'He's just a guy we rally around.' Royals players thrilled Mike Moustakas is back
Ten years ago, Kelvin Herrera was newly arrived from the Dominican Republic and headed to the Royals’ Class-A affiliate in Burlington, Iowa.
One of the first people he met in the clubhouse was a 19-year-old player who had been the No. 2 overall pick a year earlier: Mike Moustakas.
“I was 18,” Herrera noted. “I’ve known the guy for forever pretty much. I’m glad to have that guy back.”
He’s not alone. The Royals announced Saturday that Moustakas had signed a one-year contract worth $6.5 million with a mutual option for 2019.
The deal was smaller than most expected, but that worked out in the Royals’ favor.
"I know he was expecting a big, long contract,” pitcher Ian Kennedy said. “I'm excited that we get to have him back for another year. It happened to work out ... that we have him for another year.
“Hopefully he can do the same thing he did last year and enter the offseason where he can have a big, long contract. But selfishly, I'm happy here's back here. Moose is such a fun personality to have around. He's such a talented hitter, that he's a great presence to have in our lineup, especially from the left side.”
The Royals would be happy with another season of Moustakas’ 2017 production: 38 home runs, 24 doubles, 85 RBIs and an .835 on-base-plus-slugging percentage.
The 38 home runs were a Royals’ franchise record for a single season.
“To see him finally get a deal and actually be coming back to Kansas City, I’m very happy for him,” pitcher Nathan Karns said. “I’m going to be very happy seeing him over there at third base, I mean, he just broke our home-run record here, so it’s another powerful left-handed bat in our lineup.
“I’m just glad to see him back out there, and he’s going to be really happy to be back in this clubhouse and getting after it.”
Pitcher Jakob Junis said Moustakas, 29, will provide good veteran leadership.
“He’s just a guy that we rally around,” Junis said. “Him and Hoz (Eric Hosmer) were guys that really kind of set the tone for us and it’s nice to have a guy like that back on the team.”
Moustakas broke into the major leagues on June 10, 2011, and Herrera joined the Royals later that season.
They’ve been teammates ever since, attending the 2015 All-Star Game together, winning a pair of American League pennants and, of course, being crowned World Series champions.
“In my opinion, besides having a lot of power and playing solid defense, he’s a good teammate, too,” Herrera said. “He’s a good leader in the clubhouse. He helps people. We love what we’re getting here, to have him back.”
This story was originally published March 10, 2018 at 12:31 PM with the headline "'He's just a guy we rally around.' Royals players thrilled Mike Moustakas is back."