Royals agree to one-year contracts with Gordon, Tejeda

The Royals announced that the club has agreed to one-year Major League contracts for the 2010 season with third baseman Alex Gordon and right-handed pitcher Robinson Tejeda, avoiding arbitration with both.  Consistent with club policy, terms of the contracts were not disclosed.  With the agreements, the Royals do not have any remaining arbitration-eligible players unsigned for 2010.  In addition, the club has requested Unconditional Release Waivers on infielder Luis Hernandez, who was designated for assignment on January 9.

      Gordon, 25, struggled with a hip injury in 2009, officially missing 79 games on the Disabled List.  The Royals’ first-round selection from 2005 batted .232 for the club with six home runs and 22 RBI in 49 games, also making rehab stops in Surprise, Northwest Arkansas and Omaha.
   

   The 27-year old Tejeda was 4-2 for Kansas City with a 3.54 ERA in 35 games, including six starts.  The 6-foot-3 right-hander’s six starts all came in September, as he went 3-1 with a 2.84 ERA in the season’s final month.  The Bani, Dominican Republic native posted 10.63 strikeouts per nine innings and held the opposition to a .167 batting average, the third-lowest in baseball among pitchers with at least 70.0 innings.