KC Royals: Royals Ink Ian Kennedy to Five Year Deal

The KC Royals bolstered their staff by adding Ian Kennedy today on a five year contract.

The terms of the contract appear to be worth five years and $70 million. The deal also appears to have a second year opt out.

Kennedy is known as an extreme fly ball pitcher and that may play well in Kauffman stadium. Re-uniting with pitching coach Dave Eiland probably won’t hurt either. If he can tweak his mechanics enough to get him back into 2011 form that would be phenomenal.

Ken Rosenthal, an mlb network insider and FOX sports reporter,tweeted the following early this morning confirming the signing:

Kennedy did give up 31 home runs last year for the Padres who also have a pitcher friendly ball park. Even a great defense can’t help you if you can’t keep the ball in the park.

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Ian Kennedy was able to make some adjustments last season dropping his home run total from 20 in the first half to just 11 in the second half. That’s not great but it’s better than 20.  He also posted a 3.64 ERA across the 84 innings pitched in the second half last season.

If he can post a sub 4 ERA for the Royals this year and hit the 200 inning mark the Royals could be in good shape at a shot towards repeating.

He profiles a little like big game James in that he can strike out a batter per inning but will give up the home runs from time to time. Kennedy should fill in as the third starter depending on how spring training goes. The Royals may now be done making any bug additions but could still in some depth pieces as free-agency winds down.

While the five year contract seems extensive they Royals aren’t necessarily on the hook for the full 70 million dollars. The two year opt-out gives the Royals some financial protection and flexibility after the 2017 season if they need it. With all of the Royals that are set to hit free-agency at that time it’s am option they may well be grateful is there.

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David Glass has really opened up the pocket book this off-season spending more than the previous record of 55 million dollars twice now. While that’s probably it, it’s nice to see Mr. Glass turn some of that extra revenue back into quality players. Royals fans showed up in record numbers for the games last year and a quality product is going to keep the seats full. As the saying goes, you’ve got to spend money to make money.

Next: Is Ian Kennedy A Good Fit?

So what do you think Royals fans? Is Kennedy the right man for the job? Has Dayton Moore struck gold again? Do the Royals play meaningful  October baseball for a third straight season? Let’s discuss in the comments below.

(All stats courtesy of www.baseball-reference.com)