Royals sign Génesis Cabrera to minor league deal, likely for Omaha

Kansas City made a low-cost bet on a familiar arm, signing left-hander Génesis Cabrera to a minor league deal and sending him toward Triple-A Omaha with a path back to the majors if the Royals’ bullpen keeps fraying. The 29-year-old arrived on the same day as right-hander Luke Jackson, giving Kansas City two fresh relief options as the club keeps patching a staff that has been battered by injuries and uneven run prevention.

The fit is obvious. Royals relievers entered the weekend with an ERA around 4.51, a number that left the unit buried in the bottom third of the league, and the injured list has already swallowed key names like Carlos Estévez, Matt Strahm and James McArthur. Cole Ragans and Kris Bubic have also been unavailable at points recently, so this is not a luxury move. It is an attempt to buy innings in Omaha and keep one more major league fallback within arm’s reach.

Cabrera’s recent track record explains why he was available. He was released by the Phillies last week after signing a minor league deal with them in December and spending spring in the organization on a non-roster basis. The Triple-A numbers were brutal: 20 earned runs in 17 1/3 innings. That kind of line does not just raise eyebrows, it usually closes doors. Instead, Kansas City is banking that the lefty’s raw stuff still matters more than the recent results.

And the stuff has always been the selling point. Cabrera has six big league seasons on his résumé, debuting for St. Louis on May 29, 2019, and later pitching for Toronto, the Mets, the Cubs, the Pirates and the Twins. In 318 1/3 major league innings, he has struck out 21.9 percent of the hitters he has faced, a decent bat-missing rate for a reliever whose fastball has shown upper-90s velocity from the left side. The problem has been command, and that has followed him from stop to stop.

There is also a little trivia attached to the profile that says plenty about how memorable Cabrera can be when he is right: MLB.com noted that he became the first player in MLB history to wear No. 92 in 2020. Kansas City is not signing the number on his back, though. It is signing the possibility that, if the velocity and strike-throwing click in Omaha, a left-handed relief upgrade could be waiting there sooner than expected.