Justin Maxwell Designated for Assignment

The Royals have said they wanted to add another reliever for a few days now, as their pitching staff sits at eleven. There was some speculation Mike Moustakas would be the odd man out, but I suppose his double the other night keeps him in the big leagues for a few more months.

Today, the other shoe dropped.

#Royals select contract of RHP Casey Coleman from Omaha and designate OF Justin Maxwell for assignment.

— Joel Goldberg (@goldbergkc) May 16, 2014

Casey Coleman is a right-handed pitcher signed by the Royals on April 17 to a minor league deal. The twenty-six year old right-hander has pitched parts of three Major League seasons, all with the Cubs, and has not been in the big leagues since 2012. Over 165 Major League innings, he has a 5.76 ERA split between starting and relieving, with 118 strikeouts and 83 walks. He had given up just three runs (two earned) in twelve innings of work in AAA Omaha with nine strikeouts and five walks.

Maxwell was acquired by the Royals last July in a trade with the Houston Astros for minor league pitcher Kyle Smith. He has a lifetime line of .233/.312/.420 and served as a nice bat off the bench for the Royals, hitting .268/.351/.505 in 111 plate appearances down the stretch including this memorable grand slam, but struggled mightily this year, hitting just .138 (4-29) in very limited action.

The Royals will have ten days to trade Maxwell before he is exposed to waivers. Maxwell makes just $492,500 and there were rumors the Dodgers were interested in him in spring training, so there should be some interest in him.