maile, Cerantola didn't end up clearing waivers like his counterparts in Elias Díaz and Bailey Falter did earlier in the year. Instead he was claimed by the San Francisco Giants, leaving the Royals short another arm.

However, as overmatched as Cerantola looked in the majors this season, this was certainly a gamble for the Royals to DFA him in the wake of their pitching woes primarily brought on by injury. And it may've been a gamble that was always going to end in a losing effort.

You see, Cerantola may've been sporting a putrid 10.13 ERA in his first 5.1 innings of major league work this season. However, while his control might not have been there, his strong strikeout abilities were still very much on display - even if they were overshadowed.

In this span, the Canadian-native still mustered 11.81 K/9. It showed that his stuff hadn't skipped a beat when transitioning to the majors, as other than 7.00 K/9 mark in a very brief 9.0 innings stint in High-A Quad Cities back in 2022, Cerantola had posted K/9 totals above 10.50 at every other stop. On top of that, apart from a 4.04 ERA in Triple-A last season and High-A in 2023, he's always managed to keep his ERA sub-4.00.

Simply put, he's not devoid of bright spots by any means and San Francisco saw that. If he can find a way to reign in his control, he's a tall righty with great strikeout abilities, the perfect foundation for a successful bullpen arm.

Royals' relief depth running even thinner after Eric Cerantola was shown the door

Currently, the Royals "taxi squad" at the major league level features the likes of Steven Cruz, Jose Cuas, Beck Way and Randy Dobnak. Cruz has found his footing after a dreadfully poor start with just one outing with an earned run in his last 13 appearances. Cuas has looked solid once again with a 3.60 ERA after being thrown into the fire. And Way has put an early hiccup behind him to throw to a very respectable 3.18 ERA in 13 appearances.

Then there's Dobnak, who may not have been overly convincing in his debut, but he wasn't awful either, surredering a pair of earned runs in four innings of work.

With no recent updates on the injured Carlos Estévez and Nick Mears, the Royals will likely have to stick with this band of fill-ins for the time being. While they might not be giving them reason for panic at this point in time, their Triple-A depth certainly is, as they really cannot avoid another injury at the major league level.

The remaining healthy options currently on the 40-man roster are Eli Morgan, Mitch Spence and Mason Black, and we've all experienced the issues they've has faced to start the year. Then, relying on minor league signees like Scott Barlow, Génesis Cabrera, Dan Altavilla, Matt Moore and Anthony Gose is hardly a recipe for success. And leaning on inexperienced names like Andrew Pérez and Shane Panzini seems like wishful thinking as well.

The Royals may not have liked the results Cerantola was providing, but it seemed wiser to give him the same merciful treatment they did with Mitch Spence after his historically bad outing a few weeks ago and kept him an option. They should've been content with what they'd developed with him and allowed for some patience.

It's not a move that shoots them in the foot per se, but it certainly puts them in a precarious spot should the injury bug look to the bullpen for it's next victim.

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