The Kansas City Royals have seen their fair share of old friends find new homes or enter transactional limbo this offseason and Tuesday provided the latest example.<\/p>\n
In a similar fashion to his former Royals and Mariners teammate in Samad Taylor<\/a>, Jackson Kowar also found himself designated for assignment by Seattle this week<\/a>.<\/p>\n The move comes after the Mariners needed to make space on their 40-man roster following their acquisition of depth catcher Jhonny Pereda from the Royals division rivals in Minnesota.<\/p>\n This marks just the latest chapter of the former Royals first-rounder failing to find his footing in the big leagues since getting his initial call to the majors years ago.<\/p>\n Former Royals first rounder Jackson Kowar faces another career hiccup after Seattle DFA<\/p>\n Since making his debut in 2021 with the Royals, Kowar has been unsuccessfully chasing the immense expectations he set for himself as a standout arm at the University of Florida.<\/p>\n After a series of mid-3.00s ERA showings in Kansas City’s minor league ranks from 2018 to 2021, Kansas City gave him the call in 2021, and quite frankly it couldn’t have gone worse.<\/p>\n In nine appearances, eight of which were starts, Kowar tossed to an 11.27 ERA, 2.08 WHIP and .326 BAA across 30.1 innings.<\/p>\n Then, the next two seasons didn’t really quell the narrative that 2021 was simply year jitters. In 2022 he only managed to make seven bullpen appearances and threw to a 9.77 ERA and then in 2023, he appeared in 28.0 innings across 23 relief appearances and posted a measly 6.43 ERA.<\/p>\n That would mark the end of his time with the Royals, as they’d end up sending him off to Atlanta in the Kyle Wright deal<\/a>. The Braves would then flip him to Seattle just a few weeks later.<\/p>\n Then, after a lengthy IL stint due to undergoing Tommy John Surgery, Kowar would finally make his return to the majors in 2025, sporadically appearing in the M’s bullpen and posting a respectable enough 4.24 ERA across 17.0 innings of work.<\/p>\n