Royals Rumors have been far and in between so far this offseason, but the latest news involves starting pitcher Edinson Volquez signing a two-year deal with the Miami Marlins.
Two seasons ago, the Kansas City Royals let number one pitcher in the rotation James Shields walk in free agency. They then replaced him with then Pirates pitcher Edinson Volquez, who was coming off of a stellar season in Pittsburgh.
Royals fans weren’t the happiest with the Volquez signing, thinking he was a big drop off from Shields.
Volquez proved fans wrong in his inaugural season with the KC Royals. He threw 200.1 innings with 155 strikeouts and a 13-9 record. His ERA in 2015 was a 3.55 in 33 starts.
Source confirms: #Marlins, Volquez in agreement on two-year, $22M contract, pending physical. First reported: @clarkspencer @flasportsbuzz.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 29, 2016
Where Volquez really captured the hearts of Kansas City Royals fans, however, was his performances during the postseason. He shut out the Blue Jays in Game 1 of the ALCS, but Game 1 of the World Series was when fans loved him the most.
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Volquez’s father had died before Game 1 was set to begin and his family requested that the Royals not tell Volquez of this. Volquez, without knowing about his father, pitched a great game for Kansas City. He had a nice 3.00 ERA in two World Series starts en route to a World Series championship in that 2015 season.
It’s not surprising that the Kansas City Royals let Volquez depart this offseason. His 2015 season got fans’ hopes up for what might be in 2016, but the former number one starter didn’t hold up his end of the bargain.
He pitched 189.1 innings with 139 strikeouts, allowed 113 runs, and lost more games than he won (10-11 in 34 starts). Volquez’s ERA in 2016 was a disappointing 5.37, and he had some terrible performances during the year to keep that ERA that high.
While it’s sad to see Edinson Volquez leave, it was the best decision for the KC Royals. He would have been to expensive to keep around as a fifth starter in the rotation, and he just wasn’t his normal self in 2016.
We’ll all remember watching Edinson pitch with a heavy heart in Game 5 of the World Series and we’ll remember the crowd chanting “EDDIE EDDIE” during his big moments during the playoffs, but he’ll now be donning another team’s jersey.
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Don’t expect Kansas City to be linked to a lot of free agents this offseason. The Royals Rumors will likely be pertaining to their own players leaving for greener pastures, as we saw with Kendrys Morales a few weeks ago.
We’re all used to this by now, but fortunately, this decision seemed to be an easier one for the Kansas City Royals.