For most of the winter, Kansas City Royals general manager Dayton Moore indicated he wanted to cut payroll. He insisted that KC wasn’t in the running for major free-agents. Then Yordano Ventura died in the Dominican Republic on January 22. Apparently, the loss of Ventura forced a change in strategy from the KC Royals front office. Believing he had a team that could compete, owner David Glass couldn’t sit by and allow Ventura’s car accident to destroy his investment in the 2017 season.
The funny thing is that Moore decided to sign two other pitchers and let Holland sign with Colorado.