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Former Braves outfield prospect DFA'd by Royals for second time this season
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- Former Braves outfield prospect DFA'd by Royals for second time this season
Former Braves outfield prospect DFA'd by Royals for second time this season originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
The Kansas City Royals have designated a former Atlanta Braves outfield prospect for the second time this season.
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According to an announcement from the AL Central club, the Royals have cut ties with outfielder Drew Waters .
Waters was one of Kansas City 's September call-ups but did not appear in yesterday's game.
Infielder Michael Massey will replace Waters on the active roster as he returns from the injured list.
Waters, 27, hasn't played in the Majors this season. He took 219 trips to the plate with the Royals in 2025, hitting .243/.288/.316 with one home run, 14 RBIs, and a .603 OPS.
The Braves selected Waters in the second round of the 2017 draft, but he never lived up to his prospect status.
"The 2026 season down in Triple-A hasn't been a great one, either. Waters has again showed a power/speed blend (12 homers, 17 steals) but is batting .251/.312/.420 with an 8% walk rate and 25.2% strikeout rate," Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors explained.
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"Offense is up throughout Minor League Baseball this year, and by measure of wRC+ that batting line clocks in about 15% worse than average in the Triple-A International League," Adams added.
Atlanta traded Waters to the Royals in 2022, and he's logged just 208 big-league games since.
If Waters goes unclaimed on waivers, he can reject an outright assignment to Triple-A Omaha and become a free agent.
