The Royals optioned infielder Cavan Biggio to the minor leagues following the membership’s sport in opposition to the Twins right now, in response to a report from Anne Rogers of MLB.com. As a participant with 5 years of service time, Biggio has the flexibility to refuse an non-compulsory task, and Rogers reviews that he’ll be capable of resolve between accepting the non-compulsory task or electing free company within the coming days. It’s unclear what the corresponding transfer for Biggio’s departure from the lively roster can be.
It’s uncommon to see a participant consent to an non-compulsory task after they have the requisite service time essential to reject one. That’s to not say it’s fully unprecedented, with veteran first baseman Jose Abreu’s resolution to consent to being optioned after struggling badly with the Astros early final yr standing out as one of many extra memorable current examples, however it might hardly be a shock if Biggio determined to elect free company relatively than stick to the Royals. Alternatively, Biggio could also be restricted to solely minor league offers in free company and would due to this fact lose the advantages of being on the 40-man roster that he would retain ought to he settle for an non-compulsory task from the Royals.
Son of Corridor of Famer Craig Biggio and a veteran of seven MLB seasons in his personal proper, the youthful Biggio obtained off to a sizzling begin early in his profession with a .240/.368/.430 slash line (good for a wRC+ of 118) throughout his first two seasons within the majors. That was sufficient to earn him down-ballot Rookie of the 12 months consideration within the AL in the course of the 2019 season and make him the membership’s on-paper on a regular basis third baseman headed into the 2021 season. Sadly, issues began to unravel from there. Biggio hit simply .224/.322/.356 with a wRC+ of 84 that finally obtained him pushed right into a part-time function that yr. He wouldn’t recapture his on a regular basis job with the Blue Jays ever once more, though his .220/.330/.361 (100 wRC+) efficiency over the following two seasons was sufficient to make him a viable bench participant in a utility function.
Whereas Biggio appeared to have carved out a strong part-time function for himself with Toronto, that modified in the course of the 2024 marketing campaign. He struggled badly throughout 44 video games with the membership, hitting simply .200/.323/.291 with a wRC+ of 86, and that step backwards along with the Blue Jays’ shedding file was sufficient to persuade Toronto brass to drag the plug on a participant who was as soon as thought of to be a part of their core alongside Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette. Biggio spent the remainder of the season bouncing between the Dodgers, Giants, and Braves organizations and completed the yr with a .197/.314/.303 (84 wRC+) slash line within the huge leagues throughout 78 video games.
Biggio elected free company again in November after being lower free by the Braves and finally caught on with the Royals on a minor league deal again in January. He confirmed out sufficient in Spring Coaching to make the membership’s Opening Day roster however has carried out poorly in a part-time function in the course of the common season with a slash line of simply .176/.300/.250. His 61 wRC+ this yr is the Thirty fifth-worst determine within the majors amongst gamers with no less than 80 plate appearances, and for a Royals membership that’s tied for third from the underside within the majors in runs scored his bat is clearly not producing sufficient to justify his roster spot.
MJ Melendez, Joey Wiemer, Tyler Gentry, and Tyler Tolbert are all on the 40-man roster already as potential replacements for Biggio on the lively roster. Anybody else would require choosing a contract to the roster, although it needs to be famous that the Royals have area on their 40-man so no corresponding transfer can be essential to make that kind of addition. Rogers notes that outfielder John Rave was out of the lineup at Triple-A Omaha right now, probably suggesting he could possibly be an choice to be known as as much as the majors, whereas Nelson Velazquez, Nick Pratto, and Jordan Groshans are all non-roster gamers with huge league expertise who might theoretically be known as upon.
