KANSAS CITY, Mo. C.J. Mosley . - The Kansas City Royals might have found their answer at second base. The Royals and veteran Omar Infante reached a tentative agreement on a four-year contract Friday night, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the contract. The deal was first reported by Fox Sports. Royals general manager Dayton Moore has said throughout the off-season that upgrading at second base was a priority. Kansas City used six players at the position last season, though none did enough to make the Royals feel comfortable moving forward. Infante, who turns 32 on Dec. 26, would stabilize second base in Kansas City for the first time in years. He hit .318 with 10 homers and 51 RBIs in 118 games for Detroit last season. Infante received substantial interest from the New York Yankees, who were seeking a replacement for Robinson Cano. But the Yankees were hesitant to give Infante more than three years, and the Royals decided to give the versatile infielder an extra year to help consummate the deal. The Royals signed left-hander Jason Vargas to a $32 million, four-year deal in November to help replace Ervin Santana, who is likely to sign elsewhere in free agency. The deals for Vargas and Infante push the notoriously frugal Royals beyond $90 million in payroll for next season — a club record, assuming they dont make any moves to trim salary. Moore has said he expects payroll to be "about the same" as last season, which was roughly $82 million. But hes also said the Royals can be flexible if the right opportunity arises. Infante played all of his games at second base for Detroit last season, but the former All-Star also has logged significant time at shortstop and third base while playing a bit in the outfield. Hell play the majority of his time at second base in Kansas City, where Emilio Bonifacio, Jamey Carroll, Chris Getz, Johnny Giavotella, Elliot Johnson and Miguel Tejada each tried to fill in last season. They combined to hit .243 with just four home runs. The fallback plan for the Royals was to go into next season with Bonifacio as their primary second baseman, but hell likely become a utilityman now. The Royals are certainly familiar with Infante from having watched him play for their AL Central rival Detroit. Infante came up with the Tigers in 2002, and then was traded to the Cubs and Braves before landing back in Detroit two years ago, when he helped the Tigers win an American League pennant. Infante is batting .279 with 74 homers and 421 RBIs over his 12-year career. Hes never played more than 149 games in a season, and missed more than a month last year with an ankle injury that occurred when the Blue Jays Colby Rasmus slid aggressively into his leg. Vaughn Martin .S. national basketball team this summer. Thats fine, hes got another Olympic option. The Cleveland Cavaliers rookie point guard may play for Australia in the London Games. Bill Bentley . Prust connected with an elbow to the back of Volchenkovs helmet shortly after the Devils defenceman chipped the puck out of his zone in the second period. Volchenkov was down on the ice for close to a minute, but did continue playing.The Winnipeg Goldeyes got behind early in their Opening Day game on Thursday night against the Amarillo Sox. And despite slowly clawing their way back into the game, the Fish were never quite able to level the score. The Goldeyes (0-1) gave up 11 runs over the first two innings to the Sox (1-0), and that is all the offense the Sox needed. With the 11-7 final, Amarillo got their first ever franchise win against Winnipeg. The Fish actually took the early lead with Ray Sadler getting on base on a walk in the first and then scoring on a RBI double from Reggie Abercrombie. But the Sox responded in the bottom of the first scoring two of their own. Then in the top of the second the Goldeyes were taken down in order. In the bottom of the inning the Sox did their damage, scoring nine on nine hits, with 14 batters stepping to the plate. The Goldeyes mustered a response in the top of the third. "Guys in the dugout still felt like we could win the game," Goldeyes Pitching Coach Jamie Vermilyea said on the Jewel 101 Post-Game Show. "It was good to bounce back after that nine-run inning and put 5 on the board to pull us back in the game a little bit." Luis Alen and Tyler Kuhn led off the top of the frame with two singles. Jake Blackwood then loaded the bases on a walk. Ray Sadler flew out, but up next was Abercrombie who was able to get a single and drrive in Alen. Dan Orlovsky. Two batters later Webb reached base on an error that scored Kuhn. Casey Haerther then stepped to the plate and hit a three RBI double. Haerther reached 300 RBI for his career on the play. The five runs the Goldeyes scored in the inning cut the Sox lead in half. Great pitching from Kyle Anderson, Chase Johnson and Brendan Lafferty then kept the Sox off the scoreboard through the remainder of the game, as they tried to give their team a chance to get back into the game. The Fish offense didnt go quietly, they were able to get at least one runner on base in every inning from the third on."You have to grind out those at bats," said Vermilyea. "We started doing a good job of that, and we kept hitting the ball hard, but they just werent dropping." The only additional run the Goldeyes were able to score came in the top of the seventh. Donnie Webb got on base with a single and then was driven in by Ryan Pineda on a RBI single. "You take away that one inning and we had a good game," said Vermilyea. "Its nothing to hang out heads on, we have 99 more them." The Goldeyes series against the Sox continues Friday and Saturday evenings at 7 p.m., and wraps up with a game on Sunday at 6 p.m. After this series the Fish will travel south to Laredo for a three game series against the Laredo Lemurs. ' ' '
