Report: Royals pursuing Moustakas on 1-year deal

With only three weeks until Opening Day, the Kansas City Royals have reignited discussions with free-agent third baseman Mike Moustakas about a potential return, sources told Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports.

The club has reportedly made Moustakas a one-year contract offer, according to Rustin Dodd of The Athletic, and his decision could come in a day or two.

There seems to be some hope that an agreement will be reached, the sources added, though Moustakas' agent, Scott Boras, suggested earlier this week that the two-time All-Star may be willing to sit out the beginning of the season to secure what he feels is a fair contract.

At the outset of the offseason, the Royals had hoped to re-sign both Moustakas and first baseman Eric Hosmer, but they quickly grew pessimistic about their chances of retaining the longtime franchise fixtures. Hosmer, who earned one All-Star berth and four Gold Glove awards during his seven-year run with the Royals, signed an eight-year, $144-million contract with the San Diego Padres last month.

Related - Hosmer: 'Mind-boggling' that Moustakas remains unsigned

Over the past couple months, the Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees, and Baltimore Orioles have all been linked to Moustakas, who rejected a $17.4-million qualifying offer from the Royals in November and is therefore attached to draft-pick compensation should he sign outside of Kansas City.

The 29-year-old is coming off a solid season in which he belted a career-high 38 homers while managing an .835 OPS (114 wRC+) and 2.2 WAR in 148 games. Since making his big-league debut in 2011, Moustakas, who helped the Royals win the World Series in 2015, owns a .730 OPS (96 wRC+) while averaging 17 homers and 23 doubles across 119 games per season.