*Photo from Royals Review*
The Kansas City Royals have signed OF Michael A Taylor, according to Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports. The deal is for one year and is worth $1.75 million, with an additional $1 million in bonuses for Taylor, according to MLB.com's Mark Feinsand. The Royals have confirmed the deal.
Taylor spent the 2020 season with the Washington Nationals, hitting .196 with 5 homers and 16 RBI in 38 games played in the short 60 game season. In Taylor's 7 year career, he is a .237 hitter with 53 homers and 184 RBI in 574 games played across his 7 seasons, all with the Nationals. Taylor had a breakout offensive season in 2017, hitting .271 with 19 homers and 53 RBI, but hasn't been the same at the plate since, but his defensive play in the outfield hasn't dropped.
Royals GM Dayton Moore said of Taylor's addition that "I think there is still some untapped potential there, I think he’d be the first to tell you he hasn’t been as consistent as he’d like. But he’s been a part of championship teams. He has speed and power. He understands the importance of improving his swing and miss, but he’s a terrific athlete and very intelligent. He’s a guy that Mike Matheny and Pedro Grifol and all of our scouts recommended, and we wanted to add to our outfield depth, get more starting pitching and add an impact bat or two for the middle of the lineup."
Taylor spoke about cutting down his high strikeout rate, saying that "Putting the ball in play earlier in the count is one way, I get to too many two-strike counts. Shortening up my swing, and not trying to hit the long ball on every at-bat. Cutting down on strikeouts is a huge thing." Taylor also spoke about playing defense in Kansas City, saying that "Physically, it’s a big outfield, and I love playing defense, and I think I can help out on the field."
The Royals have made a few moves in the last couple days, in addition to signing Taylor. The Royals recently announced the signing of Mike Minor, the DFA'ing of Foster Griffin, and that they have avoided arbitration with OF Franchy Cordero, and pitchers Jesse Hahn and Jakob Junis.
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