Kansas City Royals: Greg Holland Agrees To A One-Year Deal

The Kansas City Royals have reached an agreement with their star closer, Greg Holland, and will avoid an arbitration hearing. Eric Hosmer is the only arbitration eligible player left unsigned.

Holland signed a one-year deal worth $8.25 million in 2015, according the Royals.com/MLB.com writer, Jeffrey Flanagan, via Twitter.

#royals and Greg Holland avoid arbitration according to source. He signs one-year deal for $8.25M. @mlb
— Jeffrey Flanagan (@FlannyMLB) February 13, 2015

Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star pointed out via Twitter that General Manager Dayton Moore, who has never had to go to arbitration with any player during his tenure with the team, still has not reached an agreement with Eric Hosmer.

Greg Holland agreed to a one-year, $8.25 million deal to avoid arbitration. @jflanagankc had it first. Only Eric Hosmer left to settle.
— Andy McCullough (@ByMcCullough) February 13, 2015

Greg Holland has been the best, most consistent closer in the Majors over the last two season. Recently, the MLB Now Shredder named Holland as second best relief pitcher in the Majors going into 2015, behind his teammate Wade Davis. Holland was the fourth best going into 2014.

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In the last two seasons, Greg Holland has been nothing short of spectacular at closing out games. In 2013 and 2014, Holland has 93 saves, including a club record 47 in 2013. His ERA is a sparkling 1.32, with a WHIP of .889, in 129.1 innings.

Even more impressive is his strikeout numbers. He has whiffed 193 batters, or 13.4 Per Nine Innings. He has only walked 38 (plus one intentionally) in those seasons, for a Strikeout to Walk Ratio of 5.08.

Holland was even more impressive in the high stress atmosphere of the postseason. He pitched 11 times, and 11 innings, during the KC Royals amazing run through the playoffs this past fall. He allowed just one run, good for a 0.82 ERA, and his WHIP was .818. He struck out 15, allowed 5 walks (plus one intentional), and gave up just 4 hits.

He has been selected to each of the past two American League All-Star teams, and has finished ninth in the Cy Young voting in 2013 and 2014.

Now, Dayton Moore has his work cut out for him. Eric Hosmer has not agreed to a contract yet, and the two parties are reportedly not very close. According to MLB Trade Rumors, Hosmer is asking for $6.7 million, and the KC Royals have countered with $4.6 million.

Hosmer may have a hard time proving he is worth $6.7 million if the case makes it to arbitration. His nine home runs were not impressive in 2014.

The Kansas City Royals head into Spring Training with an impressive bullpen arsenal. The Royals just signed Kelvin Hererra for two years yesterday, Wade Davis is under contract, and the KC Royals re-signed Luke Hochevar, who had a fantastic season in 2013 (1.92 ERA, .825 WHIP, 82 K’s, in 70.1 innings), but is coming off Tommy John surgery, to a two-year deal in December.

This four-headed monster, if healthy and still on the roster come Opening Day, could really lock down games if the Royals can secure leads early on. The bullpen should certainly be a strength for the Royals in 2015.

Year	Age	Tm	W	L	ERA	G	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	WHIP	H9	BB9	SO9	SO/W	Awards
2010	24	KCR	0	1	6.75	15	0	18.2	23	15	14	3	8	23	1.661	11.1	3.9	11.1	2.88
2011	25	KCR	5	1	1.80	46	4	60.0	37	13	12	3	19	74	0.933	5.6	2.9	11.1	3.89
2012	26	KCR	7	4	2.96	67	16	67.0	58	22	22	2	34	91	1.373	7.8	4.6	12.2	2.68
2013 ★	27	KCR	2	1	1.21	68	47	67.0	40	11	9	3	18	103	0.866	5.4	2.4	13.8	5.72	AS,CYA-9,MVP-15
2014 ★	28	KCR	1	3	1.44	65	46	62.1	37	13	10	3	20	90	0.914	5.3	2.9	13.0	4.50	AS,CYA-9,MVP-16
5 Yrs	15	10	2.19	261	113	275.0	195	74	67	14	99	381	1.069	6.4	3.2	12.5	3.85

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

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