Royals will reportedly ink second baseman Omar Infante to four-year deal.
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The hunt for an upgrade at second base has come to an end for the Kansas City Royals with the singing of Omar Infante.
Omar Infante is close to an agreement on a four-year deal for about $30 million with the Kansas City Royals.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) December 13, 2013
A little off the rumored four years and $40MM, I’d been hearing and reading. Sure Royals GM Dayton Moore doesn’t mind the “savings”.
Last season, Infante constructed a triple slash of .318/.345/.450 with 10 HR and 54 RBI in 476 plate appearances.
No question the Royals are moving in a positive direction with this signing. Not only are the Royals getting a player with postseason experience, they are also getting some veteran leadership. And his defense is far from a liability.
What will be intriguing is where Ned Yost will place Infante within the Royals batting order. On that, here’s Hunter Samuels from Kings of Kauffman:
"Going off of recent Royals’ strategies, it may make sense to assume Ned Yost will bat Infante 2nd in the lineup, which will drop Alex Gordon into the middle of the order. While having Infante near the top of the order isn’t the worst decision the team could make, he’s probably better suited for 6th or 7th so he’s not getting more plate appearances than superior Royals’ hitters. If Infante does hit 2nd, opposing pitchers shouldn’t expect to rack up many strikeouts in the first inning, since both Infante and Norichika Aoki have strikeout rates under 14%."
What’s this world coming to, huh? The Yankees wouldn’t ante up to retain Robinson Cano – although I can say I don’t blame the Yankees for not matching ten years. Now, the Royals step in and snag Infante. Maybe the same situation as New York wouldn’t go four years in order to sign Infante.