Kansas City Royals Mike Moustakas swings, hitting a two RBI double in the seventh inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on June 2, 2014. UPI/Bill Greenblatt
The Kansas City Royals agreed to terms on a one-year contract with outfielder Lorenzo Cain and third baseman Mike Moustakas for the 2015 season, avoiding arbitration.
Cain, 28, had an outstanding 2014 campaign, being named the Most Valuable Player in the American League Championship Series as well as the Les Milgram Player of the Year by the Kansas City Chapter of the BBWAA. During the regular season, he set career highs in batting average (.301), games played (133), runs (55), hits (142), doubles (29), triples (4), RBI (53) and stolen bases (28). The veteran outfielder performed even better in the postseason, batting .333 with five doubles, eight RBI and 13 runs scored, which included a four-hit game in Game 2 of the ALCS in Baltimore. Defensively, Cain earned a second-straightWilson Defensive Player of the Year Award, collecting a career-high eight outfield assists, while he was third among American League outfielders with a .949 zone rating.
Moustakas, 26, hit 15 home runs last season, while batting .212 with 21 doubles and 54 RBI. He enjoyed a tremendous postseason, blasting a team-record five homers, including the go-ahead roundtripper in Game 1 of the American League Division Series in Anaheim. Moose hit safely in each of his first six playoff games and homered in the first two games of the ALCS at Baltimore’s Camden Yards. He also made a memorable catch in Game 3 of the series, falling over the railing above the dugout suites at Kauffman Stadium to haul in a foul ball off the bat of Adam Jones.
The signing of Cain and Moose leaves the Royals with four unsigned arbitration-eligible players: pitchers Danny Duffy, Kelvin Herrera and Greg Holland and first baseman Eric Hosmer.
