Mike Minor officially rejoins Royals, ‘gives us a lot of stability’, Dayton Moore says
The Kansas City Royals have collected an abundance of potential in the form of young pitching talent that debuted in the majors this summer as well as the stockpile in the farm system.
However, experience, durability and a track record of throwing a large volume of innings are of the utmost importance to general manager Dayton Moore as he looks ahead to next season.
Moore and the Royals invested in veteran left-handed pitcher Mike Minor with designs on him being a key figure in their starting pitching rotation for at least the next two seasons. The club officially announced they’d signed Minor to a free-agent contract on Tuesday.
“Obviously, they’ve had some down years the last couple of years, but they’re trending up,” Minor said Wednesday of the Royals. “I know that they want me to step in and kind of mentor the young guys and show them the ways a little bit, especially the starting staff. I think it’s me and (Danny) Duffy, and then (Brad) Keller is in there but he’s still kind of a young guy. A couple of the other guys are really young, just coming up and had a cup of coffee last year or are right there about to come up.”
The two-year contract includes a club option for a third year. Minor, who turns 33 later this month, will earn $18 million guaranteed. He’s set to make $7 million in 2021, $10 million in 2022 and the deal includes a $13 million option for 2023, a source with knowledge of the deal told The Kansas City Star. The contract also includes a $1 million buyout.
Minor is no stranger to the Royals, who signed him in 2016 coming off of labrum surgery. He pitched out of the bullpen for them in 2017, but the Texas Rangers lured him away on a three-year, $28 million deal and a chance to start.
“We know we needed to add a starter to our young rotation,” Moore said. “We feel like Mikey gives us a lot of stability, a lot of focus, somebody who has been successful and can provide us innings. It’s just a really good fit for us. We’re grateful that he is once again going to be a Kansas City Royal.”
In his first two seasons with the Rangers, he made 60 starts with a 26-18 record and 3.84 ERA in 365 1/3 innings, with 332 strikeouts, a 1.19 WHIP and 8.2 strikeouts per nine innings. In 2019, he made 16 quality starts and recorded a career-best 14 wins in 32 starts on his way to an American League All-Star selection.
This past year in a pandemic-shortened season with a three-month break in the middle of spring training, Minor went 1-6 in 12 games (11 starts) with a 5.56 ERA, 62 strikeouts, a 1.24 WHIP and a .230 opponent’s batting average in 56 2/3 innings for the Rangers (seven starts) and Oakland Athletics (four starts, five games).
Moore said their scouting staff saw every pitch from Minor this past year, and the previous relationship and trust developed helped make this deal happen. Moore expressed confidence that Minor can be a 200-innings per season presence in the starting rotation.
MLB Statcast data showed Minor’s average fastball velocity having taken a small dip to 90.6 mph in 2020 after having been 92.5 mph in 2019 and 92.8 in 2019.
“His spin rates are elite,” Moore said. “His spin rates are really good on his fastball. We’re not concerned about that. The important thing is that you make pitches. He’s a terrific competitor. We have great confidence in the stability that he’s going to bring our rotation. We have a history with him. We have a comfort level with him. … We felt he was one of the better starting pitchers that were available this offseason via free agency.”
Moore did not bring Minor back with the bullpen in mind. He emphasized the need for experienced pitchers in the rotation to prevent the young starters from being over-extended.
The Royals have five returning starters from last season in veteran left-hander Danny Duffy, right-hander Brad Keller, right-hander Jakob Junis, and a pair of rookies in right-hander Brady Singer and left-hander Kris Bubic. Neither Singer, who made 12 starts this year (64 1/3 innings), nor Bubic, who made 10 starts (50 innings), have pitched a full season in the majors. Neither pitched above the Double-A level prior to this summer.
“We feel like we have some high-quality arms, some guys that have a chance to grow into being a top of the rotation pitcher,” Moore said. “The bottom line is for that to happen you have to keep them healthy. You have to keep them in rhythm. You have to keep them on a routine. You want them to experience a 162-game season, 32 to 35 starts. …
“The only way you can protect them from them, if you will, is to have some veteran guys around them. Guys that can figure out how to pitch an extra inning or get through an extra hitter or two where Mike (Matheny) doesn’t have to protect them as much.”
This story was originally published December 1, 2020 at 6:12 PM.
