New catcher Brayan Pena DFA'd

Fan's like to analyze, critique and criticize managers and GM's.  It's natural.  But I'd like for fans to have as much accurate information as possible when making their critiques.  There was a moderate hubbub when it was learned that the Royals had acquired catcher Brayan Pena off of waivers from the Braves (insert tired Moore-At;anta reference here) and that he was going to be added to the 25-man roster.  RoyalsRetro posted a fanpost about it here .  He and others (including me) were appropriately critical of this move.  Why in the world would we want three catchers on the 25-man roster?

Turns out Pena was never actually going to join the 25-man roster, except on paper for a day.  The Royals official cite which inaccurately reported that he'd be joining the major league team finally gets the story right here .

It's taking a lot of paperwork, but the Royals are hopeful that Brayan Pena can ultimately continue to be part of the organization when the roster maneuver process runs its course.

One day after claiming the switch-hitting catcher off waivers from Atlanta, Kansas City announced that Pena had been designated for assignment to make room for Saturday's starting pitcher, Kyle Davies, on the 25-man roster.

As of Monday, there will be a 72-hour window for another club to claim Pena. If he isn't claimed, the Royals will have the option of assigning Pena to one of their Minor League clubs.

With the possibility that Miguel Olivo could become a free agent at the end of the season, the Royals would like to keep Pena in their organizational mix as they consider long-term plans.

So that's it, Pena was acquired to help with organizational depth at the catcher position and in the hopes that he might become an effective MLB backup catcher down the line.  Yes, another team can claim him, but if they do, no harm done.  He's an upgrade over Tupman, so this goes from a perplexing and stupid move to a smart, very minor move.

The lesson in all of this is that waiver claims are made all the time, and they often don't lead to an actual addition to the 25-man roster.  Sometimes they are just the first step towards getting a player into the minor league system.  The other lesson is that you can't always trust stories from the Royals site.