On Saturday morning, the Kansas City Royals continued their busy week by announcing four more transactions. This comes after two headline trades on Friday with the Atlanta Braves. LHP Austin Cox, C Logan Porter, and OF Diego Hernandez will remain with the organization after agreeing to minor league contracts. All three were designated for assignment or non-tendered this week to clear space on the 40-man roster.

The fourth addition to the system was RHP Luis Cessa. The 31-year-old veteran has been in the league since making his major league debut for the Yankees back in 2016. He was originally signed by the Mets as an international free agent. In 2015 the Mets traded Cessa and Michael Fulmer to the Tigers in exchange for Yoenis Céspedes.

Most recently, Cessa has pitched in the Reds organization. 2023 saw him tally 26.0 IP with a 9.00 ERA. The Reds designated him for assignment after that miserable start and he was released shortly after. The Rockies and Nationals both gave Cessa a chance in the minors after his release but the results weren’t much better. Over 42.0 Triple-A innings, Cessa pitched to an 8.57 ERA with 42 strikeouts and 20 walks. The Royals will take a low-risk chance on the veteran arm to see if there’s anything more they can get from him. He was much better as recently as 2021, when he pitched to a 2.51 ERA over 64.2 innings as a reliever.

A recap of the early offseason:

With the latest signings, the Royals have now acquired three pitchers before Thanksgiving. Kyle Wright, Nick Anderson, and Luis Cessa are the newcomers to the organization. The only notable departures thus far are RHP Jackson Kowar, LHP Taylor Hearn, and potentially RHP Josh Staumont. Staumont was designated for assignment (along with Logan Porter) on Tuesday to clear space for OF Tyler Gentry and RHP Will Klein on the 40-man roster.

Staumont could still return to the organization on a minor league deal, but more likely will hope to test the free agent waters. The Royals also agreed to pre-arbitration contracts with relievers Josh Taylor and Taylor Clarke. That reduces the number of Royals players potentially reaching arbitration to just four:

• RHP Brady Singer (est. $5.1 million)
• LHP Kris Bubic (est. $2.4 million)
• RHP Carlos Hernandez (est. $1.3 million)
• OF Edward Olivares (est. $1.8 million)

The Royals have time now to continue negotiating with these arb-eligible players in hopes of reaching a deal for at least the 2024 season. If they are unable to reach an agreement, they could head to arbitration in early February. The Royals have gone to arbitration hearings just twice — with Brandon Maurer in 2018 and with Brady Singer in 2023.