The Kansas City Royals have signed former Cleveland Guardians outfielder Franmil Reyes to a minor league contract with a non-roster invite to spring training, according to MLB.com Royals beat writer Anne Rogers.
Reyes joins Zack Grienke and Aroldis Chapman free-agent signings for the Royals this offseason.
Franmil Reyes is most-known for his years in Cleveland with the Guardians. He was traded to Cleveland from the San Diego Padres during the 2019, a season in which he hit 37 home runs.
Reyes continued to have solid seasons in 2020 and 2021, hitting 30 home runs again in 2021. However, he struggled mightily with the Guardians in 2022 and was eventually designated for assignment by the team. He finished up with the Chicago Cubs before becoming a free agent.
The Royals are trying to tap into that 30 home run power that baseball fans have seen since he has come into the league. His performance during the 2022 season came as a surprise, as he was an above league-average hitter according to Fangraphs' ‘weighted runs created' plus statistic, which is a commonly-used modern baseball statistic.
The Royals are not expected to contend this season, and projected to finish last in the American League Central by Baseball Prospectus' PECOTA projections. However, the Royals are hoping that the signings of Reyes, Zack Grienke and Aroldis Chapman along with Bobby Witt Jr. will help them surprise this season.
There are also players like Vinnie Pasquantino who was a solid bat for the Royals during 2022.
While expectations are not high for the Royals, the team has made some signings to try to improve their squad for 2023.
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