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The Kansas City Royals and Danny Duffy agreed to terms on a five-year extension worth $65 million, according to Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan.  

The Royals formally announced the extension on Twitter:

The Kansas City Star‘s Rustin Dodd shared a yearly breakdown of the contract:

Duffy was under team control for one more season before he was set to become a free agent next winter, per Spotrac.

The 28-year-old left-hander went 12-3 with a 3.51 ERA in 42 appearances for the Royals in 2016. He began the year in the bullpen before making his first start May 15 and emerging as the Royals’ ace.

According to FanGraphs, Duffy finished with a 3.56 ERA and 3.99 FIP in 26 starts, both of which were the lowest among Kansas City’s regular starting pitchers. Duffy also averaged a career-best 9.42 strikeouts and 2.10 walks per nine innings.

With major question marks over the starting rotation, re-signing Duffy was a great move for Kansas City. Edinson Volquez signed with the Miami Marlins, Ian Kennedy was disappointing in the first year of his five-year deal, and Yordano Ventura took a big step backward in 2016.

Keeping Duffy for the next five years stabilizes the staff, and an average of $13 million is a more than reasonable salary. He won’t even be the highest-paid starter. Kennedy, who is four years older, will earn an average of roughly $15.6 million for the next four seasons, per Spotrac.

ESPN.com’s Dan Szymborski tweeted that Duffy’s deal gives the Royals some flexibility:

Kansas City made back-to-back World Series in 2014 and 2015, winning a title the second time around, but general manager Dayton Moore said in October he expected the team’s payroll to “regress a little bit” after the Royals spent relatively big in pursuit of a World Series ring, per Dodd.

Duffy’s extension is evidence, however, that Kansas City’s ownership is still willing to invest in the team to ensure it remains competitive in 2017 and beyond.

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With starting pitcher Danny Duffy set to hit arbitration, he and the Kansas City Royals have reportedly begun contract talks.

Continue for updates.

Royals, Duffy Reportedly Interested in Extension

Friday, Nov. 4

According to MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan, the Royals and Duffy have mutual interest, although general manager Dayton Moore declined to comment.

Moore did, however, offer the following statement regarding the organization’s overall stance: “[It] has always been our intention to keep our young talent when possible.”

After starting the 2015 season in the bullpen, Duffy went on to enjoy the best year of his career once he was moved to the starting rotation.

The 27-year-old lefty went 12-3 with a 3.51 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 188 strikeouts in 179.2 innings overall. That included a 3.56 ERA as a starter.

Duffy has started at least 24 games in each of the past three seasons, and while injuries have limited him at times during his career, 2016 was easily his healthiest year.

After the loss of Johnny Cueto in free agency, Duffy emerged as KC’s ace over the likes of Yordano Ventura, Edinson Volquez and Ian Kennedy.

He arguably possesses better stuff than any other pitcher on the Royals staff, and the fact that he is a southpaw makes him highly valuable.

Duffy is likely in line for a significant raise through arbitration from the $4.225 million he made in 2016, per Spotrac, so working out a long-term contract is a move that would be beneficial to both sides.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.

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Shortstop Alcides Escobar reportedly will return to the Kansas City Royals for a seventh season as the team is reportedly set to pick up his 2017 team option.  

Jon Heyman of Today’s Knuckleball first reported the decision, with Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com confirming the report.

According to Spotrac, the 29-year-old veteran will earn $6.5 million during the upcoming season.

Escobar is coming off one of his best offensive seasons, as he hit .261 with 57 runs scored and 17 stolen bases to go along with a career-high seven home runs and 55 RBI. He also appeared in all 162 games for the second time in three years.

Per Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star, Royals manager Ned Yost marveled at the Venezuela native’s ability to compete day in and day out: “He just doesn’t wear down. When he has injuries, he heals extraordinarily fast, so that he’s not out a long time. He’s got a very high tolerance for pain. He doesn’t ever show any effects of it.”

In fact, Escobar has appeared in at least 145 games in seven straight seasons dating back to his final campaign with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2010 before getting traded to the Royals.

Escobar’s greatest success came in 2015, as he was named to his first and only All-Star team and also won a Gold Glove for the first time.

In addition to that, Escobar was a key part of Kansas City’s run to a World Series championship. He hit .321 with one home run, nine RBI, one stolen base and 13 runs scored, and was named the American League Championship Series MVP.

Escobar averaged nearly 29 steals per season from 2011 through 2014, but he has run less over the past two campaigns and registered just 17 swipes in each.

Also, despite Escobar’s Gold Glove, it is fair to question how great of a fielder he actually is. He posted a career-worst defensive runs saved above average of minus-6 last season, and since his career high of 10 in 2011, he has registered a positive figure just once, according to Baseball-Reference.com.

Even if Escobar is somewhat overrated defensively and has become less of a threat on the basepaths, he remains among the most reliable shortstops in baseball.

He shows up to play every day, can be used near the top or bottom of the lineup and proved in the 2015 playoffs that he can come through in clutch situations.

Escobar is a good fit for a Royals team that thrives on being relentless and having flexibility within the lineup, so bringing him back at a fair price was an obvious move on their part. 

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.

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Wade Davis has been one of the better closers in baseball over the past two seasons, and the Kansas City Royals are expected to make a prudent move to keep the 31-year-old in tow Thursday by picking up his $10 million club option for 2017.  

Today’s Knuckleball’s Jon Heyman first relayed news of the Royals’ decision to pick up Davis’ option. Jeffery Flanagan of MLB.com confirmed that report. 

Davis has ranked among MLB’s more reliable relievers over the past two seasons—both of which have seen him earn All-Star nods. 

He was arguably the best reliever in baseball during the 2015 season, and the numbers back that up. Davis went 8-1 with a 0.94 ERA and 0.787 WHIP in 67.1 innings while recording 17 saves, and he kept opposing batters off balance to the tune of a .144 batting average. 

Davis’ 2016 season wasn’t quite as prolific, namely because he missed a portion of July and all of August because of a right forearm strain. 

As a result, Davis was limited to 43.1 innings. During that stretch, he notched 27 saves, a 1.87 ERA, 1.131 WHIP, 47 strikeouts and 16 walks as opponents mustered a slash line of .210/.295/.242. 

Davis’ recurring forearm troubles over the past year could have given the Royals pause, since they had the option to buy out the final year of his deal for $2.5 million, but the way in which his workload has decreased ever since he shifted to a closing role should alleviate concerns. 

Since he’ll officially be under team control for one more season, the Royals will also have the option to dangle Davis as a trade chip should an offer surface that allows them to maximize the return on their investment. 

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The Kansas City Royals are reportedly willing to part with star closer Wade Davis if the right trade offer comes along during the offseason.

Continue for updates.

Royals Listening To Offers For Davis

Friday, Oct. 14

Jon Heyman of Today’s Knuckleball reported Friday teams have started calling Kansas City about Davis, and the front office is listening as it looks to make payroll cuts before the 2017 season.

The Royals hold a $10 million club option on Davis for next year, which includes a $2.5 million buyout clause, according to Spotrac. Heyman noted picking it up is a “formality.”

The 31-year-old reliever is coming off another terrific season at the back end of Kansas City’s bullpen. He racked up 27 saves while blowing just three chances to go along with a 1.87 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 47 strikeouts in 43.1 innings.

To put in perspective how good he’s been over the past three years, his outstanding 1.87 ERA was still nearly the combined totals of his 2014 (1.00) and 2015 (0.94) seasons. It’s a far cry from 2013, when he struggled to a 5.32 ERA while spending most of his time as a starter.

His name also popped up in the rumor mill leading up to the trade deadline with the Royals on the fringe of the playoff race at the time. Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star passed along the closer’s comments about trying to keep his mind off what could happen.

“People talk about it sometimes, even players,” Davis said in July. “And when it comes down to it, we’re here because, one, we love to play baseball. And obviously, we’re here for our teammates, but most of all, (we’re here for) our families.”

The only concern is his health. He landed on the disabled list twice during the regular season with forearm problems, which other teams will surely want to look into before giving up any key assets.

Kansas City may be best served waiting awhile to make a move, though. The free-agent market is littered with top-tier relievers, led by Aroldis Chapman, Kenley Jansen and Mark Melancon, which could limit what teams are willing to offer for Davis for the time being.

If the Royals wait until those other marquee closers sign new contracts over the winter, they could get better value on the trade market from a team that missed out on the free agents.

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Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez was removed from Tuesday’s game against the Minnesota Twins after suffering a wrist injury on a hit-by-pitch.

Continue for updates.

Perez Suffers Contusion on Wrist

Tuesday, Sept. 6

An Ervin Santana hit-by-pitch knocked Perez out of his team’s game, according to Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press.

Joel Goldberg of FSKC reported the injury was revealed to be a wrist contusion.

The 26-year-old catcher is hitting .254 on the season after going 0-for-2 Tuesday, although his 20 home runs are one shy of his career high. He was also named to his fourth straight All-Star Game this season.

Perez has a knack for getting hit during games, as Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com joked:

However, this hasn’t kept the talented player off the field, as he remains one of the most used catchers in baseball. He led the majors with 142 games played at catcher in 2015 after playing 150 the year before.

The catcher is once again near the top of the list in 2016 with 122 games played, which would have been more if not for six games missed earlier in the year with a quad contusion. This was the only time he didn’t play consecutive games all season.

If the Royals are going to make a late-season run toward one of the American League wild-card spots, they will need all of their players healthy, especially Perez. His bat provides a major force in the lineup, and the three-time Gold Glove winner is also valuable in the field.

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Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez hit his 20th home run of the season in Sunday’s 10-4 win over the Boston Red Sox, becoming the first player in Royals history to record multiple 20-homer seasons while primarily playing behind the plate, per ESPN Stats & Info.

Perez’s milestone blast came in the second inning of Sunday’s game, with the 26-year-old backstop taking Red Sox pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez over the Green Monster to give the Royals an early 1-0 lead.

Although the lead widened to 2-0 by the end of the frame, the Red Sox bounced back with four runs between the fourth and fifth innings before an eight-run sixth inning by the Royals eventually quieted them.

Perez also contributed to the massive inning, drawing a walk to load the bases with nobody out while the Royals were still trailing by two runs.

Already one of the top catchers in franchise history, Perez is on pace to best last season’s career-high mark of 21 home runs, though his 58 RBI still leave him 21 short of his career-best total (79 in 2013) in that category.

The added power has come with a bit of a trade-off, as Perez already has a career-high 101 strikeouts, shedding his reputation as a low-strikeout, low-walk batter who mostly puts the ball in play.

The end result has been just fine, with Perez’s current .759 OPS representing the best mark he’s recorded in a full season.

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Here come the champs.

Make it eight straight for the Kansas City Royals, who beat the Minnesota Twins 2-1 on Sunday to continue their winning ways and creep closer in the American League wild-card scramble.

After struggling for much of the season and looking like the victims of a championship hangover, the Royals are officially back in the mix.

“We’ve got everything going for us—starting pitching, the bullpen has been spectacular, our defense has been good and we’re starting to swing the bats well,” manager Ned Yost said after K.C. pounded the Twins 10-0 on Saturday, per MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan and Rhett Bollinger. “That’s a good combination.”

Let’s start with the bats. Center fielder Lorenzo Cain, a top-three AL MVP finisher in 2015, has been on a tear, tallying 16 hits in his last eight games. First baseman Eric Hosmer has 10 hits and eight RBI over the same stretch. Left fielder Alex Gordon has hit five home runs since Aug. 14 and hiked his OPS more than 70 points in the process.

That’s a hefty chunk of the Royals’ offensive core, the same one that carried them to an AL pennant in 2014 and a confetti-strewn parade last November.

Oh, and toss in catcher Salvador Perez, the club’s heart and soul, who got the day off Sunday but launched a two-run homer Saturday. 

“I hope it lasts the whole year,” Gordon said after Saturday’s victory, per Jeff Deters of the Topeka Capital-Journal. “We’ve got a good thing going right now, and we’re winning games and having fun. Hopefully the team can keep it up, and I can keep it up, too.”

On the pitching side, Royals starters still hover just above the bottom third in MLB with a 4.55 ERA. During their winning streak, however, they’ve yielded one run or fewer six times.

Mercurial right-hander Yordano Ventura gave up one earned run in 6.1 innings with seven strikeouts in his most recent outing on Aug. 17. Ian Kennedy has scattered nine hits and one earned run over 14.2 innings in his last two starts. Dillon Gee fanned seven in seven innings while surrendering one earned run in a win on Aug. 18.

Danny Duffy, now officially the staff ace, won his 10th straight decision Sunday and lowered his ERA to 2.66, second-best in the AL.

The bullpen, meanwhile, remains the Royals’ steady strength behind the dynamic duo of Wade Davis and Kelvin Herrera. Overall, Kansas City’s relief arms boast an MLB-best 3.19 ERA.

Entering play Monday, the Royals sit at 64-60, 3.5 games off the wild-card pace and eight games behind the AL Central-leading Cleveland Indians.

They’ll have to leapfrog the Seattle Mariners (66-57) and division rival Detroit Tigers (65-59) to challenge the Baltimore Orioles (67-55) and Boston Red Sox (69-54) for the wild-card lead. The Houston Astros have an identical 64-60 mark. And the rebuilt, reborn New York Yankees (63-60) won’t go away.

It’s a muddled mess in the Junior Circuit. This thing could go any number of ways.

That might benefit the Royals. This is an October-tested roster, accustomed to the rigors of a postseason battle. They’ve been here. They’ve done this.

FanGraphs’ still foresees a perfectly mediocre 81-81 finish for K.C., behind both Cleveland and Detroit in the Central. 

The projection systems, though, can’t measure the intangibles. They can’t always gauge heat.

Kansas City has six games left against both the Tigers and Indians, including a season-ending series against the Tribe at Kauffman Stadium that may be teeming with playoff implications.

Throughout their recent run of trophy-snagging success, the Royals have been an enigmatic club, perennially talented and perpetually doubted. 

“The Kansas City Royals are the sort of team you find yourself trying to come up with excuses for why they just beat you, because you can’t make sense of it otherwise,” Will Leitch wrote at Sports on Earth in October 2015. “Everybody always thinks they’re better than the Royals.” 

For yet another season, everyone might be wrong.

Here come the champs.

All statistics current as of Aug. 21 and courtesy of MLB.com unless otherwise noted. 

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Kansas City Royals pitcher Danny Duffy set a franchise single-game record with his 16 strikeouts in Monday’s 3-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rays, besting the old record of 15 that Zack Greinke established in 2009, per Sportsnet Stats.

The 27-year-old southpaw turned in one of the truly dominant outings of the 2016 campaign, allowing just one hit and one walk over eight scoreless innings. He only fell short of a complete game because all the strikeouts brought his pitch count up to 110 entering the ninth.

Royals relief pitcher Kelvin Herrera calmly finished off the game with a three-up, three-down inning, boosting Duffy’s record to a sterling 7-1 for the season.

Nearly as impressive as his strikeout total, Duffy induced a whopping 35 missed swings, tying Clayton Kershaw for the most by any pitcher in a single game over the last 15 years, per ESPN Stats & Info.

The Rays made contact on just 25 of their 60 swings against Duffy, with the miss percentage (58.3) setting a standalone record for any starting pitcher over the past 15 years.

The lefty also came close to a no-hitter, making it through seven frames before Rays outfielder Desmond Jennings led off the eighth inning with a double.

While impressive in its own right, Monday’s performance was also part of a larger trend, as Duffy has been phenomenal since he joined the starting rotation in May, posting a 2.98 ERA and 0.98 WHIP in his 15 starts, with 105 strikeouts (and just 18 walks) over 90.2 innings.

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Kansas City Royals closer Wade Davis is still recovering from a right forearm strain he suffered in early July. He has been placed on the disabled list, and it is uncertain when he will be able to return.

Continue for updates.

Davis Placed on 15-Day DL

Sunday, July 31

The Royals announced Davis had been placed on the disabled list on Sunday, adding that pitcher Matt Strahm will be called up in his place.

Davis Continues to Struggle with Elbow Issues

Davis was forced to hit the 15-day disabled list after initially straining his forearm, which held him out for more than two weeks. 

He looked fine after returning July 16, as he didn’t allow a run and gave up just two hits in four appearances while picking up two saves. 

But on Wednesday against the Los Angeles Angels, Davis allowed two runs on two hits and three walks, though he closed out a 7-5 win.

Davis has been one of the premier relievers-turned-closers over the past three years, as he’s allowed just 22 runs since the start of the 2014 season.

His ability to close out the opposition late in games is what helped the Royals make two consecutive World Series appearances, including a win over the New York Mets in 2015 where he fired the final pitch:

Despite his dominance, his name recently cropped up in trade talks with the MLB non-waiver trade deadline coming up on Monday, per Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star. 

A trip to the disabled list with a day to go until the deadline should eliminate any chance of a trade. 

However, the Royals find themselves without another key bullpen arm, as reliever Luke Hochevar recently went on the 15-day DL due to symptoms associated with thoracic outlet syndrome. 

They’ll now have to rely on Kelvin Herrera to carry the bullpen in Davis’ absence. With the Royals entering Saturday night 10 games out of first place in the American League Central, their chances of a postseason berth could worsen if Davis has to miss an extended period. 

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.

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