The Kansas City Royals announced Monday that they have agreed to terms with free agent infielder Omar Infante on a four-year contract, with a club option for 2018.  Per club policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed.

Infante, 31, hit .318 last season with 24 doubles, 10 homers and 51 RBI in 118 games for the Detroit Tigers.  He played all 118 games at second base, but has started 188 games at shortstop, 63 games at third base and 67 in the outfield in his career.  In 2013, he ranked fifth among Major League second basemen with a .450 slugging percentage and a .795 OPS.  A right-handed hitter, Infante hit .301 (44-for-146) against left-handed pitching, and .326 (100-for-307) against righties.  He also batted .325 (37-for-114) with runners in scoring position and had a .326 mark with runners on base (70-for-215).  Omar is moving into a ballpark where he’s seen a good amount of success, hitting .314 in Kauffman Stadium (49-for-156), his highest average in a visiting ballpark where he has at least 150 at bats.

A 2010 All-Star with the Atlanta Braves, Infante finished that season third in the National League with a career-best .321 batting average and 125 singles, which ranked fourth in the league. Over the past four seasons with Atlanta (2010), Miami (2011-12) and Detroit (2012-13), Infante has hit .295 with 93 doubles, 21 triples, 37 homers, 200 RBI and a .415 slugging percentage.  His 21 triples since the start of 2010 are the most among Major League second basemen.  Defensively, the 12-year veteran infielder led the National League in assists (466) as a Marlin in 2011, ranked fourth among N.L. second sackers with a .989 fielding percentage and fifth with 75 double plays.

— Royals Media Relations —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Royals might have found their answer at second base.

The Royals and veteran Omar Infante reached a tentative agreement on a four-year contract Friday night, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the contract.

The deal was first reported by Fox Sports.

Royals general manager Dayton Moore has said throughout the offseason that upgrading at second base was a priority. Kansas City used six players at the position last season, though none did enough to make the Royals feel comfortable moving forward.

Infante, who turns 32 on Dec. 26, would stabilize second base in Kansas City for the first time in years. He hit .318 with 10 homers and 51 RBIs in 118 games for Detroit last season.

Infante received substantial interest from the New York Yankees, who were seeking a replacement for Robinson Cano. But the Yankees were hesitant to give Infante more than three years, and the Royals decided to give the versatile infielder an extra year to help consummate the deal.

The Royals signed left-hander Jason Vargas to a $32 million, four-year deal in November to help replace Ervin Santana, who is likely to sign elsewhere in free agency. The deals for Vargas and Infante push the notoriously frugal Royals beyond $90 million in payroll for next season — a club record, assuming they don’t make any moves to trim salary.

Moore has said he expects payroll to be “about the same” as last season, which was roughly $82 million. But he’s also said the Royals can be flexible if the right opportunity arises.

Infante played all of his games at second base for Detroit last season, but the former All-Star also has logged significant time at shortstop and third base while playing a bit in the outfield.

He’ll play the majority of his time at second base in Kansas City, where Emilio Bonifacio, Jamey Carroll, Chris Getz, Johnny Giavotella, Elliot Johnson and Miguel Tejada each tried to fill in last season. They combined to hit .243 with just four home runs.

The fallback plan for the Royals was to go into next season with Bonifacio as their primary second baseman, but he’ll likely become a utilityman now.

The Royals are certainly familiar with Infante from having watched him play for their AL Central rival Detroit. Infante came up with the Tigers in 2002, and then was traded to the Cubs and Braves before landing back in Detroit two years ago, when he helped the Tigers win an American League pennant.

Infante is batting .279 with 74 homers and 421 RBIs over his 12-year career. He’s never played more than 149 games in a season, and missed more than a month last year with an ankle injury that occurred when the Blue Jays’ Colby Rasmus slid aggressively into his leg.

— Associated Press —

The Kansas City Royals announced today that they have acquired outfielder Norichika Aoki from the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for left-handed pitcher Will Smith.

Aoki, 31, batted .286 with eight home runs, 37 RBI and 20 stolen bases for Milwaukee in 2013.  He ranked second in the Major Leagues with 40 infield hits, while he led the National League in singles (140), tied for seventh in multi-hit games (50), seventh in times reaching base (237) and tied for 10th in hits (171).  Aoki hit .339 (60-for-181) against left-handed pitching last season, the top average by a left-handed hitter in the Major Leagues.  He also struck out just 40 times in 674 plate appearances for an MLB-leading 16.9 at-bats per strikeout ratio.

Aoki was signed by the Brewers prior to the 2012 season after playing eight seasons with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows of the Japanese Central League (2004-11).  He batted .288 during his rookie campaign with the Brewers, collecting 10 homers, 50 RBI and 30 stolen bases in 151 games.  He finished fifth in National League Rookie of the Year voting, leading all first-year players in steals and tied San Diego’s Yonder Alonso for the N.L. rookie lead in hits (150).

He hit .329 with 84 homers, 385 RBI and 164 stolen bases during his career in Japan.  Aoki won the Central League’s batting championship three times: 2005 (.344), 2007 (.346) and 2010 (.358) and hit over .300 in seven of his eight seasons in the league.  He is the only player in Nippon Professional Baseball history with two 200-plus hit seasons (2005 and 2010).  Aoki was a seven-time recipient of the Best Nine Award (Japanese equivalent of the Silver Slugger Award), a six-time Gold Glove honoree in center field and was the 2005 Central League Rookie of the Year.  He was also a member of both of Japan’s World Baseball Classic championship teams in 2006 and 2009.

He will become the first Japanese-born position player to suit up for the Royals.

Smith, 24, went 2-1 with a 3.24 ERA in 19 appearances (18 as a reliever) for the Royals last season.

— Royals Media Relations —

The Kansas City Royals announced today that Senior Vice President of Baseball Operations/General Manager, Dayton Moore, has agreed to a two-year extension that runs through the 2016 season.  Consistent with club policy, terms of the agreement are not disclosed

“When Dayton’s contract was extended during the 2009 season, I felt that this franchise had begun to turn the corner and that we were pointed in the proper direction,” said Dan Glass, Royals’ team President.  “It’s been a challenging process, but we are now seeing tangible evidence that the process is working, thanks to the tireless efforts of Dayton and his Baseball Operations staff.  Dayton is not only an outstanding baseball man, but he’s very much a part of our family and one of the top individuals I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with.”

“I’m very proud of the entire organization, especially our scouting and player development departments for their dedication and commitment to the Royals,” said Moore.  “It’s a tremendous honor and privilege to work with Mr. Glass, Dan and the entire family.”

Moore, who officially joined the Royals’ organization on June 8, 2006, has engineered a franchise turnaround by building the majority of the roster from within, with 21 members of the current 40-man roster “home grown.”  Of that group, the starting lineup had five full-time home-grown players, while the best statistical bullpen in the American League in 2013 featured a half-dozen hurlers who came up through the system, highlighted by closer Greg Holland, who set the franchise record for saves this past season with 47.

The 2013 squad finished with 86 wins, the 10th best victory total in franchise history and most wins for Kansas City since 1989.  The 2013 season also witnessed the first time the organization had three Rawlings Gold Glove winners in the same season, each of whom were home-grown athletes (Alex Gordon, Eric Hosmer and Salvador Perez) and the first time since 1988 that the club had three representatives in the All-Star Game (Gordon, Perez and Holland).

— Royals Media Relations —

The Kansas City Royals announced today that the club has traded catcher George Kottaras to the Chicago Cubs for cash considerations.

Kottaras was designated for assignment on November 22.

Kottaras, 30, played in 46 games for the Royals last season, making 29 starts behind the plate.  The left-handed hitting catcher batted .180 with five homers and 12 RBI.  He also drew 24 walks, which led the Major Leagues among players with 150 or fewer plate appearances.

His .349 on-base percentage ranked sixth among American League backstops that played at least 40 games.

— Royals Media Relations —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Royals agreed to a $32 million, four-year contract with left-hander Jason Vargas on Thursday, trying to fill the void in their rotation created by Ervin Santana’s free agency.

Vargas was 9-8 with a 4.02 ERA in 24 starts for the Angels last season. He was 6-4 with a 3.65 ERA before going on the disabled list with a blood clot in his arm that required surgery.

Kansas City was searching for a veteran to replace Santana, another former Angels pitcher who rediscovered himself in Kansas City. Santana went 9-10 with a 3.24 ERA last season, driving up his price in free agency to the point where the Royals are unlikely to sign him.

“Our medical team felt very comfortable, our scouting judgment was very sound, with the length of the contract as well. It all kind of lined up together,” general manager Dayton Moore said. “We felt very confident and secure in making him a Royal.”

Vargas, a soft-tossing lefty who turns 31 in February, gets $7 million next season, $8.5 million in each of the following two years and $8 million in 2017.

He had shown a propensity for giving up home runs, but that should be mitigated by cavernous Kauffman Stadium. That was the case with Santana, who also allowed homers by the bushel in Los Angeles before getting things under control in Kansas City.

“The biggest thing for me was being in a place where I knew I would be at for a significant amount of time, and with an organization where I felt comfortable,” Vargas said, “and I believed in what they’re doing and continuing to get better, and Kansas City was definitely at the top of that list going into the offseason.”

Vargas will be joining a club that finished 86-76 last season, its best finish since 1989, and was in contention for a playoff berth until the final weeks of the season.

“What excited me about the team is how I’ve seen the team grow and progress a lot over the last four or five years,” Vargas said. “Their defense is spectacular and I’m just hoping I can be a piece of the puzzle that helps move us forward.”

Vargas isn’t the sort of splashy signing that will make Royals fans salivate, but he does solidify the back end of what’s expected to be a young rotation.

James Shields returns next season as their clear-cut ace and Jeremy Guthrie provides a dependable No. 2 starter. Danny Duffy is a near-lock to make the rotation out of spring training after he worked his way back from Tommy John surgery this past season, leaving one more spot in the rotation up for grabs among a handful of in-house candidates.

Among those would could land the fifth spot are Wade Davis, Luke Hochevar and Will Smith — all former starters who spent time last season in the bullpen — and hard-throwing right-hander Yordano Ventura, who made his big league debut last season and dazzled in three September starts.

Most people within the organization believe that Ventura will be in the rotation at some point next season, even if he doesn’t earn a spot in spring training.

There’s also a chance that Kyle Zimmer, their former first-round pick, will be ready at some point next season. Zimmer finished last season at Double-A Northwest Arkansas.

“There’s still ways we can improve our team, through the rotation, trying to add another bat, we feel like we have some quality young pitchers who are going to be competing for spots,” Moore said. “There’s still a lot of opportunity out there to improve our starting pitching.”

Vargas, who missed the 2008 season with a torn labrum in his hip, is 51-58 with a 4.30 ERA in parts of eight seasons spent with the Marlins, Mets, Mariners and Angels. His best season came two years ago, when he went 14-11 with a 3.85 ERA in 33 starts for Seattle.

If nothing else, Vargas should be able to eat innings. He was limited to 150 by his surgery last season, but went over 200 innings each of his final two seasons with the Mariners.

“You try to get 200 innings out of your starters and Jason has been able to do that,” Moore said. “He’s been one of the more consistent pitchers in all of baseball over the last few years, and we feel like he’s right in the prime of his career.”

— Associated Press —

The Kansas City Royals announced Sunday that the club has signed minor league free agent catcher Francisco Pena and added him to the 40-man roster.

Pena, 24, had spent six years in the New York Mets’ organization, splitting 89 games between Las Vegas (AAA) and Binghamton (AA) in 2013.  He hit .257 for the Las Vegas 51s with 15 doubles, nine homers and 39 RBI in 68 games last year.  In 57 contests behind the plate, he committed just three errors and threw out 30 percent (15-for-50) of would-be base stealers.  He was a member of the World Champion Dominican Republic squad at the 2013 World Baseball Classic, going 1-for-2 with an RBI in two tournament games.

Originally signed as an international free agent by the Mets, Pena is the son of former Royals’ manager Tony Pena, while his older brother, Tony Jr., played in parts of three seasons for Kansas City (2007-09).

— Royals Media Relations —

The Kansas City Royals announced Monday that the club has requested release waivers on right-handed pitcher Luis Mendoza, who plans to pitch in Japan during the 2014 season.

Mendoza, 30, finished 2013 at 2-6 with a 5.36 ERA in 94.0 innings, which spanned 22 appearances.  He opened the season in the Royals’ rotation, making 15 starts, before moving to the bullpen just before the All-Star break.

Mendoza is 16-25 with a 5.39 ERA in seven Major League seasons between Kansas City and Texas.

— Royals Media Relations —