Royals Rumors

Gil Meche Announces Retirement

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | January 18, 2011 at 12:56pm CDT

Gil Meche has officially announced his retirement. The right-hander was set to earn $12MM this year, but Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports hears that he will forfeit that sum. Meche says his shoulder pushed him to this decision.

“As a competitor my entire life this is the hardest decision that I’ve ever faced, but it’s not fair to me, my family or the Kansas City Royals that I attempt to pitch anymore," Meche explained. "I came into this game as a starting pitcher and unfortunately my health, more accurately, my shoulder, has deteriorated to the point where surgery would be the only option and at this stage of my life I would prefer to call it a career rather than to attempt to pitch in relief for the final year of my contract."

Meche thanked the Royals and their fans for his four seasons in Kansas City.

Players To Avoid Arbitration: Monday

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | January 17, 2011 at 10:38pm CDT

Teams and players exchange arbitration figures tomorrow if they haven't already come to terms for 2011. That means plenty of players will likely avoid arbitration today. We'll keep track of them all right here and with our Arbitration Tracker; the latest updates are at the top of this post:

The Blue Jays avoided arbitration with Shawn Camp, agreeing to a one-year, $2.25MM deal, according to MLB.com's Gregor Chisholm (on Twitter).
The Tigers avoided arbitration with Armando Galarraga by agreeing to a one-year, $2.3MM deal, tweets Jon Heyman of SI.
The Orioles and Jim Johnson have agreed to a one-year, $975K deal, according to Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun.
The Blue Jays have reached agreement on a one-year, $830K deal with Jesse Litsch, according to Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star (Twitter links).
The Indians have avoided arbitration with Asdrubal Cabrera, agreeing to a one-year deal, according to the team's Twitter feed. The deal is worth $2.025MM, according to the Associated Press.
The Marlins have agreed to terms one-year deals with Leo Nunez and Edward Mujica, according to Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post (via Twitter). Nunez will earn $3.65MM, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com tweets. Meanwhile, Mujica will make $800K according to Juan C. Rodriguez of the Sun Sentinel (via Twitter).
The Blue Jays and Casey Janssen have agreed to a one-year deal worth $1.095MM, according to the Associated Press.
The Rays and B.J. Upton avoided arbitration, agreeing to a one-year deal worth $4.825MM, according to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times (Twitter links).
The Nationals avoided arbitration with John Lannan, agreeing to a one-year, $2.75MM deal, according to Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post.
The Rockies and Matt Lindstrom agreed to a two-year deal.
The Royals avoided arbitration with Robinson Tejeda, agreeing to a one-year contract, the team announced. It's worth $1.55MM, according to Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star (on Twitter). The deal leaves Billy Butler and Kyle Davies as Kansas City's remaining unsigned arbitration eligible players.

Quick Hits: Carpenter, Martin, Francis, Yankees

By Mike Axisa | January 15, 2011 at 10:26pm CDT

Eighteen years ago today, the Angels traded Lee Stevens to the Expos for minor leaguer Jeff Tuss, but Tuss refused to report to his new team. Keith Morrison, another minor leaguer, was included in the deal instead, and Tuss never played affiliated baseball again.

Here are today's batch of links…

Chris Carpenter told MLB.com's Matthew Leach that he's not worried about his future with the Cardinals. The right-hander is under contract for 2011 with a $15MM club option for 2012, but an extension for Albert Pujols might push the 35-year-old Carpenter out of town if the team needs to shed payroll.
Richard Griffin of The Toronto Star reports that the Blue Jays offered Russell Martin the same amount of money as the Yankees, but the catcher signed with New York because of a better opportunity to win (Twitter link). Shi Davidi of The Canadian Press tweets that the Jays wanted Martin to catch four times a week as well as play another position.
Jeff Francis said the Blue Jays did not show any interest in him before he joined the Royals according to Davidi on Twitter. Francis grew up in Canada, but nowhere close to Toronto.
Chad Jennings of the The Journal News takes a look at the Yankees' multiyear relief contract from the last decade.
Derrick Goold of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweets that Cardinals GM John Mozeliak has pledged to keep negotiations about a contract extension with Albert Pujols private.
The Rangers offered Jim Thome more than $4MM before he decided to sign with the Twins for $3MM, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). We knew that Thome turned down more money from Texas, but now we know how much.
Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts told fans that he has confidence in GM Jim Hendry at today's Cubs Convention according to MLB.com's Carrie Muskat (on Twitter).
Matt Gelb of The Philadelphia Inquirer says this winter's market for free agent relievers has been wonderful for Ryan Madson. The Phillies' setup man is due to become a free agent next offseason after his three-year, $12MM contract expires.

Royals To Sign Bruce Chen

By Mike Axisa | January 15, 2011 at 5:14pm CDT

The Royals and Bruce Chen have agreed to a one-year contract worth $2MM with another $1.5MM in performance bonuses according to SI.com's Jon Heyman (on Twitter). The deal is pending a physical per a team press release. Chen is represented by Scott Boras.

The 33-year-old is the second free agent lefty Kansas City has signed in as many days. Unlike Jeff Francis, Chen spent the 2010 season with the Royals, pitching to a 4.17 ERA in 140 1/3 innings. He struck out 6.3 and walked 3.7 batters per nine innings pitched, respectively. It was the second most innings Chen has pitched in a single big league season since 2001, as he's bounced around from team to team over the last decade.

Chen has extensive experience both starting and relieving, so he'll provide the Royals with quite a bit of flexibility should some of the high-end arms from their top ranking farm system come up during the season. He'll also be a nice piece of trade bait at the deadline should he repeat last season's success.

GM Dayton Moore recently indicated that he was prioritizing pitching depth, and within five days he signed both Chen and Francis for just a $4MM guarantee combined. Those two won't replace Zack Greinke's production, but they'll give the team much needed innings.

Quick Hits: Votto, Garcia, Francis, Contracts

By Mark Polishuk | January 14, 2011 at 11:21pm CDT

Some news items to take us into the weekend….

John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer hears from some player agents that Joey Votto will submit an arbitration number between $8.5-$9.5MM, while the Reds' counter-offer will be around $7MM. Back in August, MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith suggested that Votto would ask for $7MM, but since then Votto has added a playoff appearance and the NL MVP Award to his resume. Of course, arbitration talk could be moot if Votto and the Reds agree to an extension.
The White Sox don't have room in the rotation to bring back Freddy Garcia, says MLB.com's Scott Merkin as part of a reader mailbag.
The Royals' agreement with Jeff Francis is "the best deal of the winter in free agency," according to Dave Cameron of Fangraphs.
ESPN's Jayson Stark examines at the high number of expensive and/or long-term contracts signed this winter.
Lance Berkman talks to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about his offseason training regiment and how much pressure he's putting on himself to perform for the Cardinals. "If I have a repeat of last year I'm probably out of the game," Berkman says.
The top ten most favorable trades in Reds history are counted down by the Cincinnati Enquirer's Nick Hurm. Recent deals for Brandon Phillips and Bronson Arroyo are included, but it's hard to top the Cincinnati/Houston trade that installed Joe Morgan into the Big Red Machine.

Francis Chooses Royals Over Other Suitors

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | January 14, 2011 at 3:38pm CDT

Jeff Francis says he drew interest from "a bunch" of teams this offseason before agreeing to sign in Kansas City. His suitors reportedly included the Yankees and Rockies, but Francis chose the Royals instead of a team with a legitimate chance to contend in 2011.

As he explained on a conference call with reporters this afternoon, the left-hander chose the Royals because they offered him the opportunity to start and boast the game's most impressive collection of minor league prospects.

"From everything I've been able to learn, they certainly have the talent available," Francis said, comparing the current group of Royals prospects to the young Rockies players who made it to the 2007 World Series. "I've seen [a quick turnaround] happen before and I know it can be done."

Francis turned 30 over the weekend, but it wasn't long ago that he was a top prospect like current Royals lefties Mike Montgomery, John Lamb, Danny Duffy and Chris Dwyer. Though he doesn't consider himself much of a mentor yet, Francis knows what it's like to be a top prospect. As the 9th overall pick of the 2002 draft, Francis arrived in Colorado with lots of fanfare.

He leaves the Rockies – the only franchise he has ever known – for the American League. Francis says there could be an adjustment period and that he expects to succeed as long as he throws strikes, keeps hitters off-balance and stays healthy.

Injuries have been a problem throughout Francis' six-year big league career, but he says his left shoulder has been "feeling really good" and that he expects to be ready for Spring Training next month. The left-hander spent the entire 2009 season recovering from shoulder surgery and says he experienced some soreness again at the end of the 2010 campaign.

Royals, Alex Gordon Avoid Arbitration

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | January 14, 2011 at 12:51pm CDT

The Royals and Alex Gordon agreed to a one-year deal for 2011, avoiding arbitration, the team announced. Gordon made $1.15MM last year in his first campaign as an arbitration eligible player.

Gordon, the second overall pick in the 2005 draft, transitioned to the outfield last year after spending his entire career as a corner infielder. The 26-year-old hit .215/.315/.355 with eight homers in 281 plate appearances in 2010, so it seems unlikely that he got more than a token raise from the Royals.

Billy Butler, Kyle Davies and Rob Tejeda are Kansas City's remaining unsigned arbitration-eligible players, as MLBTR's Arbitration Tracker shows.

Royals To Sign Jeff Francis

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | January 14, 2011 at 10:28am CDT

The Royals have agreed to sign Jeff Francis to a one-year deal, the team announced. ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick first reported the deal and adds that it's for $2MM guaranteed plus $2MM in incentives (Twitter link). The agreement with the Frontline client is pending a physical.

Francis drew interest from at least seven teams this offseason before agreeing to sign in Kansas City. The lefty logged 104 1/3 innings and posted a 5.00 ERA with 5.8 K/9, 2.0 BB/9 and a healthy 46.8% ground ball rate last year. He missed the entire 2009 season as he recovered from shoulder surgery.

Once the Royals dealt Zack Greinke, their need for starting pitching became even more apparent. Their internal rotation candidates include Kyle Davies, Luke Hochevar, Sean O'Sullivan, Vin Mazzaro and Zach Miner, but GM Dayton Moore needed more starting pitching depth. Kansas City expressed interest in Kevin Millwood earlier in the winter and the Scott Boras client remains unsigned.

With Francis off the board and Carl Pavano nearing an agreement to return to Minnesota, there are virtually no free agent groundballers remaining.

As MLBTR's Transaction Tracker shows, the Royals have signed Jeff Francoeur and Melky Cabrera, traded David DeJesus and Greinke away and made a number of minor deals since the offseason began.

Royals Agree To Terms With Luke Hochevar

By Mark Polishuk | January 12, 2011 at 8:32pm CDT

The Royals have avoided arbitration with Luke Hochevar, agreeing to a one-year contract with the right-hander, tweets Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star. The club has confirmed the signing in a press release, and Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated tweets the deal is worth $1.76MM.

Hochevar, the first overall pick of the 2006 draft, is still looking for the breakout season that would pay off that high draft selection. He missed over two months of the 2010 season with an elbow strain but contributed a 4.81 ERA and a 2.05 K/BB ratio in 18 games, 17 of them starts. This was Hochevar's first year of arbitration eligibility.

Hochevar is the third arbitration-eligible player to reach a deal with Kansas City this winter, following Wilson Betemit and Brayan Pena. That's three players down and four to go for the Royals, as you can follow on the MLBTR Arb Tracker.

Royals Prioritizing Rotation Depth

By Mike Axisa | January 10, 2011 at 8:41pm CDT

It'll be impossible for the Royals to replace Zack Greinke's production, but the team still needs someone to soak up all those innings he leaves behind. Unsurprisingly, GM Dayton Moore told MLB.com's Dick Kaegel that rotation help is "the only area that we're focusing on," and that adding a starter(s) is his top priority before Spring Training begins.

Kansas City has lost not only Greinke this offseason, but also Bryan Bullington and Brian Bannister to Japan. Bruce Chen, who pitched to a 4.17 ERA in 140 1/3 innings last year, remains a free agent as well, though Moore left the door open to re-signing him. "We're still open-minded with that. He performed very well with us last year and he showed us what he had, and we've got a comfort level there," said the GM.

So far the only starting pitching help the team has imported this offseason is Zach Miner (on a minor league deal) and Vin Mazzaro (from the David DeJesus trade), though Moore said he doesn't expect the former to be ready until about June. He's open to improving his starting staff via trade however, and he has the game's best farm system to use as ammo.

On the free agent front, the Royals have been linked to Carl Pavano and Jeff Francis in recent weeks. Pavano looks to be heading back to the Twins, but Francis remains in play. Brad Penny could also be coming off the board. An interesting solution could be to convert Joakim Soria to a starter, something that close to 2,000 MLBTR readers would support, but so far the team has shown no inclination of making such a move.

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