The Kansas City Royals signed reliever Brad Boxberger to a $2.2 million contract for this season Thursday night, adding a veteran arm to a bullpen in which plenty of jobs will be available in spring training. The 30-year-old right-hander was 3-7 with 32 saves in 40 chances and a 4.89 ERA for the Arizona Diamondbacks last season, striking out 71 in 53 1.3 innings.
He was an All-Star with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2015 but was not used by the AL manager, Kansas City’s Ned Yost. His fastball’s average velocity has dropped from 94 mph in 2014 to 91.76 mph last year. Boxberger has 76 saves in seven big league seasons that included time with San Diego (2012-13), the Rays (2014-17) and Diamondbacks (2018).