KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Kansas City Royals announced today that they have signed third baseman Mike Moustakas to a one-year contract with a mutual option for the 2019 season. Per club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed. The Royals will announce a corresponding roster move shortly.
Moustakas, 29, returns to Kansas City, where he has played his entire seven-year career. He hit a career-high 38 home runs in 2017, breaking the Royals' single-season home run record set by Steve Balboni (36) in 1985. His 38 home runs tied for fifth most in the American League and matched Kansas City's single-season record set by Bob Cerv of the 1958 Athletics. Moose's banner season earned him The Sporting News' American League Comeback Player of the Year honors.
Moustakas also set career highs last season with 75 runs scored, 85 RBI, 289 total bases and a .521 slugging percentage. He was named an American League All-Star for the second time in his career, earning the Final Fan Vote with 15.6 million ballots. Moose hit 10 first-round home runs in the Home Run Derby in Miami, becoming the third Royal to participate in the event, joining Bo Jackson (1989) and Danny Tartabull (1991).
Moustakas has hit 119 home runs during his seven-year career, fifth most among Royals left-handed batters. More than half of those (67) have come since the 2015 All-Star break, good for a 15.13 at-bat-to-home-run ratio, which ranks third among active American League left-handed batters during that stretch.
Moustakas was originally selected by Kansas City second overall in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft. He and his wife, Stephanie, reside in Northridge, Calif., with their daughter, Mila, and newborn son, Michael Carter.