Royals To Re-Sign Peter Moylan

The Royals have struck a minor-league deal with righty Peter Moylan, according to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The deal comes with a $1MM salary if Moylan can crack the MLB roster, MLBTR’s Steve Adams tweets. It also includes $250K in available incentives, and allows Moylan to opt out on March 28th if he hasn’t been added to the 40-man.

Moylan, 38, surprisingly resurrected his MLB career in 2015 with the Braves after working back from Tommy John surgery. Signed partly as a pitching instructor, he ended up throwing 10 1/3 MLB frames, posting a 3.48 ERA and compiling eight strikeouts without a single walk.

After landing with the Royals on a minors deal, Moylan again surprised. In 44 2/3 innings, his most extensive major league action since 2010, he worked to a 3.43 ERA with 6.9 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9. Though he doesn’t have much in the way of velocity, Moylan managed a solid 9.6% swinging-strike rate with his sinker-slider combo. Of course, he’s best limited to seeing opposing righties, as southpaws feasted on him last year.

Despite his contributions to Kansas City in 2016, Moylan will have to battle for a roster spot this spring. The Royals may need to stash some starters in the bullpen, and have already lined up a long list of former MLB hurlers to compete in camp with some of the team’s internal options. That includes Seth Maness, Bobby Parnell, Al Alburquerque, and Brandon League.