KC signs a pair of intriguing veteran free agents to minor league deals

The Kansas City Royals have been making some serious moves over the past few days after a quiet spell at the Winter Meetings. They signed some much needed outfield help in Lane Thomas on Thursday and followed that up with shoring up their future by handing out a five-year extension to Maikel Garcia on Friday.

But amid these major acquisitions, the front office has also been active in their search for filling out their organizational depth, bringing in a pair of former major league veterans on minor league contracts; utility infielder Kevin Newman and right-handed pitcher José Cuas.

Royals News: KC signs eight-year MLB veteran Kevin Newman to minor league contract

The Royals announced Thursday morning that Newman would not only be joining them on a minor league deal, but would also be a part of their infield group heading to Surprise for spring training

Pre-COVID, Newman would’ve been a notable get after his 2019 career year with the Pirates where he hit .308 with an .800 OPS, 109 wRC+ and a 2.2 fWAR.

Since then though, he’s bounced around the league as a utility infielder and hasn’t been able to craft an above average season in eyes of wRC+. And from a major league standpoint, last season might have been his worst one yet, hitting .202 with a .481 OPS and 27 wRC+ in 57 games with the Angels.

However, he showed promise in his short stint in Detroit’s Triple-A ranks in 2025 with a 112 wRC+ and for a guy that can play all four infield positions, his consistently sub-15.0% K-rates and three year stretch prior to 2025 of wRC+ ranging from 79 to 92 aren’t a terrible option to have off the bench.

At the very least, he’s worth a look in spring training given some of Kansas City’s infield and depth question marks.

Royals News: KC reunites with reliver José Cuas on a minor league deal

Moving to the mound and the Royals have brought back a familair face in Cuas on minors deal with an invite to spring training.

Cuas spent the entirety of last season in the minor leagues with both Atlanta and Philadelphia. While his brief stint with the Phillies Triple-A squad wasn’t all too fruitful, he did sport a 3.22 ERA with a respectable 9.27 K/9 across 22.1 innings of works in the Braves’ Double-A ranks.

While his last stint in the majors in 2024 was certainly nothing get remotely jazzed about – he threw to a combined 7.71 ERA in 16.1 innings between the Blue Jays and the Cubs – Cuas isn’t without his major league success.

In his year-and-a-half stretch in Kansas City in 2022 and 2023, the now 31-year-old threw to a serviceable 4.08 ERA with 9.80 K/9. This included a respectable 3.58 ERA in his rookie campaign back in 2022. He also threw to a 3.04 ERA after heading to the Cubs midseason in ’23.

Cuas has never been the most controlled arm with a career 5.20 BB/9 and 1.59 WHIP, however on a minor league deal, it’s hard to go wrong with having another look at a familiar face who’s not been without some degree of success at the big league level.