The Royals released right-handers Luke Jackson and Aaron Sanchez from minor league contracts this week, according to the MiLB.com transaction tracker. Kansas City also announced Wednesday that they’ve added infielder Andrew Velazquez on a minor league deal.
Jackson is the only of those three players who was in the big leagues as recently as last season. The 34-year-old reliever split the season between the Tigers, Braves and Rangers. Jackson combined for 52 appearances with a 4.06 earned run average. He walked nearly 13% of opponents and had a career-low 17.4% strikeout rate, which limited him to minor league offers last offseason.
After spending the first six weeks in Triple-A with the Mets, Jackson triggered an opt-out. He signed with Kansas City in late May and made 10 appearances for their top affiliate in Omaha. Jackson had a 16:4 strikeout-to-walk ratio but allowed nine runs across 13 2/3 innings. He has an ERA close to 6.00 in the minors this season.
Sanchez signed his non-roster deal in January and was with the big league team in Spring Training. He’d been working out of the Omaha rotation but was tagged for a 9.43 ERA across 13 appearances. Sanchez hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2022 and was out of pro ball entirely last year. He’ll turn 34 next Wednesday.
Velazquez, 32 next month, is three years removed from his most recent MLB appearance. He played in each season from 2018-23, hitting .189/.244/.293 in 275 games between five teams. Velazquez began this season in Triple-A with the Diamondbacks, where he had a .274/.335/.390 showing before being released in mid-June.
Kansas City’s only healthy position player on optional assignment is Matthew Lugo, who was drafted as an infielder but hadn’t played there since 2023. Lugo is mostly playing outfield with Omaha but has gotten a few looks at third base. Brandon Drury, Kevin Newman and Abraham Toro are all in the organization on minor league deals.
