The Royals put one of their most consistent relievers on outright waivers on Saturday.
The Kansas City Royals placed right-handed reliever John Schreiber on outright waivers on Saturday night, according to Joel Sherman of The New York Post. Teams across the MLB will have 48 hours to claim the reliever.
In the meantime, Schreiber will still be able to pitch for the Royals. The move is likely to put Schreiber in a position to get picked up by a contender before September 1 or to save some money in the process. If he goes unclaimed, he will remain with the Royals. If a team were to claim him, he would be owed around $600,000.
The decision comes as a surprise, as Schreiber has had himself an impressive season out of the Royals’ bullpen. The right-hander has posted a 3.65 ERA in 55 games this season, proving himself as one of their more reliable relief arms in Kansas City.
While Schreiber has had some struggles against left-handed hitting, his splits against righty bats have brought him a solid amount of success. Right-handed hitters are hitting just .143 against him this year.
Schreiber presents a unique reliever profile. He tosses from a lower arm angle that tends to garner swings and misses consistently, while also owning a five-pitch arsenal. He does not throw very hard, but does gather a high groundball rate with his pitch mix.
Playing in his third season with the Royals, Schreiber has remained a constant in their bullpen throughout. Schreiber’s ERA has been consistent in each of the three seasons, hovering around the same total each year. He also played a big part down the stretch of the Royals’ postseason run in 2024.
Soon, Schreiber may run into a situation where he is helping another contender if he ends up being claimed.
Prior to joining the Royals in 2024, Schreiber had played parts of five seasons with the Detroit Tigers and the Boston Red Sox, where he had posted the best season of his career in 2022. Schreiber posted a 2.22 ERA that year and recorded 22 holds, just one shy of his career-high that he reached with the Royals in 2025.
Though Kansas City has begun to turn heads over the past couple of weeks with their improbable 12-1 stretch over their last 13 games, they still have a long way to go until they are truly considered to be in contention, as they sit 6 ½ games back of an AL Wild Card spot.
If Schreiber were to go unclaimed, it may be likely that he does not return to the Royals in the offseason given the decision to put him on waivers with a month to go in the season.
