With their starting rotation depth stretched thin, the Royals acquired right-hander Randy Dobnak from the Mariners on Wednesday for cash considerations, the club announced.
Dobnak, 31, was signed by Seattle this past offseason to a Minor League deal, but he exercised an upward mobility clause in his contract that meant he would have to be added to the Mariners' 40-man roster or offered to the other 29 clubs. The Royals added him to their 40-man roster and optioned him to Triple-A Omaha.
“Depth is a big part of it,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “He’s obviously been around. Pitched in the big leagues. Has started, relieved. Our depth has been challenged here as of late because of the injuries. To have somebody like him available that we could acquire is a very nice thing for us.”
With three starting pitchers and two relievers currently sidelined with injuries -- Cole Ragans (left elbow impingement), Kris Bubic (left elbow soreness), Seth Lugo (concussion protocol), Carlos Estévez (right rotator cuff strain) and Nick Mears (right shoulder impingement), the Royals have now added two new pitchers to the organization this past week in Dobnak and reliever Connor Seabold, who was designated for assignment by the Blue Jays and added to the Royals’ active roster on Tuesday.
Lugo is slated to come off the IL on Friday and start against the Cardinals. The Royals transferred Ragans to the 60-day IL to make room for Dobnak on the 40-man. Ragans suffered a setback in his rehab process and has been shut down since last Friday as the Royals try to gather more information on his current status. He was seeking a second opinion on his elbow this week and determining the next steps. With his 60-day IL transfer, he now won’t be able to come off the IL until July 6.
Dobnak has made 39 career appearances (21 starts) at the Major League level since making his big league debut with the Twins in 2019, when he posted a 1.59 ERA over 28 1/3 innings for Minnesota. He's dealt with finger injuries that caused him to miss significant time from 2021-22.
In 13 starts for Triple-A Tacoma in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League this year, Dobnak posted a 4.24 ERA.