The Kansas City Royals dealt right-handed starting pitcher Brady Singer to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for second baseman Jonathan India and outfielder Joey Wiemer on Friday.The Reds moved on from India, the 2021 National League Rookie of the Year, as they build their infield around star Elly De La Cruz. India has one year remaining on his current contract and is arbitration eligible in 2026.India, 27, appeared in 151 games in 2024 and batted .248 with 15 home runs, 28 doubles and 58 RBIs. In 523 games over four years with the Reds, who drafted India fifth overall in 2018, he has batted .253 with 63 homers, 101 doubles, 229 RBIs and 42 steals.Wiemer, 25, split the 2024 season between Milwaukee and Cincinnati and went 4-for-26 with two runs in 21 appearances.

The Kansas City Royals saw a 30-game improvement in 2024 under manager Matt Quatraro, one of six finalists for Manager of the Year honors announced Monday.Quatraro, 50, oversaw a stunning turnaround for the Royals, who were coming off a lifeless 56-106 last-place finish in 2023. A similar roster in 2024 became a winning squad under Quatraro's direction, going 86-76 with a second-place finish in the American League Central.This year's Royals earned a 2-0 sweep of the Baltimore Orioles in the AL wild-card series before dropping an AL Division Series to the New York Yankees three games to one.Quatraro will have stiff competition in the AL from two divisional rivals, A.J. Hinch of the Detroit Tigers and Stephen Vogt of the Cleveland Guardians.Hinch matched Quatraro by directing an 86-76 club that found postseason success. Hinch's Tigers swept the Houston Astros 2-0 in the other AL wild-card series and pushed the Guardians to five games in the ALDS before losing 3-2.Meanwhile, the first-place Guardians and Vogt had the most successful season of the bunch, winning 92 games and taking that postseason series with Detroit to make their first AL Championship Series since 2016. They lost in five games (4-1) to the Yankees.

Royals right-hander Michael Wacha will remain in Kansas City for the next three seasons, agreeing to a $51 million deal that could max out at $72 million, multiple media outlets reported on Sunday.The Royals announced they had agreed to a new contract with Wacha, featuring a club option for 2028, but did not disclose financial terms.Per the reports, Wacha, 33, will earn $18 million in 2025 and 2026 and $14 million in 2027. According to ESPN, the third year of the deal could be worth an additional $4 million in performance bonuses. The $14 million club option, with a $1 million buyout, includes the same $4 million in incentives.A 12-year veteran, Wacha was expected to opt out of the final year of his two-year, $32 million deal he signed last winter, ESPN reported. Instead he will remain with the Royals, who reached the postseason but lost to the New York Yankees in the American League Division Series.The Royals were able to negotiate with Wacha during the five-day quiet period after the World Series when teams can re-sign their pending free agents.

Kansas City Royals All-Star catcher Salvador Perez was named the 2024 recipient of the Roberto Clemente Award on Monday.The award is given to the Major League Baseball player who "best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and the individual's contribution to his team."Perez, the first-ever member of the Royals to receive the honor, will be presented with the award during a pregame press conference at Yankee Stadium before Monday night's Game 3 of the World Series between the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees.Perez was nominated by the Royals for his extraordinary efforts to build healthy and active communities in his native Valencia, Venezuela, as well as in Kansas City.A nine-time All-Star and former World Series MVP, Perez batted .271 with 27 home runs and 104 RBIs for the Royals this past season. The Royals lost to the Yankees in the American League Division Series.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Gerrit Cole pitched seven effective innings, and Gleyber Torres, Juan Soto and Giancarlo Stanton each supplied key hits Thursday night to lead the New York Yankees to a 3-1 victory against the Kansas City Royals in a decisive Game 4 of the American League Division Series.After failing to reach the postseason a year ago, the Yankees advanced to the American League Championship Series for the second time in three seasons and for the fourth time since 2017. New York won't learn of its opponent in the ALCS until Saturday, when the Cleveland Guardians are scheduled to host the Detroit Tigers for Game 5 of that ALDS. The Guardians extended their series with a 5-4 victory against the Tigers on Thursday.The Royals, coming off a 56-106 record in 2023, advanced beyond the wild-card round under manager Matt Quatraro in their first postseason trip since 2015, when they won their franchise's second World Series. Star shortstop Bobby Witt went 2-for-17 (.118) with a walk in the series.Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, who came in struggling in the postseason after making himself the favorite to win AL MVP in the regular season, hit a hard double in two at-bats, scored a run, walked twice and stole a base.Benches and bullpens cleared briefly in the bottom of the sixth inning following a slide into second by the Royals' Maikel Garcia and Anthony Volpe's tag for a key double play.After grinding to a no-decision in the series opener, Cole (1-0) allowed a run and six hits to go with four strikeouts. He kept the Royals off the scoreboard through five innings and pitched out of a jam in the sixth.New York's bullpen continued to dominate with Clay Holmes taking the eighth and Luke Weaver finishing in the ninth for his third save of the series. Yankees relievers combined to allow zero runs in 15 2/3 innings in the series.The Yankees scored quickly against right-hander Michael Wacha who, like Cole, also started Game 1. Three pitches into the first inning, Soto lined an RBI single to right, scoring Torres after he had doubled, to give New York a 1-0 lead.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Giancarlo Stanton hit a long go-ahead home run in the eighth inning Wednesday night, leading the New York Yankees to a 3-2 victory against the Kansas City Royals in Game 3 of the American League Division Series.The Yankees lead the best-of-five set two games to one, and they can advance to the AL Championship Series with a victory in Game 4 on Thursday in Kansas City.Stanton finished 3-for-5, driving in another run with a double and adding a stolen base. His 12th career postseason homer, a 417-foot shot to left field against left-hander Kris Bubic, came off his bat at 112.9 mph, according to MLB Statcast data. Bubic (0-1) had not allowed a run in three previous appearances during this year's postseason.New York's bullpen, with Luke Weaver getting the final five outs for his second postseason save, kept the Royals scoreless after the fifth inning. Tommy Kahnle (1-0) got the victory with 1 1/3 perfect innings in relief after following starter Clarke Schmidt and Clay Holmes to the mound.Kansas City's best late scoring opportunity came in the eighth when Weaver allowed a one-out single to Bobby Witt Jr. and a two-out single to Salvador Perez. Yuli Gurriel flied out to end the inning.Royals pitchers issued nine walks, and have allowed 22 walks in the series. Yankees batters managed four hits, collectively going 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position. AL MVP favorite Aaron Judge went 0-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout, and he is 1-for-11 with five K's in the series.

NEW YORK -- Salvador Perez hit a long homer off Carlos Rodon to start a four-run fourth inning and the Kansas City Royals beat the New York Yankees 4-2 on Monday night to even their American League Division Series at one game apiece.Game 3 of the best-of-five set is scheduled for Wednesday night in Kansas City.The only remaining player from Kansas City's 2015 World Series team, Perez forged a 1-1 tie by hammering a 2-0 slider to the back of the left field seats.It was Perez's sixth career postseason homer and first since Game 5 of the 2015 AL Championship Series.The veteran catcher's 402-foot drive gives him 13 hits in 28 career at-bats off Rodon (0-1), whom he faced frequently when the Yankees left-hander pitched for the Chicago White Sox.Following Perez's homer, the Royals continued to pounce on Rodon's slider, as Tommy Pham and Garrett Hampson had run-scoring singles.Yuli Gurriel followed Perez's drive with a single to left on a 2-2 slider and took second on a wild pitch. After Rodon got the first out of the fourth, Pham lined another slider to center to plate Gurriel for a 2-1 lead, then stole second.With two outs, Pham easily scored when Hampson hit a slider to left for a 3-1 lead, chasing Rodon from the game in the process. Maikel Garcia added an RBI single off Ian Hamilton, but he got caught in a rundown for the final out of the frame.Kansas City starter Cole Ragans struggled with command at times but held the Yankees to one run on three hits in four innings before the Royals used four relievers to finish the game. Ragans struck out five and walked four.