Kansas City Royals add left-handed pitcher Ryan Yarbrough to the mix on one-year deal
After having been inactive for the first month of the MLB offseason, the Kansas City Royals signed free-agent pitcher Ryan Yarbrough in their first move this winter to bolster their pitching staff.
Yarbrough, 30, signed a one-year deal. The Royals designated right-handed relief pitcher Wyatt Mills for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for Yarbrough.
Yarbrough’s contract will pay him $3 million, plus up to another $1 million in performance bonuses, according to a source with knowledge of the deal.
The left-hander Yarbrough made just 20 appearances and nine starts in an injury-plagued 2022 season with the Tampa Bay Rays. He spent two stints on the injured list, one with left groin tightness and one that carried through the end of the season with a right oblique strain.
In five seasons with the Rays, Yarbrough went 40-31 with a 4.33 ERA in 127 games (59 starts) for a club regularly in contention among the American League East.
He pitched in the Rays’ 2019 and 2020 postseason runs, including three total appearances and one start in the 2020 World Series.
Yarbrough shares his alma mater, Old Dominion University, with new Royals manager Matt Quatraro, as well as first baseman/designated hitter Vinnie Pasquantino.
