Royals reach 1-year deals with Gordon, Tejeda

Jan 19, 2010 - 11:34 PM KANSAS CITY, Mo.(AP) -- Third baseman Alex Gordon and right-hander Robinson Tejeda bypassed arbitration, agreeing Tuesday to one-year contracts with the Kansas City Royals.

Gordon gets $1.15 million after making $457,000 last season.

He was the second pick in the 2005 amateur draft and was once thought of as the cornerstone of the team's future. But his career has been slow to develop and he missed 79 games last year after undergoing hip surgery. He wound up batting .232 with six home runs and 22 RBIs in 49 games.

Tejeda got a raise from $437,000 to $950,000. He can earn another $50,000 in performance bonuses: $25,000 each for reaching 23 and starts.

Pitching out of the bullpen most of the year, Tejeda was 4-2 with a 3.54 ERA in 35 games last season.

In six starts in September, he was 3-1 with a 2.84 ERA and averaged almost 11 strikeouts per nine innings. He will get an opportunity in spring training to work his way into the rotation.

The Royals do not have any players remaining in arbitration.

In addition, the team agreed to one-year major league contracts with four minor leaguers: right-hander Henry Barrera; outfielders Jarrod Dyson and Jordan Parraz; and infielder Mario Lisson.

The Royals also requested unconditional release waivers on infielder Luis Hernandez.