Kansas City Royals

The Kansas City Royals free-agent third baseman Mike Moustakas agreed to a one-year contract with a mutual option in the second year, Yahoo Sports' Jeff Passan reported.

According to Passan, Moustakas will make $6.5 million guaranteed and could earn up to $22.7 million over the life of the deal.

Moustakas has spent his entire career with the Royals, who selected him second overall in the 2007 draft.

The 29-year-old remains unsigned despite being a two-time All-Star who had career highs in home runs (38), RBI (85) and slugging percentage (.521) in 2017.

Moustakas' problem is that he hit the free-agent market at a time when power hitters aren't all that valued. Logan Morrison had nearly identical numbers (38 homers, 85 RBI and a .516 slugging percentage), and he received $5.5 million in 2018 from the Minnesota Twins with an $8 million vesting option in 2019.

When the league is setting a record for the number of home runs, hitting 30-plus homers isn't as impressive as it would've been in another season.

Further turning off any potential suitors, a team would forfeit a draft pick by signing Moustakas since he turned down Kansas City's qualifying offer. A general manager would have to factor that into the cost of a multiyear contract.

Moustakas agreeing to a one-year deal with the Royals could benefit everybody involved. Kansas City would get to keep a fan favorite after losing Lorenzo Cain and Eric Hosmer, and Moustakas would be able to test his value again next offseason if he has a big 2018.

The Kansas City Royals were apparently worried about more than just baseball at this year's spring training.

According to Nicholas Parco of the New York Daily News, the team hosted a seminar with the anti-pornography group Fight the New Drug.

The group works against pornography addiction and shared a message on Instagram noting, "The Royals are the first #MLB team to actively take a stand against porn, and we're inspired that they're stepping up to the plate":

This is not the first time the Royals have warned their players and coaches about pornography.

After Matt Campbell, Rustin Dodd and Pete Grathoff of the Kansas City Star reported in August 2017 pitcher Danny Duffy was cited for driving under the influence and arrested in a Burger King parking lot, general manager Dayton Moore mentioned pornography at a press conference.

"We talk about pornography, and the effects of what that does to the minds of players and the distractions, and how that leads to abuse of—domestic abuse—to abuse of women," Moore said, via Parco.

Parco noted Moore was addressing how the Royals were going to handle the Duffy situation during the press conference and was asked if there were any "new education protocols" being used.

Ricky Nolasco and the Kansas City Royals reportedly agreed to terms Wednesday on a one-year, $1.5 million minor league contract that includes $250,000 in incentives, according to FanRag Sports' Jon Heyman.

Nolasco had a $13 million club option for the 2018 season that the Los Angeles Angels opted against exercising. The decision was not a surprise after Nolasco experienced the worst full season of his MLB career.

The 35-year-old appeared in 33 games, finishing with a 6-15 record and a 5.10 FIP, which was fourth-highest among qualified starters, according to FanGraphs. Nolasco's 1.74 home runs allowed per nine innings were also the fourth-most in baseball.

Even in his prime, Nolasco didn't rely on overpowering stuff. The strategy didn't hurt him over the first half of his career as he could get batters out by mixing his pitches and hitting his spots.

However, that approach isn't serving him well into his 30s, as his lack of velocity is allowing opposing hitters to tee off at the plate.

According to Baseball Reference, Nolasco had a 3.83 FIP between 2006 and 2012, when he was 29. During that time, he also averaged 7.4 strikeouts and 2.1 walks per nine innings. After turning 30, his FIP rose to 4.16, while he averaged 7.0 strikeouts and 2.3 walks.

While Nolasco isn't the kind of addition that will drastically improve the Royals' starting rotation, he's worth a shot as a No. 4 or 5 starter.

Innings eaters will always have a role in MLB. There's a certain value to a pitcher who can be counted upon to throw 150 to 200 innings in a season. It ensures a manager doesn't have to put too much stress on his bullpen.

Over 12 years, Nolasco has averaged a little over 157 innings a season, and that's even factoring in the 2007 and 2015 campaigns when he was limited to 14 combined starts.

Nolasco is a low-cost, moderate-reward signing for Kansas City. Especially considering he had a much healthier 4.14 FIP in 2016, per FanGraphs, a bounce-back season could be in store for Nolasco in 2018.

Veteran outfielder Jon Jay agreed to a one-year deal with the Kansas City Royals, the team announced Tuesday. 

According to The Athletic's Rustin Dodd, Jay will earn a $3 million base salary with another $1.5 million available in performance bonuses.

Jay enjoyed a productive season with the Chicago Cubs after signing a one-year, $8 million deal prior to the start of 2017. His .749 OPS was his highest since 2014 and, according to FanGraphs, Jay's 1.6 WAR was sixth-best among Cubs position players.

In June, Cubs manager Joe Maddon compared Jay to a valuable bench player in basketball.

"It's kinda like John Havlicek—the sixth man in basketball becomes famous," Maddon said, per CSN Chicago's Tony Andracki. "He's the sixth man here. You can pop him in there and it's like instant offense. You know something good possibly can happen. You know he's ready."

As Maddon attested to, Jay was very good when coming off the bench for the Cubs in 2017. He batted .358 and had a .435 on-base percentage in 62 plate appearances as a substitute, according to Baseball Reference. He also hit .325 exclusively as a pinch hitter.

While the Royals likely envision Jay as an everyday outfielder, the fact he can be effective off the bench during games adds to his value.

Jay won't add much power to Kansas City's lineup. He has 33 career home runs since 2010 and his career slugging percentage is .383, which is tied for 339th among qualified hitters during that span, per FanGraphs.

Jay is able to consistently get on base, with his .374 on-base percentage in 2017 a personal best. He's also a solid baserunner, with his 51 career stolen bases not an accurate reflection of his contributions on the basepaths.

His defense may be a different question. According to FanGraphs, Jay had an 11.5 ultimate zone rating per 150 innings when deployed in left field. That number dropped to minus-6.1 and minus-4.9 when playing center and right fields, respectively.

Jay wasn't one of the premier outfield free agents, and adding him to the lineup won't drastically improve the Royals' offense. But he's a solid value-for-money signing.

Bo Jackson returned to the diamond Sunday as a guest coach for the Kansas City Royals during spring training.

The team shared photos of Jackson working with the team:

Bo making sure everyone else knows baseball. #RoyalsST pic.twitter.com/Xvj98nqD0N

— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) March 4, 2018

Jackson said he can do "anything I want to do" in his role with the team.

"I've been told I have diplomatic immunity," he said, per the Associated Press (via ESPN.com). "It's fun being back here because this is where it all started for me."

A two-sport star who won the 1985 Heisman Trophy and was an MLB All-Star and NFL Pro Bowler, Jackson started his MLB career with the Royals in 1986. He appeared in 511 games for the team, hitting 109 home runs and batting .250 with a .480 slugging percentage.

Josh Vernier of 610 Sports Radio in Kansas City, Missouri, noted some on the Royals roster may not have been familiar with Jackson's athletic exploits:

The Royals have 64 players in camp vying for a chance to make the Opening Day roster.

Only 19 of them were alive the last time Bo Jackson was on a Royals Opening Day roster. #Royals

— Josh Vernier (@JoshVernier965) March 4, 2018

Jackson told reporters he has worked in the past with the Chicago White Sox, with whom he played two seasons, during spring training, so he's familiar with imparting wisdom to younger players ahead of the regular season.

"What I get out of it is meeting all the old Royals, and meeting some of today's players I only get to see on TV," Jackson said, per MLB.com's Jeffrey Flanagan. "Most of the [young] players weren't even born when I played, or they were babies. I just give them whatever advice I can."

According to Flanagan, Jackson is among many guest instructors the Royals will invite to their spring training facilities in Surprise, Arizona, before the team starts the 2018 season March 29 against the White Sox.

The Kansas City Royals added power to their lineup Wednesday with the free-agent signing of Lucas Duda, according to Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports.

Robert Murray of FanRag Sports added that the deal is pending a physical.

The first baseman and designated hitter had been a valuable slugger for eight years with the New York Mets before finishing last season with the Tampa Bay Rays. He matched a career high with 30 home runs in 2016 while splitting time between the two squads.

Duda has 94 home runs over the past four seasons despite averaging just 115.5 games played per year.

His inability to stay healthy has been a problem, though, as he has topped 135 games just once since reaching the majors in 2010. The left-hander has missed a total of 177 regular-season games over the last three years.

Even when healthy, Duda only hit .175 in 52 games with the Rays, with his .217 overall batting average last year being the worst since his rookie season.

Still, the 32-year-old can change games with one swing of the bat and is especially useful against right-handed pitchers, posting an .842 OPS in his career. 

If he can stay healthy, Duda should provide an immediate boost to the Royals lineup next season as a middle-of-the order hitter.

The Royals took a big hit in free agency after losing first baseman Eric Hosmer and outfielder Lorenzo Cain and trading away Brandon Moss. 

With that trio gone, Duda figures to be in line for regular at-bats in Kansas City.

Two weeks away from the start of spring training, first baseman Eric Hosmer is reportedly still pursuing a long-term contract before signing with a team.

Per MLB.com's Jon Morosi, Hosmer's camp is pushing for the All-Star to receive a deal of at least seven years. 

USA Today's Bob Nightengale reported on Jan. 3 the Kansas City Royals and San Diego Padres had separate seven-year offers to Hosmer. The Royals' deal was worth $147 million, and the Padres' proposal was for $140 million.

The Royals are the only team Hosmer has ever known. He was drafted No. 3 overall by the team in 2008, made his MLB debut in 2011 and helped the franchise win the 2015 World Series. 

At 28 years old, Hosmer entered this offseason as one of the youngest free agents available. He was also coming off a 2017 season in which he set career-highs with a .318 batting average, .385 on-base percentage and .498 slugging percentage. 

Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Danny Duffy pleaded guilty to a charge of driving under the influence stemming from an incident at a Burger King in Overland Park, Kansas, last August.

According to the Kansas City Star's Rustin Dodd, Duffy had to pay a $1,220 fine and refrain from drinking alcohol or using illegal drugs for a year.

Overland Park communications manager Sean Reilly also said Duffy will have to perform "random breath, blood and urine tests."

An employee from Burger King captured a brief video showing Duffy's vehicle sitting idle in the drive-thru lane. Duffy had fallen asleep behind the wheel. Upon being awoken by another driver, he attempted to drive away but dropped his credit card. Police then arrived and cited him for DUI.

"I just wanted to say that, for this situation that's been put at hand, I apologize for the distraction, especially with where the team is at right now," Duffy said a statement after the incident. "Regardless of whether we'd been on a run or not, this is never a good time for this situation to come about."

Under a Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program agreed to by both MLB and the MLB Players Association, players who engage in alcohol-related misconduct can be subject to enrollment in a treatment program upon the referral of a treatment board. But enrollment is voluntary and players who don't participate in the program don't face additional discipline.

The Kansas City Royals have reportedly made first baseman Eric Hosmer a seven-year, $147 million contract offer amid interest from the San Diego Padres.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported the offer Wednesday and noted Hosmer, who spent the first seven seasons of his MLB career with the Royals before hitting free agency this offseason, also has a seven-year, $140 million proposal on the table from the Padres.

Hosmer is seeking an additional year or two, but it's unclear whether Kansas City or San Diego will increase their team-record offers, per Nightengale.

The 28-year-old infielder is coming off his most complete offensive season to date. He posted a .318/.385/.498 triple-slash line with 25 home runs and 31 doubles while playing all 162 regular-season games for the Royals in 2017.

In September, Hosmer said he wasn't sure how his free-agent foray would end but hoped Royals fans would remember him fondly if he landed elsewhere, per John Pepitone of WDAF.

"Just wanted to do everything the right way, on and off the field," he said. "[General manager] Dayton [Moore] and his staff put a lot into not only us being good baseball players, but good people off the field. Doing everything the right way, that's what everybody wants to be remembered as."

Hosmer's resume includes four Gold Glove Awards, a Silver Slugger Award and an All-Star Game MVP Award from the 2016 Midsummer Classic, which was held in San Diego.

He also helped Kansas City win its first World Series title since 1985 in 2015.

Mike Moustakas is a two-time All-Star who's coming off a career-high 38 home runs and is only two years removed from winning a World Series ring. Who wants to sign him as a free agent?

...Anyone?

Apparently not. Moustakas' rung of the hot-stove rumor mill has been pin-drop quiet. So much so, in fact, that ESPN's Buster Olney heard an idea that the 29-year-old third baseman would be wise to settle for a one-year deal, potentially with the New York Yankees:

It's safe to say this isn't what Moustakas, a seven-year veteran of the Kansas City Royals, had in mind when he became a free agent.

Nor is it what hot-stove prognosticators had in mind. Projections for his contract from people like myself, Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports and the MLB Trade Rumors crew fell in the five-year, $80 million range.

It's worth stressing that the idea of signing a so-called "pillow contract" is just that: an idea. Everyone could wake up tomorrow to find out he'd signed a nice, fat multiyear deal at some point during the night, and that would be that.

But as far as ideas go, this one has legs.

The qualifying offer isn't helping Moustakas' market. By rejecting a deal that would have returned him to Kansas City in 2018 for a $17.4 million salary, Moustakas tied himself to draft-pick compensation. Signing him thus costs more than just money.

He's also caught up in an offseason market that's been slow-moving for all big-name free agents. Eric Hosmer and Lorenzo Cain, his potentially soon-to-be-former teammates, remain unsigned. So do J.D. Martinez, Yu Darvish and Jake Arrieta.

Before the winter meetings, the easy explanation for the molasses-paced free-agent market was that teams were waiting for the Miami Marlins to trade National League MVP Giancarlo Stanton and for Japanese two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani to pick his Major League Baseball home.

After the winter meetings, it's easy to speculate that the problem is how focused big spenders like the Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers are on next year's free-agent class, which Bryce Harper and Manny Machado will headline.

"Next year's free-agent class is going to tempt them [and just about every club] because it might be the most star-laced ever, including Machado," Joel Sherman of the New York Post wrote.

Meanwhile, the Baltimore Orioles are peddling Machado on the trade market. There have also been rumors about Tampa Bay Rays veteran Evan Longoria and Toronto Blue Jays slugger Josh Donaldson.

Beyond playing in the AL East, one thing they have in common is they're all third basemen. Moustakas therefore doesn't have the market for third base upgrades to himself.

Nor does he have center stage, as Machado, Longoria and Donaldson are frankly better than he is.

Per Baseball Reference, Moustakas was worth 1.8 wins above replacement in 2017 and has a career peak of 4.4 WAR. Machado (3.5 and 7.1), Longoria (3.6 and 8.1) and Donaldson (4.8 and 8.8) each has those numbers beat easily.

While he's typically a capable performer on defense, Moustakas is coming off a season in which he posted below-average defensive metrics. That could be just a random blip. Or it could be something more alarming.

On the other side of the ball, Moustakas' main flaw is his general inability to get on base. His career on-base percentage is just .305, and he's had an above-average OBP in a season just once.

This leaves power as Moustakas' best selling point. He earned the 38 homers he hit in 2017 by making better use of the strength bundled into his 6'0", 215-pound frame. Like many hitters throughout MLB, he hit fewer balls on the ground and more in the air. That's obviously the most direct avenue to power.

However, home runs suddenly aren't as valuable as they once were. Whereas dingers were few and far between as recently as 2014, a record number of balls cleared the fence in 2017.

For Moustakas, the insult to injury is that third base has been one of the biggest gainers in home runs over the last four years. Via Baseball Reference:

So the idea about taking a one-year deal with the Yankees? Beyond being one that has legs, it's indeed a good one.

He's not only primarily a fly-ball hitter but primarily a pull hitter as well. At Kauffman Stadium, he didn't play in a park that catered to such hitters. At Yankee Stadium, he most certainly would.

Consider a plot from Baseball Savant that shows all the fly balls and line drives that Moustakas ever hit at Kauffman Stadium overlaid onto Yankee Stadium, which reveals something to be gained from a move from one to the other:

Whether it's with the Yankees or someone else—say, the San Francisco Giants or the St. Louis Cardinals—Moustakas has other incentives to take a one-year contract.

The newest collective bargaining agreement contains a change to the qualifying offer rules that bars players from receiving an offer more than once. Moustakas has already received his, so taking a one-year offer would allow him to re-enter the market next year without any ties to draft-pick compensation.

On the downside, this would mean sharing the free-agent market with Machado and Donaldson. On the plus side, there will be more money to be had next winter. The luxury-tax threshold will increase from $197 million in 2018 to $206 million in 2019. That gives the big spenders (especially the Yankees and Dodgers) more breathing room.

As of now, Moustakas' free-agent saga is a bummer and a bore. But give it enough time, and it should have a happy ending.

Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.