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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The competition for a spot in the Royals rotation just got a little tougher. Kansas City announced the signing of veteran pitcher Bruce Chen to a $4.25 million, one-year deal on Saturday that includes a mutual option for the 2015 season, and manager Ned Yost said he expects to keep the left-hander as a starter rather than a reliever. That would leave just one job available for a whole bunch of candidates. "I dont know how its all going to play out," Yost said at Royals FanFest. "Im real open-minded, but you try to go into it and you think about all scenarios and all cases." The Royals are solid at the front of the rotation with James Shields, Jason Vargas and Jeremy Guthrie, and Chen was dominant the latter part of last season after beginning in the bullpen. That means young flame-throwers Yordano Ventura and Kyle Zimmer, talented but injury prone left-hander Danny Duffy, starters-turned-relievers Luke Hochevar and Wade Davis, and even veteran Brad Penny could be competing for a single rotation spot in spring training. Royals pitchers and catchers report to Surprise, Ariz., on Feb. 14. "If Danny Duffy doesnt make the rotation to begin with, what more does that do to the bullpen?" Yost said, offering one example of how things might play out. "That gives us another left-handed arm that we can get through the All-Star break and bam, like Bruce last year, here comes a fresh, healthy Danny Duffy if someone is slacking a little bit. "Well see how it plays out," Yost said. "I want to give everyone a fair chance at it." The 36-year-old Chen became a free agent after last season, when he went 9-4 with a 3.27 ERA in 15 starts and 19 appearances out of the bullpen. He attracted some interest from a handful of clubs, but he always said hed like to return for a sixth season in Kansas City. The sides reached an agreement Thursday but had to wait to announce it until Chen passed a physical. Hell make $3.25 million this season and $5.5 million with a $1 million buyout next season. He can also earn a performance bonus of $125,000 for each start from 16 through 25. "You cant evaluate Bruce in spring training," Yost said, "because hes not one of those guys that can compete, because hes not a spring training pitcher. But once the bell rings, hes been phenomenal for us. You know what youre going to get with Bruce. "So unless something just dramatically happens between now and then, Bruce will probably be slotted into one of those five spots. In all reality, yeah. But well just see what happens." .com) - Former FBI director Robert Mueller said his investigation found no evidence that the NFL saw the elevator video of Ray Rice striking his then-fiancee before the tape was released in September. .com) - Marc Gasol and the Grizzlies withstood 18 Dallas 3-pointers, as Memphis took control in the third quarter and fended off a Mavericks rally en route to a 114-105 win in a Southwest Division showdown. http://www.authenticnfllionslockroom.co ... -Jersey/.A. Happ? Happs seven wins are second on the staff to Mark Buehrles 10. Win-loss record is an antiquated stat, sure, but win total is generally an indication of a pitchers ability to work deep into games, enough to be personally affected by the result. . He even addressed his group of relievers Sunday morning. Dustin McGowan made those worries a nonfactor, at least for a day. McGowan pitched three-hit ball for seven innings, Colby Rasmus hit a grand slam and Melky Cabrera added a two-run homer as the Blue Jays beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-2. . Catch all the action on TSN starting at 10:30pm et/7:30pm pt. Toronto won at Denver and Utah, but lost in Portland and Sacramento. The Kings loss was the most recent game for the Raptors. If Chad Johnson was hoping for a regular parking space at the home of the Montreal Alouettes, the GMs spot is taken for a few more years. The Als gave Jim Popp a contract extension on Thursday, ending worries the team would suffer added brain drain after losing Marc Trestman to the Chicago Bears. ?Popp has frequently been a candidate for a range of front office jobs including the GM role with the NFLs Carolina Panthers, a team headquartered just a 30-minute drive from his home in North Carolina. Since Popp helped move the Baltimore Stallions north in 1996, the Alouettes are the winningest team in the CFL.? Popp has been the only constant, but sources close to the team admit he had been hoping and planning on returning this season in the dual role of coach and GM.? Entering the final year of his contract, he was surprised by the hiring of Tom Higgins -- a CFL sideline veteran and former director of officiating -- as the teams new head coach. Some have speculated Popps signing of the NFL star formerly known as Ochocinco was as much about putting himself back in the front office job spotlight south of the border as it was gettinng the Bengals all-time leading receiver for Alouette quarterbacks.dddddddddddd But Popp has never been shy about taking a chance on NFL talents past their prime: witness Ahman Green, Quincy Carter and the infamous Lawrence Phillips -- who helped Popp and the Als end a 25-year Grey Cup drought back in 2002. The quest for the next great quarterback led Popp to even claim the likes of NFL stars Colin Kaepernick, Russell Wilson and Tim Tebow on his negotiating lists. Popps master stroke in recent years was turning an out-of-fashion offensive guru named Marc Trestman into the hottest coaching commodity to come out of Canada in recent decades.? The immediate task for Popp this season is keeping the Als competitive after the retirement of Anthony Calvillo, as Troy Smith, the 2006 Heisman Trophy winner, will attempt to solidify his teams tentative start with a victory against Winnipeg Friday night.? Popp will soon be packing bags for his annual NFL training camp scouting missions in about two weeks, when hell see his first round selection in the CFL Draft, David Foucault now a rookie hopeful with the Panthers. ' ' '