Royals Release Jorge Alfaro

Veteran catcher Jorge Alfaro was released by the Royals, per his MILB.com transaction tracker. Alfaro spent the 2026 season in the minors with Kansas City. He’ll head to free agency in search of another opportunity.

The 33-year-old Alfaro joined the organization on a minor league deal in December. He received an invitation to MLB Spring Training, but did not appear in a game. Alfaro was with Team Colombia in the World Baseball Classic, which was going on during spring action.

The Royals entered the year with a solid catching tandem in Salvador Perez and Carter Jensen. They cycled through veterans Elias Diaz and Luke Maile during the season with Perez banged up. Alfaro never got a look in the majors.

Alfaro slashed .223/.287/.468 in 62 games between Kansas City’s Double-A and Triple-A affiliates. He popped 15 homers and also stole a base. While the power production is impressive, Alfaro also struck out at a massive 41.5% clip.

Strikeouts have held Alfaro back for much of his career. He’s appeared in parts of nine MLB seasons with six different teams. Alfaro has punched out more than 30% of the time whenever he’s received semi-regular playing time. He has a 34% strikeout rate across 1,749 big-league plate appearances.

Alfaro possesses intriguing physical tools, even at this stage of his career. He posted a 75.9 mph average bat speed during his brief stint with the Nationals in 2025. He recorded a 113.3 mph max exit velocity. Alfaro even ranked in the 72nd percentile in sprint speed. The contact skills aren’t going to improve at this point, but the power could attract a team in need of a backup with some thump.