The dust is still settling on the 2025 season, as last week brought its yearly mass exodus from the 40-man rosters across Major League Baseball.
The Kansas City Royals’ Triple-A team, the Omaha Storm Chasers, lost 16 players to minor-league free agency at the end of last week. Some, like former 20-game winner Kyle Wright, were fairly well-publicized. But others, like righty reliever Nick Robertson, left as quietly as they came in.
Robertson, a 6-foot-6, 235-pounder who arrived in an August minor-league deal, elected free agency on Thursday, potentially ending a very brief Royals tenure that included just nine appearances in a Storm Chasers uniform.
Nick Robertson heads to free agency
May 6, 2024; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Nick Robertson (29) pitches against the New York Mets during the ninth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images
For the Storm Chasers, Robertson posted a 4.41 ERA in nine outings, striking out 14 batters and allowing three home runs across 16 1/3 innings. He owns a 5.30 ERA in 27 big-league appearances, spread across four teams from 2023 to 2024.
This season, Robertson unfortunately never got his chance to join a big-league roster, and his overall ERA in Triple-A was 4.30 across 52 innings.
Robertson has had a very turbulent professional career so far. He was traded from the Los Angeles Dodgers to the Boston Red Sox at the 2023 deadline for Kiké Hernández, then again that offseason to the St. Louis Cardinals for Tyler O’Neill.
From that point forward, it’s been a string of quick exits. He was designated for assignment by the Cardinals in August of 2024, by the Los Angeles Angels in September 2024, by the Toronto Blue Jays this March, and by the Houston Astos in August.
To some degree, it must be nice for Robertson to leave the Royals organization on his own terms, and after a decent stint in Omaha with some inflated home run numbers over a small sample size, perhaps he could consider returning for a full season in the Kansas City organization.
Robertson turns 29 in July, so although he possesses all the physical traits teams like to see from their bullpen arms, this could be a crucial offseason for him to prove he deserves a shot at a big-league roster.
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