Royals announce signing of right-handed pitcher Ian Kennedy

Last season, as Ian Kennedy toiled away as a member of the San Diego Padres, his pitching coach, Darren Balsley, would often pull the club’s starting rotation together for lessons that bordered on pseudo science.

The Padres, according to advanced metrics, had one of the worst outfield defenses in the major leagues, and in an attempt to lift spirits and bolster confidence, Balsley asked his pitchers to ponder their ERAs with just a league-average defense.

“Our pitching coach would just pull up numbers,” Kennedy said. “If we just had an average defense, this is how much our pitching staff would (gain) earned-run-wise. … It was close to 40 or 50 runs in a season.”

The Padres, of course, did not have an average defense — “Our defense was really bad,” Kennedy says plainly — and when the veteran right-hander became a free agent this offseason, he began studying places he might like to play. One of the first teams on the list, Kennedy says, was the Royals, who he had watched play in two straight World Series.

“If they’re interested, that would be pretty cool,” Kennedy remembered thinking.

That thought became official Friday when Kennedy signed a five-year, $70 million deal to join the starting rotation of the defending world champions. In a backloaded deal, Kennedy will make $7.5 million in 2016 and $13.5 million in 2017. The contract then escalates to $16 million in 2018 and $16.5 million in 2019 and 2020. The deal also includes a player opt-out clause after 2017. If Kennedy does opt out, he will receive $6 million.

The financial security is nice, but from a competitive standpoint, Kennedy says, the Royals’ defense and postseason success was paramount in his decision. When his agent, Scott Boras, told him the Royals were calling, Kennedy offered the green light right away.

“He said the Royals are interested,” said Kennedy, who was introduced Friday at the annual Royals FanFest. “It’s intriguing. As it starts to happen, you start to really make it real, thinking: ‘I might play in front of this defense — it’s unbelievable.’”

The contract, which was agreed to in principle in mid January, was held up, in part, by logistics. When the two sides agreed on terms, Kennedy was beginning a 10-day vacation in Poipu, Hawaii. Royals general manager Dayton Moore was in the Dominican Republic, spending time at the club’s academy. Neither party wanted to cut their trips short. But Kennedy received immediate feedback, confirming that he had made the right choice.

As he celebrated the deal in Hawaii, he received a text from former Royals pitcher James Shields, who was a teammate of Kennedy last season in San Diego.

“You have no idea until you play in front of them what kind of defense you’re going to have,” Shields told Kennedy.

The Royals hope that the combination of Kennedy, an elite defense and a spacious ballpark will result in a valuable addition to the starting rotation. Kennedy, who came up in the Yankees system and also spent time with Arizona, slots into the middle of the rotation, an innings-eater who will add depth and experience behind right-handers Yordano Ventura and Edinson Volquez. The final two spots in the rotation are expected to be filled by a combination of Kris Medlen, Danny Duffy and Chris Young, who was retained his offseason on a two-year, $11.5 million deal. To make room for Kennedy on the 40-man roster, relief pitcher Louis Coleman was designated for assignment.

For the Royals, the addition of Kennedy offers a combination of durability, depth and familiarity. At age 31, Kennedy has made at least 30 starts in six straight seasons. He has averaged more than 194 innings per season since 2010. In the same span, he is 14th among all major-league pitchers in innings pitched. He also has history with Royals pitching coach Dave Eiland, who worked with Kennedy as a young pitcher in New York and endorsed the move.

Moore said Friday that the Royals had tracked and targeted Kennedy for years. One reason: Moore said the Royals need more innings from their starters.

“You’re going to know what you get every time he steps on the mound,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “That’s important for a manager and a coaching staff. You have a basic idea. You’re not starting the game just hoping that he’s going to throw a good game. You’re going to get a pretty good idea with his consistency, what you’re going to get, every time he steps on the mound.”

Drafted by the Yankees in the first round of the 2006 draft, Kennedy made his big-league debut on Sept. 1, 2007, and spent parts of three seasons in New York. Following the 2009 season, Kennedy was traded to Arizona in a three-team blockbuster that sent Diamondbacks starter Max Scherzer to Detroit, and flipped Detroit outfielder Curtis Granderson to the Yankees.

Kennedy was about to turn 25 then, and the new environs ignited his career. He finished with a 3.80 ERA in 32 starts in 2010 before compiling a breakout campaign in 2011, recording a 2.88 ERA with 198 strikeouts in 222 innings over 33 starts. He finished fourth in NL Cy Young voting.

The ensuing years offered a series of setbacks. After a productive season in 2012, Kennedy was largely ineffective in 2013, posting a 5.31 ERA in 21 starts for the Diamondbacks. That summer, he was dealt to San Diego in a deadline trade.

Kennedy took steps forward in 2014, his ERA dropping to 3.63, but he tumbled again in 2015. He finished 9-15 with a 4.28 ERA in 30 starts. He allowed 31 homers.

According to Kennedy, his form in 2014 was right there with the best of his career. But his 2015 campaign was hampered by an early trip to the disabled list — he strained a hamstring in his first start — and it took until June to settle into a groove. When he did, he posted a 2.31 ERA in June, a 3.38 ERA in July and a 2.30 ERA in August before struggling again in September.

But as he turned on the television in October, and took survey of the postseason landscape, he kept coming back to one thought: How good would his numbers look playing in front of that Kansas City defense?

“I watched the team in the World Series the last two years,” Kennedy said, “and if you’re a fan of baseball, you’re a fan of the Royals. Just because of how they play. They’re relentless. In the playoffs, you don’t win playoff games like they did, in the fashion they did, unless you have that grit.”

This story was originally published January 29, 2016 at 11:06 AM with the headline "Royals announce signing of right-handed pitcher Ian Kennedy."