Royals Clear Space With Pitching Move Before Busy Offseason

The Kansas City Royals started cleaning up their roster as soon as the season ended, and one of the first moves involved a young arm who never threw a pitch for the big league club.

Kansas City sent left-handed pitcher Luke Little outright to Triple-A Omaha on Thursday, Oct. 1, but the September 28th DFA took him off the 40-man roster while keeping him in the organization with the Storm Chasers.

Little came to Kansas City in August after the Chicago Cubs designated him for assignment on Monday, Aug. 3, and the Royals claimed him off waivers three days later before sending him straight to Omaha.

The 26-year-old had shown real promise with the Cubs in 2024, posting a 3.46 ERA with 28 strikeouts over 26 innings in 30 games, but he pitched in just one big league game this year and spent most of the summer in the minors.

Things never came together for him in Omaha.

Little made 13 appearances for the Storm Chasers with a 15.09 ERA, 16 strikeouts and 12 walks over 11.1 innings, and between Omaha and Triple-A Iowa he walked 35 batters in 35 innings this season.

The Royals designated him for assignment on Monday, Sept. 28, the day after the season ended, when they also recalled seven pitchers, and the official transaction log shows the outright going through three days later.

A waiver claim that doesn't work out is a normal part of a long season, but this one says a lot about where Kansas City is heading.

The Royals finished 69-93 and fifth in the American League Central, and the bullpen was one of the biggest reasons why, so every open spot on the 40-man roster now has value as the front office looks for help.

General manager J.J. Picollo has already talked about rebuilding the pitching staff without spending big, and that usually means trades, waiver claims and smaller signings.

A claim like Little was exactly the sort of low-cost bet, and moving on from it this early shows the club wants room to take more of those swings this winter.

Keeping Little in Omaha still makes sense for the Royals.

He is a lefty who has had big league success before, and if he can cut down on the walks, the Royals have a depth arm without using a roster spot on him.

The more important pitching questions are at the top of the staff.

There is a strong case to build the rotation around starting pitcher Noah Cameron after the year he just had, and the Royals will need more reliable arms behind him and in the late innings if they want to get back into the race next year.

Kansas City does not need to outspend anyone to get there, either.

A look at this October shows that smaller-market teams can still go deep when their pitching holds up, and that should be the goal for the Royals.

There should be more roster moves like this one in the coming weeks as the front office opens up spots and starts shaping the 2027 staff.