Jason Hammel (39) delivers a pitch during the first inning against the Texas Rangers at Wrigley Field. Photo Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports
The Kansas City Royals bolstered their rotation Sunday, agreeing to a two-year, $16 million deal with free agent right-hander Jason Hammel.
Hammel pitched for the Chicago Cubs last season but never got into a postseason game during the club’s run to a World Series championship.
He posted a career-best win total while going 15-10 with a 3.83 ERA in 30 starts for Chicago last season.
Hammel, 34, broke into the majors with the then-Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2006. He was traded to the Rockies before the 2009 season, and he won 27 games in three years with Colorado.
The Rockies dealt Hammel and Matt Lindstrom to the Orioles for Jeremy Guthrie in February 2012. Hammel spent two seasons in Baltimore before signing a free agent deal with the Cubs in February 2014. The A’s acquired Hammel and Jeff Samardzija in July 2014 in exchange for three players as in-season rentals, a move that backfired on Oakland — particularly when Hammel re-signed with Chicago as a free agent that winter.
In 306 career games, including 248 starts, Hammel is 84-87 with four saves and a 4.42 ERA.
With Kansas City, Hammel will take the rotation spot of Yordano Ventura, who died in a January car crash.
Left-hander Mike Montgomery, who earned his first career save in Game 7 of the World Series, might end up taking Hammel’s spot as the Cubs’ fifth starter.
