Greg Holland had his “prove it” season in 2020. Last winter, he signed a minor-league contract with the Kansas City Royals with no guarantee he’d be part of their big-league club when they started the regular season.
Holland, 35, made good on that chance and showed anyone watching that he’s still a highly effective piece of a top-level relief corps. That teed him up to hit free agency this winter with leverage and the ability to potentially pick his destination, or at least entertain offers from multiple clubs.
Taking him at his word, Holland’s primary guiding principle this offseason was simply his desire to remain with the Royals. He re-signed with the Royals on Monday, securing a one-year deal worth $2.75 million in base salary and with $1.5 million in performance bonuses.
The right-hander has spent parts of 10 seasons in the majors, and seven of those have come with the Royals, not including his time in the farm system prior to his MLB debut in 2010.
“Financially, I don’t know if I would’ve gotten more or less or whatever,” Holland said during a conference call on Tuesday. “I know that Kansas City is where I wanted to be.”
In 2019 with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Holland showed he still had swing-and-miss stuff as evidenced by his 41 strikeouts in 35 2/3 innings and a .198 opponents batting average.
However, he also showed spotty command as he walked 24 batters and registered a walk rate of 15.8%. Issuing free passes had been a problem in 2018 as well. His walk percentage of 15.1% ranked among the bottom 1% of MLB pitchers.
In the 60-game pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Holland posted a 1.91 ERA and a 0.95 WHIP with six saves, a 3-0 record and 31 strikeouts in 28 1/3 innings in 28 appearances. Opponents batted .200 against him, and he gave up only one home run.
Perhaps of paramount importance, he cut his walk rate down to 6.3%.
Having gotten his command back on track, Holland in theory could have explored options. Whether the uncertainty of the free-agent market played into his thought process or not, he certainly felt a pull to the Royals organization and Kansas City.
He wrestled with the right words to convey that tug that prevented him from leaving the organization a second time.
“Maybe it’s a loyalty within me,” Holland said, seemingly offering it up as an explanation as well as a question. “I still feel grateful for Dayton (Moore) giving me the opportunity to play to begin with. The relationships I built in the minor leagues and in my first few years in the big leagues, I truly feel like that was a special part of my life — not just my baseball career.
“But on top of that, the organization itself is first class. It’s chalked full of people who care about winning but also care about the players and the process of it all.”
Another huge part of the draw to Kansas City for Holland dates back to his having been a part of the teams that captured the region’s collective attention in 2014 and 2015 during back-to-back runs to the World Series.
A two-time All-Star in 2013 and 2014, Holland saved a combined 93 games with a 1.32 ERA during those seasons. He won the Mariano Rivera Award as the league’s top relief pitcher in 2014. He pitched through injury and saved 32 games in 2015 before he had Tommy John surgery.
He watched the Royals run to the World Series championship in 2015 and celebrated the victory with his arm in a sling.
“I don’t know if bitter-sweet is the proper word because it was 99 percent sweet to see a bunch of guys that I grew up learning the game with get to win a World Series,” Holland said. “And I was definitely part of that, but in the back of your mind it’s like I want to do that and be on the field when it happens.
“Maybe I’m just a homebody. I love the idea of playing in one place for a long time, and I love the idea of bringing a winning atmosphere back to Kansas City. I think you kind of saw a semblance of that the last month of the season. The team was playing really well, and I truly want to be a part of doing it again.”
