Royals add four players to 40-man roster; Bonifacio, Dini among four DFA’d
Questions about Royals prospects who would be protected this offseason were answered Wednesday as the club added four players to the 40-man roster ahead of today’s reserve list deadline.
Now on the roster are left-hander Foster Griffin, right-hander Carlos Hernandez, shortstop Jeison Guzman and outfielder Nick Heath.
Those moves required four corresponding moves to stay at the 40-man limit. So, Kansas City designated four players for assignment: outfielder Jorge Bonifacio, catcher Nick Dini and right-handers Conner Greene and Arnaldo Hernandez.
Bonifacio, 26, spent parts of three seasons with the Royals, batting .247 with 21 home runs, 66 RBIs in 640 at-bats. Dini, 26, made his major league debut in 2019 and assembled 56 at-bats, batting .196 with two homers.
Neither Greene nor Hernandez has played in the majors.
Griffin, 24, was a Pacific Coast League postseason All-Star last season. The 2014 first-round draft selection was 8-6 with a 5.23 ERA in 25 starts with Triple-A Omaha in 2019.
Guzman, 21, was originally signed as a non-drafted free agent on July 3, 2015, out of Santo Domingo, D.R. He was named the 2019 Lexington (A) Player of the Year, batting .253 (114-for-450) with 23 doubles, five triples, seven homers and 51 runs scored in 121 games. The left-handed hitter helped the Legends win their second-straight South Atlantic League championship.
Heath, 25, was KC’s 16th-round selection in 2016, after playing collegiately at Northwestern State University (LA). In 2019, he led all minor league players with 60 stolen bases combined between Omaha and Northwest Arkansas (AA). The left-handed hitter also tied for sixth in the Texas League with seven triples, while his eight triples overall tied for second most among Royals’ farmhands.
Carlos Hernandez, 22, was originally signed as a non-drafted free agent on July 19, 2017, out of San Felix, Venezuela. He finished this season with Lexington, going 3-3 with a 3.50 ERA (14 ER in 36.0 IP) in seven starts, helping the Legends capture their second-straight South Atlantic League title, after stints with Burlington (Rookie) and Surprise (Rookie) earlier in the year.
