TUESDAY, July 24th: Kendall has retired, according to a Royals press release. He played in two games before retiring, collecting one single in three trips to the plate.
THURSDAY, July 19th: The Royals announced that they signed veteran catcher Jason Kendall to a minor league contract. Kendall will report to Double-A Northwest Arkansas, where he's scheduled to start tomorrow night.
Kendall missed the end of the 2010 season and all of the 2011 season to recover from shoulder surgery. The 38-year-old is a three-time All-Star who ranks fifth all-time with 2,025 games caught. Kendall posted a .256/.318/.297 batting line for the Royals in 2010, his last season in the Major Leagues.
Please tell me it’s so he can retire a Royal, but that makes about as much sense as the signing in the first place.
Just another move that makes you scratch your head as a Royals fan…
Not really at all. More of a good move he will stay in the minors and help our young pitching out.
I’m guessing this is a move that eventually turns into him having a coaching job. He’ll be a good presence for the young pitching staff. Maybe a desperation move hoping he can help fix Mike Montgomery.
Agree totally. I think he’ll make a great coach.
One of the few people that know what they are talking about here.
Hahahaha.
Kendall? as in Jason Kendall? Now I understand why all of their frustrations fell on Cano… right now I just feel sorry for KC fans.
I got it! The Rays are looking for a catcher and relievers for Shields or Hellickson… Sooooo are they are going to move Brayan Pena, Jonathan Broxton and our new lottery pick for Shields or Hellickson? J/k
That scenario (or similar) probably isn’t as crazy as you think. Any Royals catcher beyond Salvador Perez is strictly a back-up, so Pena could easily become trade-bait. If not the Rays, the Nationals want a catcher, so maybe GMDM is working on a trade involving Pena + other(s) for Ross Detwiler or something.
Honest question, who has more trade value Pena or Pina?
Depends on who is placing the value. Pina is 25 and in AA, while Pena has plenty of MLB experience and is 30 years old. The Nationals definitely want an experienced guy for right now, as they have multiple catchers injured. Pina is younger and seems to be having an OK season this year, but his career minor league stats aren’t too impressive.
I don’t think you can call this season OK for Pina, since he was injured for almost all of it. He’s only been back for a few weeks
I would say Manny Pina does because of his age, defense and upside. Depends on what a team is looking for though… Pena has experience and may be the better hitter of the two but he is not as strong in the defense department as Manny Pina.
Jesus, I thought he was retired.
I really Jason Kendall and I hope he makes it back soon!
Nice signing…15 years ago.
Will he be swinging his walking cane at the plate?
Well, okay. Maybe they have something, signing aged occasional all stars who haven’t been in the game in over a year. They could replace Yuni Betancourt with Mark Grudzielanek, shore up the rotation with Kenny Rogers and Tim Wakefield, and add Troy Percival to the bullpen. Makes about as much sense.
An old person joke that didn’t include a Moyer mention? Good on you, sir.
Kenny Rogers? That’d be a gamble.
Great chicken though….
great career, time to retire when you just slugged .297.
Good to see Kendall land somewhere. Always a grinder and class act.
what a badass
Frank White can’t get in Kauffman Stadium, but you can’t keep Jason Kendall out. What a World!
Rick Dempsey caught Jim Palmer’s 1st pitch before an Orioles game over the weekend. Could The Dempster be contemplating a comeback also? He’s only 62..
Wait what year is this?
/reads next note on Jamie Moyer
Ahh…back to 1997. Awesome. Think of all the tail I’ll get in high school this time around!!!
/Leaves house
/Get immediately arrested
Could be worse, could be Kurt Suzuki…
Only a few people here know what they are talking about here. Montgomery has been a big prospect for us that has been terrible. Kendall eventually will coach, so he can help our young pitching out. We already have Perez not needing anything more out of Kendall.
Goodbye. You are a warrior and good luck. Hope you’re coaching with the Royals soon.
Even though his abilities went downward, he always wanted to win and give his heart out. Class act, he will be a great coach down the years
“Good Job, Good Effort”
If this is the start of a coaching career, I hope it leads to a great second career as that. I remember when he was that rare catcher who had great speed…early in his career, he had 3 seasons where he stole 20 or more bases, and the middle of those 3 seasons, he stole 22 before a gruesome ankle break ended his season as he flew down the first-base line trying to beat out an infield hit…and then collapsed in a heap. That tells me all about his exceptional speed for a catcher that I need to know.
He also never was an automatic out either, not hitting below .241 any season. As for HOF, I don’t think he gets in, but he did have over 2,000 hits and was a career .288 hitter.
Best Jason Kendall Moment: The Sulk-Off win against the Angels in 2005.
This. A hundred thousand times this.
What happened?
This dude has had a very underrated Career. 44 career War. A 4.8 win season in 1997 as a 23 year old, 6.1 War in 1998 as a 24 year old.. All while playing catcher? If fangraphs and advanced stats were more prevalent ten years ago this guy would have been considered one of the best young players in baseball.
I always loved how Jason played, balls to the wall all the time. I was sad to see him leave the burgh.