Kansas City Royals

Royals add four players to 40-man roster; Bonifacio, Dini among four DFA'd

Published Nov. 20, 2019 6:02 p.m. ET

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, helped the Class A Lexington Legends win a second straight South Atlantic League championship last season and was named the club's Player of the Year after batting .253 with 23 doubles, five triples, seven homers and 51 runs in 121 games.

Heath, 25, led all minor league players with a combined 60 stolen bases between Omaha and Double-A Northwest Arkansas in 2019. He also had a combined eight triples, tied for second among Royals minor leaguers.

Carlos Hernandez, 22, pitched for Burlington (Rookie) and Surprise (Rookie) last season before being promoted to Lexington, where he went 3-3 with a 3.50 ERA in seven starts.