On Monday night the Kansas City Royals added a right fielder to fill the void that is expected to be left by Nori Aoki. After introducing Jon Lester during a press conference, the Chicago Cubs signed a reliever to bolster their bullpen.
According to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, the Royals and outfielder Alex Rios agreed to a one-year, $11 million deal. Kansas City actually expressed interest in trading for Rios during the 2014 season, but they were one of the teams on Rios' no-trade list. The 33-year-old hit the free agent market shortly after the season ended when the Texas Rangers declined his $13.5 million option for 2015.
Rios, a former first round pick, has played 11 MLB seasons and spent the last two in Texas, but was hampered by injuries over that span. Although he managed to play in 131 games this year, his performance was significantly affected by ankle and thumb injuries and he only hit four home runs and drove in 54 RBIs. However, Rios will add power to the Royals lineup with his career .762 OPS. His best years were with the Toronto Blue Jays, during which he slashed .285/.335/.451/.786 with 81 home runs, 395 RBIs and 112 stolen bases in six seasons.
While the Royals continue to do some patchwork, the Chicago Cubs have had a busy offseason in terms of acquiring talent from outside the organization. They signed manager Joe Maddon as well as starters Jon Lester and Jason Hammel and traded for catcher Miguel Montero to improve their young roster. On Monday the team added reliever Jason Motte on a one-year, $4.5 million deal, according to Bruce Levine of 670TheScore.com.
Motte is just two seasons removed from a career year, during which he logged a 2.75 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and 42 saves as the closer for the St. Louis Cardinals. He underwent Tommy John surgery after tearing a ligament in his elbow prior to the 2013 season and didn't return until 2014. The right-hander pitched only 29 games (25 innings) this past season and compiled a 1-0 record with a 4.68 ERA and 1.52 WHIP.
Chicago hopes Motte will have a bounce-back year and help improve a Cubs bullpen that ranked 15th in the league in ERA (3.61).
