Royals Sign Tony Gonsolin After Getting Swept By His Old Team

The Kansas City Royals just spent three days getting swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers, and apparently, their main takeaway was that they needed to start acquiring former Dodgers.

Kansas City has officially signed veteran right-hander Tony Gonsolin to a Major League deal, according to MLB Trade Rumors.

Gonsolin gives the Royals an immediate rotation arm right as the dog days of August start melting pitching staffs. Kansas City is coming off a brutal stretch, dropping six of their last seven games, including that three-game sweep in Chavez Ravine where they were outscored 15-11.

Signing a guy to a Major League deal in mid-August is the front-office equivalent of buying a space heater at a gas station. You do not care what it looks like or what the warranty says, you just need it to work right now.

For anyone holding Royals futures, this is a clear signal that the front office is not just sitting on its hands while the pitching depth evaporates. Dropping a veteran into a rotation that desperately needs a stabilizer could shift the math down the stretch and keep them from completely falling out of the race.

The Royals head down the freeway to face the Los Angeles Angels next. We will see how quickly Gonsolin gets handed a baseball, but when a team hands out a big-league contract in August, they aren't doing it so the guy can chart pitches in the dugout.