ESPN’s Buster Olney is reporting that the Royals and Omar Infante have agreed to a contract in which the free agent infielder will earn approximately $30 million over four years. Infante solves an obvious middle infield need for the Royals, who are loading up for a run at the AL Central in 2014.
Infante, who turns 32 years old on December 26, had drawn considerable interest from the Yankees as a potential replacement for Robinson Cano. He posted a career-high .795 OPS as a full-time second baseman with the Tigers last season. Olney suggests Infante will slot into the #2 spot in the Royals’ batting order behind Norichika Aoki.
Update: Jon Heyman of CBS Sports adds the specifics:
exact infante guarantee is $30.25M for 4. also has incentives. #royals
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) December 13, 2013