The Royals have designated struggling left-hander Bailey Falter for assignment, per a team announcement. He’s out of minor league options, so simply sending him to Triple-A Omaha without a DFA wasn’t possible. Righty Mason Black was recalled from Omaha in a corresponding move.
Falter, 29, has appeared in five games (two of them starts) for the Royals this season. He’s allowed runs in all five, including multiple runs in four of the five. Those struggles culminated last night in a seven-run drubbing at the hands of the Yankees in a start that saw Falter fail to escape the third inning.
Kansas City acquired Falter from the Pirates last July in a trade sending reliever Evan Sisk and minor league first baseman Callan Moss back to Pittsburgh. Falter didn’t fare well in a dozen post-trade innings last season and clearly hasn’t turned a corner in 2026. His time with the Royals could well wrap up with a gruesome 12.46 ERA in 21 2/3 innings.
Despite the fact that Falter allowed 15 runs in a dozen innings following last year’s trade, the Royals opted to tender him a contract. That resulted in a $3.6MM deal for the current season, which all but guarantees that Falter will pass through waivers unclaimed and accept an outright assignment to Omaha. Rejecting the assignment would mean forfeiting the remainder of that money. If he’s not added back to the roster at any point this season, Falter would have the right to become a free agent at season’s end (as is true of all outrighted players with three-plus years of service who are not added back to the 40-man before the offseason).
Although Falter’s time with the Royals has been nightmarish, the lanky southpaw has had some decent stretches in the majors. He posted a 3.86 ERA in 84 innings for the 2022 Phillies and notched a 4.44 ERA in 54 games (52 starts) between the two Pennsylvania clubs (and, briefly, Kansas City) from 2024-25. From 2022-25, Falter pitched 467 2/3 major league frames and turned in a 4.50 earned run average with a 17.3% strikeout rate and 7.1% walk rate. That’s certainly not high-end performance, but it’s serviceable.
The Royals will have five days to trade Falter, place him on outright waivers or release him. Waivers are a 48-hour process, so the DFA can take up to a full week for resolution. It’d be a surprise if another club picked up the rest of that salary, so he’ll probably land in Omaha and try to get back on track with the Storm Chasers. The Royals have Cole Ragans, Kris Bubic and Alec Marsh all on the injured list at present, so there’s certainly opportunity in the rotation if Falter can right the ship in the upper minors.
