The Royals announced that outfielder Drew Waters has been outrighted to Triple-A Omaha after clearing waivers. Waters was designated for assignment earlier this week, as since he is out of minor league options, Kansas City first had to expose Waters to waivers before sending him to Triple-A and removing him from the 40-man roster.
A former top-100 prospect during his time in the Braves’ farm system, Waters’ stock slipped after he had trouble hitting Triple-A pitching. In July 2022, Waters was one of three prospects sent to K.C. in exchange for the 35th overall pick in the 2022 draft (the Royals’ Competitive Balance Round A selection). Atlanta used that pick to select right-hander JR Ritchie, now a highly-touted prospect in his own right who should be making his MLB debut at some point in 2026.
Waters’ change of scenery woke up his bat at the Triple-A level, as he batted much better in Omaha than he did with the Braves’ top affiliate in Gwinnett. Waters also got his first call to the majors post-trade and hit .240/.324/.479 over his first 109 plate appearances in the Show, creating some hope that he would be part of Kansas City’s regular outfield mix in 2023.
Unfortunately for both Waters and the Royals, he has hit only .233/.296/.349 over 575 PA since Opening Day 2023. He might have received less playing time if it wasn’t for the Royals’ near-total lack of production from their outfielders as a whole over the last few years, so Waters kept getting chances.
Waters has less than five years of MLB service time and this is the first time he has been outrighted, so he didn’t have the ability to reject the outright assignment in favor of free agency. He can now choose to become a free agent if outrighted in the future, though the first step for Waters will be earning another selection back onto the Royals’ active roster. That opportunity might not arise unless an injury hits the current K.C. outfield, and even if Waters is selected as a replacement, he’ll face the DFA/waivers/outright carousel familiar to all out-of-options players whenever the Royals opt to send him back to Triple-A.
