Royals Release Starling Marte

The Royals moved on from veteran outfielder Starling Marte, per his MLB.com transactions tracker. Marte’s release comes after he was designated for assignment on Monday. He had the right to reject an outright assignment given his service time, but Kansas City opted to skip that step.

The 37-year-old Marte is now free to sign with any team. The Royals still owe him the remaining portion of his $1MM contract. If another club signs Marte, they will only have to pay him the prorated league minimum for the time he’s on the roster, which would be subtracted from Kansas City’s figure.

Marte picked up another $1MM in bonuses for hitting thresholds related to plate appearances and days on the active roster. Those incentives will not transfer to his new team if he finds a taker in free agency.

After delivering above-average production well into his 30s, Marte has finally slowed down this year. He slashed .242/.298/.314 across 59 games as a part-time player in Kansas City. Marte chipped in two homers and a pair of steals. His sprint speed ranked in the 11th percentile, the worst of his career in the Statcast era. Marte posted -2 Defensive Runs Saved over 34 games in the outfield.

The Royals mostly leaned on Marte against left-handed pitching. The right-handed hitter had 113 at-bats against southpaws, compared to 40 at-bats against same-handed pitching. Marte was better against lefties, but that’s not saying much. He had a .630 OPS vs. lefties and a .563 mark against righties.

Marte is just a year removed from notching a 112 wRC+ with the Mets. He could draw interest as an inexpensive platoon bat, though that’s what the Royals were hoping for, and it didn’t pan out.