The Kansas City Royals continued overhauling one of the worst pitching staffs in the league Tuesday, agreeing on free agent contracts with right-handed starter Seth Lugo and right-handed reliever Chris Stratton, sources told ESPN.
Lugo will receive a three-year, $45 million contract that includes an opt-out after the second season, sources said. Stratton, who won a World Series with the Texas Rangers, received $8 million over two years with an opt-out after the first, as MLB.com first reported.
With left-handed reliever Will Smith agreeing to a deal Monday, Kansas City had refurbished a quarter of its pitching staff, which had a 5.17 ERA, 28th of the 30 teams in Major League Baseball.
Lugo is the headliner, a 34-year-old who, in his first full season starting since 2017, thrived with the San Diego Padres. With a 3.57 ERA, Lugo struck out 140 and walked just 36 in a career-high 146⅓ innings. He opted out of his contract with the Padres and hit free agency, and Kansas City, which has canvassed midtier free agent pitching, made Lugo a priority after a 56-106 season.
The Royals’ foray into higher-priced pitching hasn’t exactly led to positive results in the past. Their five-year, $70 million deal with right-hander Ian Kennedy wound up with him in the bullpen, and deals with Danny Duffy and Gil Meche, though productive for a time, wound up plagued by injuries.
Kansas City’s bullpen was especially a mess last season, and 33-year-old Stratton has been an above-average contributor from there, with a 3.91 ERA since the 2020 season. Splitting time among Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Texas — where he went along with Jordan Montgomery at the trade deadline last year — Stratton was an invaluable arm during the regular season, but he pitched only four innings in the postseason this year, allowing four runs.