The Royals and free-agent RHP Clay Buchholz agreed Monday to a minor-league deal that will pay him $1.5 million if he is promoted to the 25-man roster, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today.
In the event Buchholz is not on the 25-man roster by May 1, he can opt out of the contract, return to being a free agent and sign with a different team.
This is the exact type of deal I'd like to see Sandy Alderson give to free-agent RHP Ubaldo Jimenez, which I explained in detail here.