Jonathan Broxton Signs One-Year Deal with Kansas City Royals

The Kansas City Royals and Jonathan Broxton agreed to a one-year deal worth $4 million on Tuesday, gearing up the right-handed reliever to become Joaqim Soria's new setup man.

The 27-year-old chubster made $7 million with the Los Angeles Dodgers last season in the second installment of a two-year, $11 million deal, so he's actually taking quite a pay-cut. However, after being limited to just 14 games to due elbow trouble in 2011, it's not like he should have expected a raise.

The two-time All Star went 1-2 with seven saves and a 5.68 ERA before landing on the disabled list on May 6 with bone spurs in his pitching elbow that eventually required surgery on Sept. 19.

This is just the latest of a couple offseason moves by general manager Dayton Moore in an attempt to better the long-time craptastic Royals. He traded outfielder Melky Cabrera to the San Francisco Giants after a career season for lefty Jonathan Sanchez and another pitching prospect before inking free agent pitcher Bruce Chen to a $9 million, two-year deal. Baby steps.

[Kansas City Star]

Kansas City Royals to Give Bruce Chen $9 Million for Two More Seasons

Bruce Chen and the Kansas City Royals reportedly came to an agreement on Wednesday to keep the left-hander around for two more seasons to the tune of $9 million. What a deal.

Although the club hasn't made any sort of official announcement, some blabbermouth close to team negotiations spilled the beans. Chen is supposed to make $4.5 million in each of the next two seasons, but could earn an extra $500,000 per year in roster bonuses and another $1 million a season in performance bonuses. We'll see how that goes for him.

It's not that Chen sucks or anything. In fact, he was rather solid last season for the Royals, polishing off the year with a 12-8 record and 3.77 ERA. He's really much better now than he ever has been... we just don't trust the guy. Kind of a late bloomer, maybe. In 13 big league seasons with 10 different organizations, Chen enjoyed his best year with the Altanta Braves back in 2000 when he went 4-0 with a 2.50 ERA in 22 relief appearances. It was all downhill from there, but he seems to be getting a grip on his life in recent years with Kansas City.

However, just to be perfectly clear, we're gonna go on record that we think $9 million is a ridiculously stupid amount of money to give a guy like Bruce Chen. For crying out loud, Dayton Moore.

San Francisco Giants Dump Jonathan Sanchez on Kansas City for Melky Cabrera

The Kansas City Royals changed up their rotation a bit on Monday, trading away outfielder Melky Cabrera to the San Francisco Giants for starting pitcher Jonathan Sanchez. Believe it or not, this guy is an improvement considering the Royals owned the third-worst combined ERA in the American League in 2011.

Not coincidentally, this move makes room on the roster for hyped-up center field prospect Lorenzo Cain. To sweeten the deal, the Giants also threw in Ryan Verdugo... a Double-A pitcher no one has ever heard of.

Philadelphia Phillies 6, Cody Ross 1

Roy Oswalt pretty much dominated the San Francisco Giants Sunday evening, going eight solid innings in which he allowed just one run on three hits with nine strikeouts for the 6-1 victory that knotted up the series at a game a-piece.

Not only was the Philadelphia Phillies right-hander electric on the hill, he also contributed a base hit (using Jimmy Rollins' hot bat) and ran directly through Sam Perlozzo's stop sign at third to score a run.

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Holy Breaking Ball, Jonathan Sanchez

First complete game? Check. First shut out? Check. A career-high in strikeouts? Crank it up to eleven. Really, no one can describe Jonathan Sanchez's no-hitter -- baseball's first of 2009 -- better than San Francisco Giants fans themselves...

A Giant Blog: A Giants No-Hitter!

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MCovey Chronicles: Jonathan Sanchez Pitches a No-Hitter!

Giants Win: Sanchez Stunner