Royals won’t (for now) be repeating history after Taylor Clarke signs with D-backs

The Kansas City Royals may be frugal and conservative, but closed-minded they’re not. The Royals haven’t shied away from bringing back players with whom they’ve previously parted.

Take, for a couple of major examples, 2020, when they reunited with Greg Holland, and 2021, when Wade Davis returned to the fold and, for good measure, the club re-signed Holland after he tested free agency after the 2020 campaign.

Then there’s Bubba Starling, a victim of the winter non-tender deadline in 2020 who re-upped with the team just days later, and Logan Porter, Austin Cox, and Diego Hernandez, all of whom got the 2023 non-tender deadline boot but signed new KC deals before the news of their departures could turn cold.

Yes, non-tenders are frequently used merely as 40-man roster management tools, but that doesn’t change the fact that the Royals don’t always slam the door on players.

But on Thursday, the Arizona Diamondbacks made sure the Royals won’t be reuniting, at least not anytime soon, with one of their most recent non-tenders. Instead, the D-backs snared reliever Taylor Clarke, to whom Kansas City somewhat surprisingly decided not to offer a new deal in November. Arizona inked the right-hander to a 2026 contract.

Taylor Clarke’s return to Diamondbacks means no reunion with Royals

For Clarke, himself a previous returnee to Kansas City — after they traded him to Milwaukee following the 2023 season, he rejoined them via free agency for the 2025 campaign — returning to Arizona is a true homecoming.

The Diamondbacks picked him in the third round of 2015’s amateur draft and brought him to the majors in 2019. He went 9-8 with a concerning 4.99 ERA in three Diamondback seasons before the Royals picked him up in free agency after the 2021 campaign.

Unfortunately, Clarke didn’t become a star during his first tour of duty in Kansas City. Across two seasons and 105 games, he posted an excessive 5.08 ERA and allowed almost 38% of runners he inherited to score.

The Royals chose during the winter of 2023 to move on from Clarke and shipped him to the Brewers for Cam Devanney and Ryan Brady. A couple of injuries marred his 2024 season — he didn’t pitch in the majors at all — but Kansas City elected to give him a second chance in 2025.

Clarke didn’t appear to have made much progress in his year away from KC. Despite a promising May — he posted a fine 0.75 ERA and a save over nine appearances in his first month back with the Royals — Clarke found himself battered for 13 runs in 13.2 innings (8.56 ERA) from the beginning of June until the All-Star Break.

But then he became a much different pitcher. Although his club’s stretch run pursuit of a second consecutive playoff appearance failed, Clarke held opponents to a 1.82 ERA and 0.809 WHIP (he finished the year with marks of 3.25 and 0.849) after the Break. It seemed that kind of performance should have sealed up a 2026 KC roster spot.

But it wasn’t to be. Now, Clarke will hope his 2025 success foretells a good 2026 season in the National League.

Whether he ever returns to Kansas City remains to be seen. Considering their history of reunions with non-tendered players, though, anything is possible.