Kansas City Royals News

The Kansas City Royals agreed on a minor league deal with right-hander Drew Storen, according to published reports on Friday.Storen will receive $1.25 million if added to the 40-man roster, with an opportunity to earn more through performance bonuses.The 31-year-old Storen missed all of last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in late September of 2017.Storen has experienced past success as a closer, saving a career-best 43 games in 48 chances in 2011 and 29 in 34 chances in 2015 for the Washington Nationals.

Left-handed reliever Jake Diekman was signed Wednesday by the Kansas City Royals to a one-year contract with a mutual option for 2020 worth a guaranteed $2.75 million.The 32-year-old Diekman will make $2.25 million in base salary this season, with performance bonuses available for games and games finished. The Royals can buy out his option year for $500,000.To make room on the 40-man roster for Diekman, the Royals placed right-hander Jesse Hahn on the 60-day injured list. While recovering from Tommy John surgery, Hahn is not expected to be ready by Opening Day.Last season, Diekman pitched for the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks, finishing with a career-worst 4.73 ERA over 71 combined appearances.He has a career record of 14-15 with a 3.75 ERA and 383 strikeouts in 312 innings over 365 relief appearances. He appeared in 47 games for the Rangers and went 1-1 with a 3.69 ERA, 48 strikeouts and 23 walks in 39 innings.

More than two years since right-hander Yordano Ventura died in an automobile accident, the Kansas City Royals reportedly still have not paid his estate the guaranteed $20.25 million remaining on his contract.A 13-game winner for the 2015 World Series champions, Ventura was 25 when he perished in a single-car crash in his native Dominican Republic on Jan. 22, 2017.At the time of his death, Ventura had three years and $20.25 million remaining on a five-year contract signed before the 2015 campaign.According to the Kansas City Star, Ventura's 5-year-old daughter is listed as the sole heir to his estate, and the estate is now broke.The Star said the matter is currently being negotiated confidentially between Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association.

The Kansas City Royals signed right-hander Homer Bailey to a minor-league contract that includes an invitation to spring training, the team announced on Saturday.The deal will pay him $550,000 if he makes the big-league roster and allows him the choice to opt out on March 25, according to MLB.com.The 32-year-old Bailey spent 12 seasons with the Cincinnati Reds and threw two no-hitters but struggled last season with a 1-14 record and 6.09 ERA in 20 starts.Bailey was dealt to the Dodgers in December as part of the deal that brought outfielders Matt Kemp and Yasiel Puig and left-hander Alex Wood to the Reds. Los Angeles released Bailey and he became a free agent.Bailey is 67-77 with a 4.56 ERA in 212 career starts. He posted a career-high 13 victories in 2012 and recorded a career-best 3.49 ERA in 2013.

The Kansas City Royals reached an agreement Wednesday with right-handed reliever Brad Boxberger, multiple outlets reported.The deal is for one year and $2.2 million, with at least another $1 million available in incentives, MLB Network reported.Boxberger, 30, moved into the closer's role for the Arizona Diamondbacks last season, earning 32 saves in 40 chances with a 4.39 ERA over 60 appearances.

The Kansas City Royals are close to an agreement with second baseman Whit Merrifield on a four-year contract extension, MLB.com writer Jon Morosi reported Sunday.Merrifield is eligible for salary arbitration after the 2019 season, meaning the extension would cover all three of his arbitration-eligible seasons before he could enter free agency.According to Morosi's sources, the deal is worth $16.25 million with $2 million in performance bonuses.Merrifield, who turned 30 on Thursday, led the majors in hits (192) and stolen bases (45) last season. He batted .304 with 43 doubles and 88 runs in 158 games.

Kansas City Royals left-hander Eric Skoglund has been suspended 80 games without pay after testing positive for two performance-enhancing substances, commissioner Rob Manfred's office announced Wednesday.Skoglund, 26, was 1-6 in 14 games (13 starts) for the Royals last season, posting a 5.14 ERA with 49 strikeouts in 70 innings.The league said he tested positive for both Ostarine and Ligandrol in violation of Major League Baseball's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.His suspension will be effective at the start of the 2019 regular season, per the commissioner's statement.The Royals released a lengthy statement from general manager Dayton Moore, who said Skoglund "unknowingly made a mistake.""Unfortunately when something like this occurs I immediately think about how much work and dedication our medical staff does communicating to the players about the importance of being careful about what they put in their bodies," the statement read. "I'm appreciative that professional baseball players are tested more frequently than any professional athlete and we should all be thankful that testing is working.

The Kansas City Royals have signed outfielder Billy Hamilton to a one-year contract with a mutual option for the 2020 season, the team announced Tuesday.Details of the agreement were not disclosed.Hamilton, 28, has been with the Cincinnati organization since the Reds drafted him in the second round in 2009.He batted just .236 in 2018, but finished second in the National League in stolen bases (34) and tied for second in triples (nine). He played in a career-high 153 games and tied for the major league lead with 12 outfield assists.

The Kansas City Royals are finalizing a one-year, $5.25 million contract with former Cincinnati Reds center fielder Billy Hamilton, according to multiple reports Monday.The deal, which is pending a physical, reportedly includes $1 million in additional incentives.General manager Dayton Moore confirmed on MLB Network Radio that the team wanted to add Hamilton as it seeks a better defender in center field."He fits our ballpark," Moore said of Hamilton. "We covet that speed. You have to be able to cover Kauffman Stadium, and the truth of the matter is ever since Lorenzo Cain departed through free agency, we had a lot of trouble covering 'The K' last year. ... So we've got to get an impact center fielder. He can really go get the ball."

The Kansas City Royals have named former St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny as a special advisor, the team announced Friday.Royals general manager Dayton Moore said Matheny will work in the scouting and player development areas."This is a great opportunity to have Mike become a member of our organization," Moore in a statement. "It's always been our policy to hire the best baseball people we can and this is a perfect example of that."A former catcher, Matheny spent 13 seasons in the major leagues, playing for Milwaukee, Toronto, San Francisco and St. Louis from 1994 to 2006. After retirement, he went to work in the Cardinals' front office and was named manager after the 2011 season, replacing Tony La Russa.Matheny led the Cardinals to the postseason in each of his first four seasons as manager and won the National League pennant in 2013, when Boston defeated St. Louis in the World Series in six games.The Cardinals fired Matheny is mid-July when St. Louis was 47-46 and 7 1/2 games behind the Chicago Cubs in the National League Central.

Former major league pitcher and pitching coach Bill Fischer died Tuesday night in Council Bluffs, Iowa. He was 88.The Kansas Royals announced Fischer's death. Fischer spent the past eight years as senior pitching advisor for the team after serving as the team's pitching coordinator from 2007-10."His contributions were immense," Royals general manager Dayton Moore said in a statement. "He was as impactful as any staff member that we've ever had. His mind was so sharp. I was with him Monday, and he was still talking about the players and the team and how we're going to be good again in a couple of years. Everyone loved his input."Fischer, who was involved in baseball for 71 years, holds the major league record for most consecutive innings without a walk. He set the mark in 1962 when he went 84 1/3 innings without issuing a free pass while he was a member of the Kansas City Athletics.Overall, Fischer went 45-58 with a 4.34 ERA in 281 career appearances (78 starts) over nine seasons with the Chicago White Sox (1956-58), Detroit Tigers (1958, 1960-61), Washington Senators (1958-60), the Athletics (1961-63) and Minnesota Twins (1964).

Francisco Lindor hit a home run and Carlos Carrasco pitched five strong innings as the visiting Cleveland Indians ended the regular season with a 2-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals.Trevor Bauer added four scoreless innings to earn the save in support of Carrasco in his final tune-up before the postseason. The Indians, who finished the season with a 91-71 record, next play Friday at Houston in Game 1 of the American League Division Series.Lindor hit his 38th home run of the season in the third inning. He also scored in the first inning after he stole third base and came home when Royals third baseman Alcides Escobar could not handle the throw.Carrasco (17-10) gave up just one run on three hits, with two walks and six strikeouts. The right-hander, who won for the first time since Aug. 28, is next expected to pitch in Game 2 of the ALDS.In just his third appearance since returning from the disabled list, Bauer retired 12 of the 14 batters he faced, while making his first relief appearance of the season. He earned his first career save.Rookie Meibrys Viloria had an RBI single in the fifth inning for the Royals' only run. IRoyals starter Eric Skoglund (1-6) gave up two runs (one earned) on three hits over five innings, with two walks and three strikeouts.

Adalberto Mondesi smacked a tiebreaking three-run homer in the sixth inning and the Kansas City Royals went on to a 9-4 victory over the visiting Cleveland Indians on Saturday night.Whit Merrifield went 2-for-4 with a two-run double to match his career-best hitting streak of 19 games. Merrifield also stole two bases to take over the major league-lead with 44 as the Royals won for the fifth time in six games.Alcides Escobar and Meibrys Viloria each had three hits as Kansas City racked up 16 overall.Jose Ramirez went 3-for-4 with a homer and Melky Cabrera had two hits for the American League Central champion Indians. Cleveland has dropped two of the first three games of the four-game set.Royals right-hander Jakob Junis (9-12) gave up three runs and eight hits over six innings while winning his third straight decision. He struck out six and walked one.Indians ace right-hander Corey Kluber gave up three runs and seven hits over five innings in his final tune-up prior to the postseason. Kluber struck out six and walked two.Kansas City continued battering Miller with three consecutive singles, the last by Ryan O'Hearn to increase the lead to four.The Royals added two more runs in the seventh. Brian Goodwin led off with a double and scored on Escobar's single to right, and Alex Gordon added a run-scoring single later in the inning to make it 9-3.

The Kansas City Royals announced before Sunday's season finale that manager Ned Yost will return to the team in 2019 on a one-year contract extension.The contract of Yost, 64, was set to expire, but he instead will return for a 10th season with the Royals.After disassembling much of its previous core entering the year, Kansas City began Sunday at 58-103, easily the team's worst record since Yost took over early in the 2010 season.But Yost said earlier this week that he has plenty of optimism for the Royals' future, despite the poor record.

Josh Donaldson hit a grand slam during a 10-run seventh inning as the Cleveland Indians broke open a tight game to post a 14-6 victory over the host Kansas City Royals on Friday night at Kauffman Stadium.Donaldson also doubled during the big inning in which Cleveland sent 14 batters to the plate. Jason Kipnis homered earlier in the contest and Roberto Perez had three RBIs as the American League Central-champion Indians (90-70) won for the fifth time in the past seven games.Right-hander Mike Clevinger (13-8) was charged with one run and three hits over 6 2/3 innings to win for the sixth time in his last seven decisions. Clevinger struck out five and walked none.Kansas City (57-103) had a four-game winning streak halted. The loss was just the Royals' fourth in their past 18 home games.The bases were loaded when Roberto Perez bounced a run-scoring single through the left side. Francisco Lindor followed with a grounder to first but Ryan O'Hearn's throw home was wild and two runs scored as the Indians took a 5-0 lead.Edwin Encarnacion singled in a run to make it 6-0, before Donaldson followed by belting a 1-0 slider from right-hander Jake Newberry well over the fence in left for his fifth career grand slam to make it a 10-run margin.Greg Allen added a run-scoring double later in the inning to make it 11-0.Roberto Perez delivered a two-run double in the ninth to make it 13-1. Lindor followed with an infield single that plated a run and capped the 16-hit attack.

Perez's hit drove in Adalberto Mondesi from third base and gave Kansas City its fourth consecutive win. The Royals (57-102) have prevailed in 14 of their past 17 home games.Mondesi homered in the third inning for Kansas City's first run.Josh Donaldson went 3-for-4 for Cleveland while Melky Cabrera and Yandy Diaz each recorded two hits. The loss was just second in the past six games for the American League Central champion Indians (89-70).Kansas City's Whit Merrifield had two hits to extend his season-best hitting streak to 17 games. He also stole his AL-leading 42nd base of the season, one behind major league leader Shea Turner of the Washington Nationals.Mondesi drew a two-out walk in the 10th off Indians right-hander Neil Ramirez (0-3). Mondesi stole second and later stole third when a full-count pitch to Alex Gordon missed the plate for a walk.Perez came up and delivered the decisive single on the first pitch from Ramirez.Cleveland had a scoring opportunity in the top of the 10th when Greg Allen singled to left with one out and stole second. Jose Ramirez walked and one out later, Allen and Ramirez pulled off a double steal.Right-hander Jason Hammel (4-14) got out of the jam by striking out Brandon Barnes.Indians right-hander Josh Tomlin allowed one run and four hits over 4 2/3 innings. He struck out five and walked none.

Rookie Health Fillmyer pitched into the eighth inning and recorded his first major league hit and RBI as the Kansas City Royals defeated the host Cincinnati Reds 6-1 Wednesday night at Great American Ball Park.Fillmyer (4-2) allowed one run on four hits and two walks while striking out nine over 7 1/3 innings as the Royals (56-102) completed a two-game sweep of the Reds (66-93). The 24-year-old right-hander also added an RBI double, his first career hit, in just his fourth career at-bat.Fillmyer retired 11 Reds in a row between the second and fifth innings.The Royals' legs helped them score their first two runs. Adalberto Mondesi and American League stolen base leader Whit Merrifield swiped two bags apiece as Kansas City built a 2-1 early lead.Mondesi hit a one-out single in the top of the first, stole second and third and scored on a Salvador Perez double for a 1-0 lead. In the third, Merrifield led off with a single and stole his 40th and 41st bases before scoring on an Alex Gordon single to center.Hunter Dozier walked, Jorge Bonifacio doubled and Alcides Escobar had an RBI infield single in the top of the fourth for a 3-1 Royals advantage.Mondesi tripled to lead off the fifth and astutely scored on Gordon's infield groundout to Reds reliever Sal Romano. As soon as Romano threw to first, Mondesi broke for home and slid well ahead of the attempted tag for a 4-1 score.Kansas City made it 5-1 when Fillmyer, who entered 0-for-2 in his career, drove a two-out double over a leaping Reds second baseman Scooter Gennett to score Escobar, who reached on an error by Reds shortstop Jose Peraza.

Rookie third baseman Hunter Dozier hit a solo homer in the top of the ninth inning to lead the Kansas City Royals to a 4-3 win over the host Cincinnati Reds on a rainy Tuesday night at Great American Ball Park.Dozier hit the second pitch from Reds closer Raisel Iglesias (2-5) for his 11th of the season, and it came after the Reds loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the eighth and failed to score.The Royals (55-102) won for just the fifth time in 19 interleague games. The Reds (66-92) have lost five of six and are 10-9 against the American League.Kevin McCarthy (5-4), the fifth Royals pitcher thanks in part to a 51-minute rain delay in the third inning, picked up the win after escaping the eighth-inning jam by getting two ground balls and a strikeout.Right-hander Wily Peralta allowed the Reds to again load the bases in the ninth, but got Joey Votto to ground out for his 14th save.The Reds had tied the game at 3-3 in the seventh when Scooter Gennett lined a triple into the right-field corner, and rookie Phillip Ervin singled to left.The Reds trailed 3-0 until Dilson Herrera, pinch hitting for starter Matt Harvey, blasted a two-run homer to right field in the bottom of the fifth.

Cam Gallagher had a go-ahead, two-run single, Adalberto Mondesi homered and Kansas City edged Detroit 3-2 in the Tigers' home finale on Sunday afternoon.Alcides Escobar and Rosell Herrera each had two hits and scored a run for the Royals (54-102). Mondesi also had two hits.Brad Keller (9-6) limited the Tigers to one run and three hits in seven innings. Kevin McCarthy pitched a scoreless inning prior to Wily Peralta notching his 13th save, despite giving up a ninth-inning run.Nicholas Castellanos and Victor Reyes drove in the runs for Detroit (63-93). Jeimer Candelario and Niko Goodrum scored the runs.The Royals outhit the Tigers 10-6. The two teams split the four-game series at Comerica Park.Daniel Norris started for the Tigers and tossed five innings, giving up one run on six hits. Drew VerHagen (3-3) gave up two runs on three hits in an inning to take the loss.Kansas City grabbed a quick lead when Mondesi, the second batter of the game, hit his 12th homer of the season to left.The Royals loaded the bases in the third but came up empty when Hunter Dozier grounded into a double play.

Mikie Mahtook blasted a go-ahead, two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth, lifting the host Detroit Tigers to a 5-4 win over the visiting Kansas City Royals on Saturday at Comerica Park.Mahtook followed Niko Goodrum's leadoff single with his ninth long ball of the season to left off Jason Hammel (3-14).Detroit designated hitter Victor Martinez, who announced a day earlier that Saturday's game would be the last of his career, was removed after an infield single in the first.Goodrum, who hadn't played since Sept. 12 due to a right quad contusion, had three hits, scored a run and knocked in two more. Nicholas Castellanos recorded his 19th three-hit game this season and scored a run.Joe Jiminez (5-4) wound up with the victory after giving up an eighth-inning run.Shane Greene collected his 31st save for the Tigers (63-92) despite allowing Salvador Perez's solo homer in the ninth.Detroit starter Jordan Zimmermann gave up two runs on three hits in seven innings, striking out five and walking two. Kansas City starter Jakob Junis, who won his previous four starts against the Tigers this season, allowed three runs on eight hits in six innings with five strikeouts and one walk.Whit Merrifield reached base four times on two hits and two walks, scored a run and knocked in another for Kansas City (53-102). Alex Gordon added a solo shot.Detroit has won two of the first three games of the four-game series.