Royals reach agreement with Dotel, sign lefty reliever from Japan

The winter meetings are over, but the Royals show no signs of slowing down.

They reached an agreement Friday morning on a one-year contract with veteran reliever Octavio Dotel and further supplemented their bullpen by signing left-hander John Bale to a two-year deal.

Bale spent the last three years pitching for the Hiroshima Carp in the Japanese Central League after spending parts of four seasons in the big leagues with the Blue Jays, Orioles and Reds.

The Royals might not be done, either. General manager Dayton Moore said the club is continuing to pursue free-agent pitcher Miguel Batista and also exploring trade options.

"We've helped ourselves," he said. "We've done the best we possibly could at this point in time."

The latest deals came one day after the Royals reached agreement with free-agent pitcher Gil Meche on a five-year contract for $55 million and two days after they acquired pitcher Brian Bannister from the New York Mets in a trade for reliever Ambiorix Burgos.

Dotel, 33, chose the Royals over the Red Sox, Indians, Devil Rays and Yankees because of the opportunity to serve as the closer. He saved a career-high 36 games in 2004 while splitting time with the Astros and A's but missed much of the last two seasons while recovering from reconstructive elbow surgery.

The deal with Dotel calls for $5 million in guaranteed money with the possibility of another $2 million through performance bonuses.

Dotel struggled last season in 14 outings for the Yankees after returning from surgery. He allowed 12 earned runs and 18 hits in just 10 innings, but the Royals expressed confidence that he is fully recovered.

Moore said reports indicated Dotel pushed his fastball to 93-94 mph and showed a plus slider Wednesday while pitching in the Dominican Winter League.

Dotel is 37-31 with 71 career saves and a 3.75 ERA in eight major-league seasons with the Mets, Astros, A's and Yankees. He averaged 69 appearances from 2000-04.

Bale, 32, was 1-2 with six saves and a 2.93 ERA in 30 appearances last season for Hiroshima. He saved 24 games the previous year when he compiled a 3.19 ERA in 51 games.

"He's versatile," Moore said. "I'm not saying he couldn't start, but right now we're looking at him as a reliever, probably in the middle."

Bale picked the Royals over the Yankees, who offered a one-year deal. He made 27 big-league appearances, including nine starts, from 1999-2003 and went 2-2 with a 4.69 ERA.

The Royals are still waiting to hear back from Batista on their offer of $24 million over three years. The club seems unwilling, at this point, to sweeten that offer, which suggests Batista might be leaning toward signing elsewhere.

Batista, 35, pitched briefly for the Royals in 2000 and went 11-8 with a 4.58 ERA last season in 34 games for Arizona. He is 68-79 with a 4.46 ERA in 397 games, including 185 starts, in his 12-year career.

The Royals have yet to clear roster space to accommodate the acquisitions of Meche, Dotel and Bale. Barring space-clearing trades, the deletions are likely to come from the pitching staff. Possibilities include Danny Christensen, Scott Dohmann, Brandon Duckworth and Neal Musser.