www.kansascity.com/sports/story/412905.htmlMahay gets two-year deal worth $8 million from RoyalsBy SAM MELLINGER
The Kansas City Star
Turns out Ron Mahay was doing his usual workout Wednesday at the home of his newest team. He just didn’t know it yet.
You see, Mahay lives in Litchfield Park, Ariz., a short drive from the Royals’ spring-training home in Surprise. His workout at the stadium was interrupted around 9 Wednesday morning with a call from his agent about an offer from the Royals.
Just about 24 hours later, the final details were complete on a two-year deal worth $8 million to pitch mostly in a setup role during the seventh and eighth innings.
“This powder blue brings out the blue in my eyes a little bit, doesn’t it?” he said Thursday afternoon while putting on a Royals jersey for the first time.
Mahay, 36, was 3-0 with a 2.55 ERA in 58 games for Texas and Atlanta last season, mostly in late-inning, situational appearances. He and his representation sought out the Royals and chose them over offers from the Yankees, Giants, Astros and Devil Rays.
In an informal news conference held at the Royals’ temporary offices near the Plaza, Mahay said he could pitch in any role possible.
He joins Jimmy Gobble, Neal Musser and John Bale as lefties in the Royals’ bullpen, though Bale will get a shot at the rotation. Mahay’s acquisition could make Gobble or Bale available in a trade.
“In our division, I’d like to have three lefties in the bullpen,” said general manager Dayton Moore. “It just gives us a lot of flexibility. But if you have three lefties in the bullpen, you want them to be able to get right-handers out as well (as lefties), and Ron can.”
Mahay, with mostly a fastball-slider-splitter repertoire, held lefties to a .189 batting average last year, and righties hit .242.
The wealth of lefty relievers plays especially well in the AL Central, home to left-handed hitting stars like Cleveland’s Travis Hafner and Grady Sizemore, Minnesota’s Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer, and Detroit’s Curtis Granderson.
That group, by the way, is four for 24 all-time against Mahay.
The move also continues the rebuilding of a bullpen that was among the Royals’ biggest strengths in 2007 but will look entirely different in 2008. When the Royals’ relief corps was at its best last year, it was with Octavio Dotel closing, Joakim Soria in the eighth inning, and David Riske and Zack Greinke setting up.
With Dotel and Riske going elsewhere and Greinke moving to the rotation, only Soria remains — and in a different role as closer.
Now, Japanese righty Yasuhiko Yabuta and Mahay project as the primary setup men, with Gobble, Musser, Joel Peralta and others — depending on how the rotation fills out.
“I like the way we’re set up in the bullpen now since we signed Ron,” Moore said. “All of our left-handers, especially Ron, have shown the ability to get both left-handers and right-handers out. He’s a winner.
“What he does specifically for us is give us another veteran presence down there, someone who has a good sense and skill for what it takes to get the very best major-league hitters out.”
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Mariners sign SilvaFree-agent starting pitcher Carlos Silva, once a target of the Royals, signed a four-year, $48 million contract with the Mariners.
In recent days, Royals executives had realized that the price of Silva — and, by extension, other second-tier starters — was growing too high. He was 13-14 last year with a 4.19 ERA.
The Royals are still looking to solidify their rotation and could turn toward comeback candidates like Jon Lieber, Kris Benson or Bartolo Colon for a short, incentive-laden deal.
The team was already looking to solidify itself at catcher before
Paul Phillips signed a minor-league deal with the White Sox on Thursday.