KANSAS CITY, Missouri – Reliever Wade Davis is returning to the Royals, the team he helped launch for the 2015 World Series title.
Royals and Davis signed a contract for the minor league on Wednesday, and the 35-year-old right-hand man will go to spring training trying to win a spot in the major league squad.
Davis is an All-Star three times who made 47 saves for the Royals from 2013 to 2016. Kansas City acquired him from Tampa Bay in December 2012, converted him into a full-time reliever in 2013 and traded him with the Chicago Cubs then the 2016 season. He pitched the 2015 World Series final against the New York Mets, launching a third hit called Wilmer Flores.
He spent a season in Chicago, completing a four-year contract worth $ 12.6 million with three options that totaled $ 35.1 million in salary. He then signed a three-year, $ 52 million contract with the Colorado Rockies.
Davis had a National League record of 43 saves in 2018 and 15 in 2019, so he made only five appearances with two saves during the shortened pandemic season last year, when his ERA soared to 20.77. The Rockies released him in September.
He has 139 saves in 12 major league seasons, going 63-52 with an ERA of 3.81. He is 4-0, with eight saves in 30 games in the postseason.