Royals release infielder Hanser Alberto

The Royals announced that infielder Hanser Alberto and pitcher Scott Blewett have cleared outright waivers and have elected free agency. Both players were placed on waivers to clear room on the 40-man roster, which now stands at 38 players. The Royals will have to activate Brad Keller, Richard Lovelady, Wade Davis, and Jesse Hahn from the 60-day Injured List after the World Series, although Davis and Hahn, as well as Ervin Santana and Greg Holland, will become free agents after the series.

The Royals signed Alberto last off-season after being non-tendered by Baltimore. He was expected to provide infield depth and hit left-handers. The 28-year old appeared in 103 games and hit .270/.291/.402 with 2 HR 24 RBI, and was worth 0.4 WAR, according to Baseball-Reference. He did fare well against lefties, hitting .286/.317/.454 in 127 plate appearances this season, and he filled in at second base, shortstop, and third base, even making one appearance on the mound. Alberto also had the lowest-walk rate by any hitter with at least 250 plate appearances at 1.6 percent, drawing just four free passes all season. He was arbitration-eligible and was projected to make $2.1 million by MLB Trade Rumors.

Scott Blewett was a second-round pick in 2014 out of high school in New York, who appeared in five games for the Royals in 2020-21. This year he gave up just one run in five innings, but walked five hitters with four strikeouts. The 25-year old right-hander struggled in the upper minors, with a 6.39 ERA in 69 innings for Omaha this year, and an 8.52 ERA in 81 ¹⁄₃ innings for them in 2019.

The Royals will need room on the 40-man roster to add several minor leaguers such as Nick Pratto and MJ Melendez to protect them from the Rule 5 draft. The deadline to add players to the 40-man roster is November 19.