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James Shields being traded to the Kansas City Royals on Sunday along with Wade Davis got the Royals the ace that they had been looking for for quite some time now. It also apparently got Shields a tidy little Christmas bonus, according to Jon Morosi on Twitter.
James Shields will receive a $750,000 trade bonus as a result of this deal, source says. @mlbonfox
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 10, 2012
Shields made seven million dollars with the Rays last season, by far the highest salary of his career. Shields went 15-10 with a 3.52 ERA and 223 strikeouts last year for the Rays, and should immediately boost the profile of the Royals pitching rotation.
He was a former Cy Young Award candidate and an All-Star in 2011, which was the best year of his seven-year major league career. That season, Shields went 16-12 with a 2.52 ERA, the numbers that the Royals will be hoping to see from him in 2013 to make the big trade worth it.