KANSAS CITY, KAN. ----- The Kansas City Royals announced today that the club has agreed to terms with first baseman/designated hitter Kendrys Morales on a two-year deal with a mutual option for the 2017 season. Per club policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed.
Morales, 31, split the 2014 season between Minnesota and Seattle, signing a free agent contract with the Twins on June 8, before being traded back to the Mariners on July 24 for right-handed pitcher Stephen Pryor.
He batted .218 with 20 doubles, eight homers and 42 RBI in 98 games between his two stops. After homering just once in his first 55 games, he hit seven round-trippers in his final 43 contests. In his last full season with Seattle (2013), he hit .277 with 34 doubles, 23 homers, 80 RBI and a .449 slugging percentage, playing in 156 games.
A switch-hitter, Morales played his first six Major League seasons with the Los Angeles Angels, enjoying a break-out year in 2009 when he tied for sixth in the American League with a career-high 34 homers and ranked fifth in the league with 108 RBI.
He finished fifth in the Most Valuable Player voting that season.
He was acquired by Seattle in 2012 for current Royals pitcher Jason Vargas. Morales is a career .271 hitter with 150 doubles, 110 homers, 387 RBI and a .460 slugging percentage. His 110 round-trippers are ninth-most among active switch-hitters.
A native of Fomento, Cuba, Morales resides in Miami, Fla., during the offseason with wife, Yarley and children Hanely and Kendrys, Jr.
