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Kansas City Royals Add 10-Year MLB Veteran in Free Agency
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- Kansas City Royals Add 10-Year MLB Veteran in Free Agency
(Denny Medley-Imagn Images)
The Kansas City Royals have had a difficult season managing their pitching staff, dealing with injuries throughout the rotation and bullpen all year long. The lack of reliable arms has been the biggest reason for Kansas City 's disastrous season.
Starters Cole Ragans , Kris Bubic and Stephen Kolek are all currently on the injured list, and the bullpen has also been hit hard with All-Star closer Carlos Estevez , James McArthur, Nick Mears and Connor Seabold all sidelined as well.
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As a result, Kansas City owns one of the worst bullpen ERAs in the entire league. In search of any help they can find, the Royals turned to a player with plenty of experience in free agency.
" Aaron Bummer agrees to minor league deal with Royals. Reported to Omaha today," reported Jon Heyman of The New York Post on Monday.
Bummer is a 32-year-old left-handed reliever with a decade of big-league experience and a track record that makes this signing worth a look despite his struggles in 2026.
His career began back in 2014 when the Chicago White Sox selected him in the 19th round. He made his way through their system, eventually debuting as a relief pitcher in 2017. Bummer was a quality arm for Chicago, with his best season coming in 2019 when he posted a 2.13 ERA across 67 2/3 innings.
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After a disastrous 2023 season where he posted a 6.79 ERA across 61 appearances, the White Sox let him go and Bummer joined the Atlanta Braves in 2024.
He proved to be a reliable soft-contact option for Atlanta over the 2024-25 stretch, posting an ERA below 4.00 in both seasons while elevating his strikeout rate significantly, punching out 120 hitters across just 109 2/3 innings combined.
Unfortunately, that momentum did not carry over into 2026. Bummer posted a 7.63 ERA across 19 appearances with Atlanta before the team released him in May.
He then signed a minor league deal with the Chicago Cubs , working his way up to Triple-A Iowa, where he allowed four earned runs in four innings before opting out of his deal last week in search of a new opportunity.
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The financial risk for Kansas City is nonexistent. If the Royals elect to call Bummer up, which is likely given the depth they currently lack, they would only be on the hook for the league minimum.
For a team dealing with this many injuries to its staff, taking a flier on a veteran left-hander with upside is exactly the kind of low-cost move that makes sense.
