Manaea, Nimmo among latest spring cuts

Royals left-hander Sean Manaea and Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo, both ranked among baseball's top 100 prospects, were assigned to Minor League camp Friday in their clubs' first round of spring cuts.

Manaea, MLB.com's No. 57 overall prospect, has been bothered by minor abdominal discomfort and did not pitch for the Royals in Arizona. Nimmo, regarded as baseball's No. 73 prospect, was bothered by a hand injury and appeared and went 0-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout in two Grapefruit League games for the Mets.

Both players are coming off seasons in which they were named Organization All-Stars. In his first pro campaign, Manaea went 7-8 with a 3.11 ERA and a Carolina League-leading 146 strikeouts in 25 starts at Class A Advanced Wilmington. Nimmo, a 2011 first-round pick (13th overall), split 2014 between Class A Advanced St. Lucie and Double-A Binghamton, assembling a .278/.394/.426 slash line with 10 home runs, 51 RBIs and 14 stolen bases in 18 tries.

Manaea is the Royals' second-ranked prospect behind shortstop Raul Mondesi, while Nimmo is considered the Mets' No. 4 prospect.

In other moves, the Nationals assigned catchers Pedro Severino and Spencer Kieboom -- the club's 11th- and 20th-ranked prospects, respectively -- to Minor League camp, while the Astros did the same with outfielder Domingo Santana, their No. 3 prospect last season.