Coming out of the Winter Meetings, the Royals’ top two priorities were finding an established starter and finding a swingman who can pitch either out of the bullpen or rotation.
The latter has now been filled.
The Royals and left-hander Ryan Yarbrough have agreed to a one-year deal, the club announced Tuesday night. Sources told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand the contract is worth $3 million.
While it’s yet to be seen whether a reunion with Zack Greinke is in the club’s future, the organization decided to add to its depth with Yarbrough. The 30-year-old southpaw spent all of his five-year career with Tampa Bay, serving in both starting and relief roles — experience that can benefit Kansas City.
“You like to go into the year with like eight guys you think can start,” Royals executive vice president and general manager JJ Picollo said at the Winter Meetings.
Whether Yarbrough ends up more as a starter or a reliever in 2023 remains to be seen, but regardless of his role, he can be a strike-throwing, low-walk addition to pitching coach Brian Sweeney’s staff. And it certainly doesn’t hurt that new manager Matt Quatraro is familiar with the hurler from his time in Tampa Bay.
Yarbrough has struggled more the past two years (a 4.90 ERA in 50 appearances) than his first three seasons with the Rays (a 3.94 ERA in 77 games), and he was designated for assignment last month after he was projected by MLB Trade Rumors to earn more than $4 million in arbitration. His average velocity is well below the norm — ranking in the first percentile — according to Statcast, and his strikeout rate puts him only in the 15th percentile, but he can induce weak contact, ranking in the 97th percentile in average exit velocity and the 94th in hard hit percentage.
Yarbrough provides depth for Kansas City. While that piece is necessary, the big target remains Greinke and rounding out the starting rotation with a veteran arm. If the Royals can lock up that need, they can turn their attention to finding a versatile infielder (preferably a right-handed bat) to add to the lineup.
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