Lyles released by Royals after time on restricted list

KANSAS CITY -- The Royals officially released veteran pitcher Jordan Lyles on Sunday after he went unclaimed on unconditional release waivers.

Lyles, 33, has been on the restricted list since April 20 for what the Royals described as a personal matter. The club had little to no contact with him while he dealt with his situation and did not offer further details as to what he was dealing with in deference to Lyles’ privacy. The reasons players can be placed on the restricted list are numerous and subject to MLB and MLBPA’s approval. Players on the restricted list remain under contractual control of their club, but are not on the 40-man roster and are typically not compensated and do not accrue service time.

However, Lyles reported to the Royals’ complex in Arizona in June to start pitching again. Because he was on the restricted list, MLB rules dictated he had 30 days to work his way back before the Royals had to make a roster decision. At the end of 30 days, they either had to activate him back onto the 40-man and 26-man roster or release him.

A player on the restricted list cannot go on a rehab assignment, and Lyles has more than five years of service time, meaning he cannot be optioned to the Minor Leagues without his consent.

Lyles had been pitching in simulated games in Arizona, but given his months-long absence, the Royals did not think he was ready to jump back into the Major Leagues and be a part of their 13-man pitching staff. With the 30 days up on Friday, the Royals had to make the decision and subsequent roster move before Saturday’s game.

“This is still sort of an ongoing thing, so out of respect to Jordan and the personal nature of it, we don’t want to comment too much,” Royals senior vice president/assistant general manager Scott Sharp said. “We wish him well moving forward. The organization was, due to certain rules and restrictions, we were in a position where we had to make a decision. The best decision for the organization was to release Jordan Lyles.”

Lyles signed a two-year, $17 million deal with the Royals before the 2023 season and posted a 6.28 ERA across 31 starts and 177 2/3 innings last year. He opened the ‘24 season in the bullpen and pitched five scoreless innings in five appearances before he was placed on the restricted list.

“It’s not how we wanted it to work out,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “We know he’s been gone for personal reasons, and there’s not a whole lot else we can really say about it other than we hope everything works out the best for him. We signed him to a two-year deal in hopes we’d have him here the whole time, but it didn’t work out that way.”

Lyles was not compensated nor did he accrue service time while on the restricted list. Whether the Royals are on the hook for the remainder of his salary this year remains to be seen, as that must be resolved by MLB and MLBPA.

Lyles becomes an unrestricted free agent now and can sign with any team. It’s unlikely the Royals will re-sign him to the organization this year.