Royals Sign Vince Velasquez To Minor League Contract

The Royals have signed Vince Velasquez to a minors contract and assigned the veteran righty to Triple-A Omaha, as per Velasquez’s MLB.com profile page.  Velasquez elected free agency on June 30 rather than accept an outright assignment to the Cubs’ Triple-A squad.

The right-hander signed a minor league deal with Chicago in February, and the Cubs twice selected Velasquez’s contract to the active roster and then quickly designated him for assignment and outrighted him after Velasquez cleared waivers.  Because Velasquez has been outrighted in the past, he has the ability to reject any outright assignments in favor of free agency, and he took that route after his previous DFA only to soon re-sign with the Cubs on a fresh minor league contract.

This time around, however, Velasquez has opted for a change of scenery in Kansas City’s organization.  While the Cubs’ unending string of pitching injuries would’ve seemed to provide an opportunity for Velasquez to return to Chicago at some point this season, it’s possible he saw the Royals (a likely deadline seller) as a better avenue to an open roster spot when and if K.C. moves some players at the trade deadline.

Velasquez’s two cups of coffee on the Cubs’ 26-man roster saw him toss 3 1/3 scoreless innings over two appearances.  This marked Velasquez’s first bit of Major League action since 2023, and the righty has now appeared in parts in 10 MLB seasons since making his debut with the Astros back in 2015.  Since his previous big league stint with the Pirates in 2023, Velasquez missed 2024 recovering from elbow surgery before pitching in 2025 in both the KBO League and in the Guardians’ farm system.

The 34-year-old Velasquez can provide the Royals with some depth as either a starter or long reliever, though his numbers with Triple-A Iowa this season are nothing to write home about.  Velasquez has a 6.15 ERA and 16.2% walk rate over 33 2/3 innings for Iowa, with a more respectable 26% strikeout rate.