Kansas City Royals DFA Omar Infante
By Charles Lam
The Kansas City Royals designated for assignment (DFA) second baseman Omar Infante. He hasn’t been the hitter or the defender Kansas City hoped he would be when he joined the Royals before the 2014 season.
Here’s the official tweet from the Kansas City Royals declaring the organization’s decision to let Infante walk.
We have recalled LHP Brian Flynn from Omaha today, and designated INF Omar Infante for assignment. #Royals
— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) June 15, 2016
The season before Omar Infante joined the Royals, he played well for the Detroit Tigers. He slashed .318/.345/.450 during 2013. Since then he’s not come close to those numbers. His numbers this season are absolutely terrible. He’s got a slash line of .239/.279/.321. Those numbers are actually better than last years. He slashed a putrid .220/.234/.318 in 124 games played last season.
His stats are even worse defensively. He has four errors in 39 games this season. One of those errors came during the Cleveland Indians game in Cleveland. He tried to throw the ball to first baseman Eric Hosmer to complete a critical double play but he couldn’t throw the ball well enough. The ball bounced in front of Hosmer who wasn’t able to complete the play. Infante‘s defensive runs saved numbers are in the red at negative three this season.
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Infante hasn’t started a game for the Kansas City Royals since June 6th. That’s more than a week he’s sat on the bench taking up a valuable roster spot. The other Royals players liked Infante as a person but as a player his numbers are hurting the Royals’ chances to win.
Infante will still get paid. He will receive 14 million dollars from the Kansas City Royals to complete the contractual agreement. In return, Kansas City won’t have to deal with his terrible play for the rest of this season or next season.
Here’s a few quotes from 610 Sports, Josh Vernier on what the Royals players are saying about Infante.
"He made an impact on my life, for sure," Colon said about Infante.
— Josh Vernier (@JoshVernier610) June 15, 2016
"That's a really good guy. A really good teammate," said Escobar.
The Kansas City Royals called up left-handed pitcher, Brian Flynn to replace Infante on the roster.
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Flynn has played for the big league team this season. He’s got a 4.91 earned run average (ERA). He’s got six strikeouts and four walks in 7 1/3 innings pitched for the Royals.
Flynn’s pitched better for Omaha. He’s started four games for the Storm Chasers going 2-1. His ERA is 3.04 in 23 1/3 innings. Flynn’s strikeout to walk ratio is a little more than 2:1 with 28 strikeouts to 12 walks.
Ned Yost said the move to DFA Infante came because the Royals needed a pitcher.
Ned Yost on decision to DFA Omar Infante: "We needed a pitcher."
— Rustin Dodd (@rustindodd) June 15, 2016
Hopefully Flynn can make an impact for the Royals this time around. If not, he will be heading back to Omaha quickly. Outfielders Brett Eibner and Alex Gordon are getting healthy and should be back with the Royals soon.
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With the Kansas City Royals willing to get rid of players that aren’t contributing, they can look to make this team the best it can be. The starting lineup looks better without Infante. The Royals got better today and the fans should be happy.