Moar depth!
The Royals announced today they have signed infielder Mike Brosseau, and pitchers Dan Altavilla, Tyler Duffey, and Sam Long to minor league deals. The Altavilla deal was reported yesterday.
Brosseau was originally signed by the Rays as an undrafted free agent, and broke through to the big leagues in 2019. He enjoyed a breakout season in a very limited sample size in 2020, hitting .302/.378/.558 in 98 plate appearances. The Rays traded him to the Brewers after the 2021 season and he hit .255/.344/.418 in 69 games for them in 2022. He played just 29 games this year before he was designated for assignment mid-season. He was reportedly going to head to Asia to continue his career, but those plans must have fallen through. The 29-year-old plays mostly third base, but can play some second as well.
Tyler Duffey pitched out of the Twins bullpen for eight seasons until they released him in August of 2022. The right-hander bounced around for a bit before joining the Cubs this year, but he spent virtually the entire season in the minors. Overall he has a 4.57 ERA in 477 career big-league innings with 8.8 strikeouts and 2.6 walks-per-nine-innings. He relies mostly on a slider with a 92 mph fastball and has a career 46 percent groundball rate. Duffey will turn 33 by the end of the year.
Sam Long is the youngest of the players signed, having turned 28 last July. The left-hander pitched a career-high 40 games this year with the A’s, with a 5.60 ERA and 6.4 strikeouts-per-nine innings. He originally began his career with the Giants and had a decent 3.61 ERA in 42 1⁄3 innings in 2022 before he was traded to Oakland for cash considerations. Long has a 94 mph fastball and a curveball that opponents hit just .154 against. He has a reverse split, meaning lefties actually hit him much better than righties in his career.
