Royals sign 6-10 righty Chris Young and expect him in pitching staff this season

He’s scored 20 points in a basketball game against Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse. His wife, Elizabeth Patrick, comes from one of the NHL’s most illustrious families.

And now, Chris Young, a 6-foot-10 right-hander, is set to be a fixture of the Royals pitching staff this season.

Young, 35, and a former National League All-Star, signed an incentive-laden, one-year major-league contract with the Royals on Saturday. Young, a 10-year career starter with four clubs, will begin the season as a middle and long reliever and provide insurance for the starting rotation.

“He will make the team out of spring training,” general manager Dayton Moore  said. “Right now, if things go to script, our rotation is probably cemented with the main five guys, so his role at this point would be as a middle guy, a long guy.

“But we felt we needed to add some depth with some starting rotation help. He’s a pitcher we’ve admired, and he’s got a chance to throw some very impactful innings and be a strong part of our pitching staff.”

Young, who went 12-9 with a 3.65 ERA in 165 innings last season with Seattle, said there was some interest from other teams before signing for a $675,000 base salary with up to $5.325 million in bonuses.

That includes up to $1 million based on active days on the roster, up to $1.975 million based on innings pitched and up to $2.35 million based on games started in 2015.

“It came down to Friday to make a decision, and I felt like this was the right place,” Young said. “At this point in my career, I want to win. What this team did last year, the ability to compete and have a chance at the playoffs and the World Series, that’s important to me.”

Young, 65-52 in his career, has made 188 major-league starts and one relief appearance in his career, but is comfortable with his new role.

“At this point in my career, and with my health, I feel absolutely confident in my ability to perform,” Young said. “I’m not worried about the role. Pitching is pitching. Once you take the ball, you go out there and compete, and that’s what I look forward to doing.”

Young was selected American League comeback player of the year last season after missing all of 2013 after undergoing surgery for a neck and shoulder condition called thoracic outlet syndrome.

“My health is great,” said Young, an All-Star with San Diego in 2007. “This is the best I’ve felt in a long time. I had a good year last year, I felt good. I fatigued a little bit at the end. That was more in part going into last season, trying to win a job. My season started Feb. 14 … so I geared up post-surgery and all through the off-season until day one of spring training so I was ready to go four-plus innings and win a job.

“But I paid the price in September. I regret that in terms of how I let the team down …After two weeks off in the off-season I felt great again.”

The Royals are confident Young’s health will not be an issue.

“He had a terrific year last year,” Moore said. “He’s had some injury history in the past, but he has tremendous makeup. At the end of the day, you bet on those players who are great competitors, great workers and overcomers, and Chris has been able to do that.”

Young said the thoracic outlet syndrome, which sidelined him for all of 2013, is a hard-to-diagnose congenital condition.

“When I had the surgery, the doctor said, ‘Look, this is probably the root of all your shoulder issues,’” Young said, “and since the time I came out of surgery, I felt no pain.”

Young, a two-sport athlete at Princeton, has some familiarity with Kansas City sports, aside from facing the Royals while a member of the Mariners and Texas Rangers.

While with Princeton, he scored 20 points in an 82-67 loss to KU on Dec. 22, 1999, in Lawrence against a Jayhawks team that featured future NBA players Nick Collison, Drew Gooden and Kirk Hinrich.

“I was excited to play,” Young said, “but I knew we were beat by looking at my teammates during warmups. They were looking around … awestruck.”

He met Elizabeth at Princeton and soon learned her grandfather was NHL legend Lester Patrick, head of a family with five hockey Hall of Famers. Her father, Chris, is general manager of the Washington Capitals, and her brother Craig played for the Kansas City Scouts of the NHL before becoming a two-time Stanley Cup-winning general manager with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

“I grew up in Dallas and didn’t know much about hockey,” he said. “I’m a Washington Capitals fan now. It’s funny, at the dinner table they like to talk baseball and I like to talk hockey, so I think we both understand each other’s lack of expertise in the other sport.”

This story was originally published March 7, 2015 at 11:44 AM with the headline "Royals sign 6-10 righty Chris Young and expect him in pitching staff this season."