KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Kansas City Royals agreed to a $32 million, four-year contract with left-hander Jason Vargas on Thursday, trying to fill the void in their rotation created by Ervin Santanas free agency. Vargas was 9-8 with a 4.02 ERA in 24 starts for the Angels last season. He was 6-4 with a 3.65 ERA before going on the disabled list with a blood clot in his arm that required surgery. Kansas City was searching for a veteran to replace Santana, another former Angels pitcher who rediscovered himself in Kansas City. Santana went 9-10 with a 3.24 ERA last season, driving up his price in free agency to the point where the Royals are unlikely to sign him. "Our medical team felt very comfortable, our scouting judgment was very sound, with the length of the contract as well. It all kind of lined up together," general manager Dayton Moore said. "We felt very confident and secure in making him a Royal." Vargas, a soft-tossing lefty who turns 31 in February, gets $7 million next season, $8.5 million in each of the following two years and $8 million in 2017. He had shown a propensity for giving up home runs, but that should be mitigated by cavernous Kauffman Stadium. That was the case with Santana, who also allowed homers by the bushel in Los Angeles before getting things under control in Kansas City. "The biggest thing for me was being in a place where I knew I would be at for a significant amount of time, and with an organization where I felt comfortable," Vargas said, "and I believed in what theyre doing and continuing to get better, and Kansas City was definitely at the top of that list going into the off-season." Vargas will be joining a club that finished 86-76 last season, its best finish since 1989, and was in contention for a playoff berth until the final weeks of the season. "What excited me about the team is how Ive seen the team grow and progress a lot over the last four or five years," Vargas said. "Their defence is spectacular and Im just hoping I can be a piece of the puzzle that helps move us forward." The Royals designated catcher George Kottaras for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster. Vargas isnt the sort of splashy signing that will make Royals fans salivate, but he does solidify the back end of whats expected to be a young rotation. James Shields returns next season as their clear-cut ace and Jeremy Guthrie provides a dependable No. 2 starter. Danny Duffy is a near-lock to make the rotation out of spring training after he worked his way back from Tommy John surgery this past season, leaving one more spot in the rotation up for grabs among a handful of in-house candidates. Among those would could land the fifth spot are Wade Davis, Luke Hochevar and Will Smith -- all former starters who spent time last season in the bullpen -- and hard-throwing right-hander Yordano Ventura, who made his big league debut last season and dazzled in three September starts. Most people within the organization believe that Ventura will be in the rotation at some point next season, even if he doesnt earn a spot in spring training. Theres also a chance that Kyle Zimmer, their former first-round pick, will be ready at some point next season. Zimmer finished last season at Double-A Northwest Arkansas. "Theres still ways we can improve our team, through the rotation, trying to add another bat, we feel like we have some quality young pitchers who are going to be competing for spots," Moore said. "Theres still a lot of opportunity out there to improve our starting pitching." Vargas, who missed the 2008 season with a torn labrum in his hip, is 51-58 with a 4.30 ERA in parts of eight seasons spent with the Marlins, Mets, Mariners and Angels. His best season came two years ago, when he went 14-11 with a 3.85 ERA in 33 starts for Seattle. If nothing else, Vargas should be able to eat innings. He was limited to 150 by his surgery last season, but went over 200 innings each of his final two seasons with the Mariners. "You try to get 200 innings out of your starters and Jason has been able to do that," Moore said. "Hes been one of the more consistent pitchers in all of baseball over the last few years, and we feel like hes right in the prime of his career." Custom Tampa Bay Rays Nike Jerseys . Therrien would not confirm his lineup for the game, but he did have the same line combinations practicing together for the third straight day which is usually a pretty good indication of what the lineup will be. Custom Nike Baseball Jerseys 2020 . After a tight first half, the Croatians took command in Reykjavik after Skulason was dismissed for a professional foul in the 51st minute, but couldnt find a way past Iceland goalkeeper Hannes Halldorsson and his packed defence. Eduardo had a weak shot cleared away from near the goalline after barely a minute for Croatia, whose substitute Ivica Olic forced a fine reaction save from Halldorsson in the 55th. https://www.custombaseballnikejerseys.co...ts-nike-jerseys. Mike Ribeiro had a goal and an assist as Phoenix held on to snap a two-game losing streak with a 4-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Friday. Stitched Custom Nike Baseball Jerseys . Not that he was complaining. Davis had 13 points, nine rebounds and a career-high eight blocks, and the New Orleans Pelicans emphatically snapped a three-game skid with a 135-98 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday night. Custom Nike Baseball Jerseys . According to a report from the Vancouver Province, the Lions are expected to replace former DC Rich Stubler with defensive backs coach Mark Washington.MINSK, Belarus -- Viktor Tikhonov scored twice and Alex Ovechkin added a goal and two assists Monday as Russia routed the United States 6-1 for its third straight victory at the ice hockey world championships. Nikolai Kolyomin opened the scoring for Russia and Alex Ovechkin beat veteran goaltender Tim Thomas with backhand on a penalty shot in the first period for his third goal of the tournament. Ovechkin set up both of Tikhonovs goals in the second, with Yevgeni Kuznetsov and Sergei Plotnikov also scoring for Russia. Justin Abdelkader pulled one back for the U.S. to make it 3-1. Russia leads Group G with nine points from three games, while the U.S. has six. Earlier, France overcame Slovakia 5-3 for another upset victory and host Belarus stunned Switzerland 4-3. France followed up its upset win over Canada in its opening game by coming from 3-1 down to beat Slovakia. Damien Fleury scored the winner on a rebound with 3:41 left in regulation to complete the comeback. Antoine Roussel added his second goal into an empty net for Frances fifth. Baptiste Amar also scored twice for France. "I feel like our team has a lot of character," Roussel said. "We creaated our chances on the power play.dddddddddddd. We were so aggressive and we didnt take so many shots." Ladislav Nagy had two goals for Slovakia, with captain Miroslav Satan also scoring. France has five points from three games in Group A, while Slovakia remained on one. "Were not ready to give it up," Satan said. "The tournament is not over yet." Mikhail Grabovski netted the decisive goal with 2:06 remaining in the final period in Belarus second victory at the worlds to thrill 15,000 home fans at the Minsk Arena. "Im really proud of my boys," Belarus coach Glen Hanlon said. "The huge support that we have from our fans was likely the difference for us." Goals from Yannick Weber, Reto Schappi and Etienne Froidevaux had given Switzerland a 3-2 lead in the third but Belarus equalized through Sergei Kostitsys second goal. It was the third straight loss for Switzerland, last years runner-up. "Its a difficult situation for us right now we have to stay positive and look forward but it wont be easy," Switzerland coach Sean Simpson said. Belarus has six points in Group B while Switzerland is on zero. ' ' '