Report: Royals agree to minor-league deal with Greg Holland
Greg Holland is returning to Kansas City, as the Royals have inked the reliever to a minor-league contract that includes an invitation to big-league spring training, a source told Mark Feinsand of MLB.com.
If he makes the team, Holland will earn a base salary of $1.25 million in 2020, MLB.com's Jeffrey Flanagan reports. Additional performance bonuses could max the contract out at $2.375 million.
The three-time All-Star is going back to his original franchise following an up-and-down 2019 campaign. He struggled mightily out of the bullpen after signing with the Arizona Diamondbacks last winter, posting a 4.54 ERA and 4.76 FIP in just 35 2/3 innings, eventually losing his closing duties.
Arizona released Holland in August, and he quickly caught on with the Washington Nationals. However, he failed to earn a September call-up despite posting solid numbers down the stretch in Double-A.
The Royals drafted the 34-year-old in 2007, and he pitched for them from 2010 to 2015. Holland saved 145 games over that six-season run, and he was the pillar of Kansas City's vaunted bullpen that led the team to consecutive AL pennants and the 2015 World Series title.
Holland won the Mariano Rivera Award as AL Reliever of the Year while with the Royals in 2014, and he earned NL Comeback Player of the Year honors as a member of the Colorado Rockies in 2017.
Holland's competition for a bullpen job will include another former All-Star reliever in Trevor Rosenthal, who inked a minor-league deal with Kansas City in December.