Royals sign pitcher to minor league contract after Cubs stint

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The Kansas City Royals on Saturday signed veteran right-hander Vince Velasquez to a minor league contract, assigning the 34-year-old to Triple-A Omaha following his departure from the Chicago Cubs organization.

Velasquez became a free agent on June 30 after declining an outright assignment to Triple-A Iowa. Chicago had designated him for assignment, and after he cleared waivers, he exercised his right to reject the outright assignment because he had previously been outrighted during his career.

The Cubs originally signed Velasquez to a minor league deal in February and promoted him to the major league roster twice during the season. On both occasions, he was designated for assignment shortly afterward. Earlier this year, he had also elected free agency following a previous DFA before re-signing with Chicago on another minor league contract. This time, however, he chose to continue his season with Kansas City organization.

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Velasquez made two appearances for the Cubs in 2026, throwing 3 1/3 scoreless innings. Those outings were his first major league action since 2023. He missed the entire 2024 campaign while recovering from elbow surgery, including Tommy John surgery, before pitching in 2025 in the KBO League and within the Cleveland Guardians’ farm system.

The right-hander has appeared in parts of 10 MLB seasons since making his debut with the Houston Astros in 2015. A former second-round pick in the 2010 MLB Draft out of Garey High School in Pomona, California, Velasquez was once ranked among baseball’s top 100 prospects by MLB Pipeline and Baseball Prospectus. He owns a 4.37 ERA across 55 2/3 innings in 19 appearances, including seven starts, during his rookie season with the Astros.

Velasquez spent six seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies from 2016 through 2021, recording a 4.93 ERA with 642 strikeouts and 243 walks over 582 2/3 innings in 133 appearances, including 116 starts. The Phillies designated him for assignment in September 2021 before releasing him, and he later signed a minor league contract with the San Diego Padres.

The Royals have added an experienced arm capable of working as either a starter or long reliever, although his Triple-A Iowa numbers this season included a 6.15 ERA over 33 2/3 innings, a 16.2% walk rate, and a 26% strikeout rate.

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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source sports.yahoo.com ’