Report: Kennedy agrees to 5-year, $70M deal with Royals
Roughly one month after watching Johnny Cueto sign with San Francisco, the Kansas City Royals decided to beef up their rotation, agreeing to a five-year, $70-million deal with veteran right-hander Ian Kennedy on Saturday morning, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network.
Kennedy's deal also includes an opt-out clause that, if exercised, would allow the former first-round pick to become a free agent again after the 2017 campaign, a source told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
By signing Kennedy, who turned down a $15.8-million qualifying offer from the San Diego Padres, the Royals will forfeit their top unprotected pick - the 24th overall selection - in the 2016 MLB Draft.
Despite his struggles over the last three seasons, Kennedy will add some much-needed depth to a rotation that looked somewhat lackluster following Cueto's departure. Even after re-signing Chris Young, the reigning World Series champions were poised to entrust both Kris Medlen and Danny Duffy with starting jobs - the former threw just 58 1/3 innings in 2015 in his first season back from Tommy John surgery, while the latter was among the worst in the league at neutralizing right-handed hitters - before adding Kennedy, who could replace either one of them in the rotation.
Projected 2016 rotation
| Name | 2015 ERA (ERA-) | 2015 WAR | 2016 WAR* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Edinson Volquez | 3.55 (88) | 2.6 | 1.7 |
| Yordano Ventura | 4.08 (100) | 2.7 | 3.3 |
| Ian Kennedy | 4.28 (115) | 0.8 | 2.2 |
| Danny Duffy | 4.08 (101) | 1.2 | 1.1 |
| Chris Young | 3.06 (76) | 0.9 | -0.4 |
*Fangraphs' Steamer projection
However, Kennedy, who finished fourth in National League Cy Young voting in 2011, hasn't been able to replicate the success he enjoyed earlier in his career. Last season, the 30-year-old posted a 4.28 ERA (85 ERA+) with the worst home-run rate (1.60) and second-worst home-run-to-fly-ball ratio (17.2 percent) among qualified starters. Since his dominant 2011 campaign, in fact, Kennedy ranks 120th of 152 qualified starters in league- and park-adjusted ERA (111 ERA-) while surrendering hard contact more frequently (33.9 percent) than every starter in baseball except Colby Lewis and David Phelps.