Royals Select Dairon Blanco

The Royals have selected the contract of outfielder Dairon Blanco and he will be starting in left field tonight, with his agent Lisette Carnet of Leona Sports relaying the news on Twitter. The club later made the move official, with Jackie Bradley Jr. designated for assignment in a corresponding move.

Blanco, 30, began his career in Cuba’s Serie Nacional but left the country in 2016 at the age of 23 and was declared a free agent. Reports on him at that time highlighted his elite speed but there was less certainty around his hitting and fielding abilities. He lingered on the open market for over a year, signing with the Athletics in December of 2017, effectively missing two years of development while trying to transition from Cuba to the affiliated ranks. After about a year and a half in the A’s system, he was dealt to the Royals as part of the 2019 Jake Diekman trade.

The minor leagues were canceled in 2020, costing Blanco yet another year of development. Nonetheless, he has been playing well in the minors since. In 2021, he split his time between Double-A and Triple-A, hitting a combined .277/.350/.441 on the year for a wRC+ of 113. He also used his speed to swipe 41 bags in 55 tries. In 107 Triple-A games last year, he hit .301/.367/.486 for a wRC+ of 125 and stole another 45 bases in 52 tries.

He was briefly added to the major league roster while Michael A. Taylor was in COVID contact tracing protocols, getting into five big league games but striking out in four of his seven plate appearances. He was designated for assignment and cleared waivers, sticking in the Royals’ system. So far this year, he’s hitting an excellent .347/.444/.451 in Triple-A, walking in 10.6% of his trips to the plate while striking out in just 16.8% of them. His speed has been on display more than ever, as he already has an unfathomable 47 steals in 49 games this year, getting caught six times.

There’s little stopping the Royals from giving Blanco an extended audition at the moment. Bradley’s struggles have pushed him off the roster entirely while the recent injury to Vinnie Pasquantino has pushed Nick Pratto off the grass and into the first base spot. Drew Waters has also yet to get into a good groove, hitting just .184/.244/.263 in 12 games after missing most of the season while on the injured list. MJ Melendez also has a tepid line of .216/.300/.358 so far this season.

The Royals are enduring a dismal season right now, currently sporting an 18-47 record that’s just better than the league-worst Athletics. Since they clearly won’t be in contention this year, that gives them plenty of incentive to use the remaining portions of the season to take a shot on an exciting player like Blanco and see how he handles himself against big league pitching. Even if he proves to be subpar at the plate, he could be plenty useful as a pinch runner.

Due to the multiple obstacles in his path to the big leagues, Blanco is older than the average prospect. But he still has a full slate of options and won’t be able to get to a full year of service time this year. That gives the Royals plenty of ability to cheaply retain him as an intriguing roster piece for the foreseeable future.