Earlier today the Royals dropped their backup catcher for the past four seasons, Brayan Pena, and now they’ve avoided arbitration with his likely replacement by agreeing to a one-year deal with Brett Hayes.
Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star reports that Hayes will get $600,000 in his first season of arbitration eligibility, which isn’t a bad score for a 28-year-old who’s never gotten even 150 plate appearances in a big-league season.
Kansas City claimed Hayes off waivers from Miami last month and he’ll be in line to back up Salvador Perez despite a track record that suggests he’ll be among the worst hitters in the league.
