The playoff-contending Kansas City Royals made the most of roster expansion by adding four players with major league experience on Sunday: Yuli Gurriel, Tommy Pham, Robbie Grossman, and Alec Marsh.
While major league teams are allowed to expand their rosters by two players for the final month of the regular season, the Royals created additional space by designating left-hander Anthony Veneziano for assignment and sending infielder Nick Loftin and outfielder Tyler Gentry to Triple-A Omaha.
Pham and Grossman were claimed off waivers on Friday from the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers, respectively. Gurriel was acquired in a trade from the Atlanta Braves, also on Friday.
Pham, 36, is a .258 career hitter with 137 home runs, 462 RBIs, and 125 steals over 1,098 games in 11 seasons. He has also played for the Tampa Bay Rays (2018-19), San Diego Padres (2020-21), Cincinnati Reds (2022), Boston Red Sox (2022), and New York Mets (2023).
Grossman, 34, has a .243 career batting average with 93 home runs and 429 RBIs in 1,197 games over 12 seasons with the Houston Astros (2013-15), Minnesota Twins (2016-18), Oakland Athletics (2019-20), Detroit Tigers (2021-22), Atlanta Braves (2022), Rangers (2023-24), and White Sox.
Gurriel, 40, has a career .281 batting average with 98 home runs and 462 RBIs over 909 games in eight seasons with the Houston Astros (2016-22) and Miami Marlins (2023). He played 75 games in Triple-A for the Braves this season, hitting .292 with 12 home runs and 48 RBIs.
In his second season with the Royals, the 26-year-old Marsh went 7-7 with a 4.67 ERA in 21 appearances (20 starts) earlier this year.