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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Kansas City Royals agreed to a $32 million, four-year contract with left-hander Jason Vargas on Thursday, trying to fill the void in their rotation created by Ervin Santanas free agency. Vargas was 9-8 with a 4.02 ERA in 24 starts for the Angels last season. He was 6-4 with a 3.65 ERA before going on the disabled list with a blood clot in his arm that required surgery. Kansas City was searching for a veteran to replace Santana, another former Angels pitcher who rediscovered himself in Kansas City. Santana went 9-10 with a 3.24 ERA last season, driving up his price in free agency to the point where the Royals are unlikely to sign him. "Our medical team felt very comfortable, our scouting judgment was very sound, with the length of the contract as well. It all kind of lined up together," general manager Dayton Moore said. "We felt very confident and secure in making him a Royal." Vargas, a soft-tossing lefty who turns 31 in February, gets $7 million next season, $8.5 million in each of the following two years and $8 million in 2017. He had shown a propensity for giving up home runs, but that should be mitigated by cavernous Kauffman Stadium. That was the case with Santana, who also allowed homers by the bushel in Los Angeles before getting things under control in Kansas City. "The biggest thing for me was being in a place where I knew I would be at for a significant amount of time, and with an organization where I felt comfortable," Vargas said, "and I believed in what theyre doing and continuing to get better, and Kansas City was definitely at the top of that list going into the off-season." Vargas will be joining a club that finished 86-76 last season, its best finish since 1989, and was in contention for a playoff berth until the final weeks of the season. "What excited me about the team is how Ive seen the team grow and progress a lot over the last four or five years," Vargas said. "Their defence is spectacular and Im just hoping I can be a piece of the puzzle that helps move us forward." The Royals designated catcher George Kottaras for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster. Vargas isnt the sort of splashy signing that will make Royals fans salivate, but he does solidify the back end of whats expected to be a young rotation. James Shields returns next season as their clear-cut ace and Jeremy Guthrie provides a dependable No. 2 starter. Danny Duffy is a near-lock to make the rotation out of spring training after he worked his way back from Tommy John surgery this past season, leaving one more spot in the rotation up for grabs among a handful of in-house candidates. Among those would could land the fifth spot are Wade Davis, Luke Hochevar and Will Smith -- all former starters who spent time last season in the bullpen -- and hard-throwing right-hander Yordano Ventura, who made his big league debut last season and dazzled in three September starts. Most people within the organization believe that Ventura will be in the rotation at some point next season, even if he doesnt earn a spot in spring training. Theres also a chance that Kyle Zimmer, their former first-round pick, will be ready at some point next season. Zimmer finished last season at Double-A Northwest Arkansas. "Theres still ways we can improve our team, through the rotation, trying to add another bat, we feel like we have some quality young pitchers who are going to be competing for spots," Moore said. "Theres still a lot of opportunity out there to improve our starting pitching." Vargas, who missed the 2008 season with a torn labrum in his hip, is 51-58 with a 4.30 ERA in parts of eight seasons spent with the Marlins, Mets, Mariners and Angels. His best season came two years ago, when he went 14-11 with a 3.85 ERA in 33 starts for Seattle. If nothing else, Vargas should be able to eat innings. He was limited to 150 by his surgery last season, but went over 200 innings each of his final two seasons with the Mariners. "You try to get 200 innings out of your starters and Jason has been able to do that," Moore said. "Hes been one of the more consistent pitchers in all of baseball over the last few years, and we feel like hes right in the prime of his career." Jadon Sancho Jersey . Last July, F1 teams held in-season testing sessions at Silverstone to assess new tires provided by Pirelli after several blowouts on the same circuit at the British Grand Prix in June prompted a furious response from drivers and even a boycott threat the following week. 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DETROIT -- Helio Castroneves celebrated in his signature style, climbing a fence, in the same place where he did it for the first time many years ago. Castroneves crew joined him above the track in front of roaring fans and it was fitting because his behind-the-scenes teammates helped him have his way with the competition. "I did not expect that," he said after easily winning the second Detroit Grand Prix race of the weekend Sunday, finishing 1.6836 seconds ahead of Penske Racing teammate Will Power. "They deserved it. "That was great to see them there." It was here in Detroit where Castroneves raced to the first of his 29 victories in 2000 and scaled the safety fence. And, the 39-year-old Brazilian is still winning and climbing with more composure. "I was able to hold my emotions better," he said. "I guess Im getting older." Team owner and unofficial race promoter Roger Penske was not a part of the fence-climbing celebration, but he had to be one of the happiest guys on Belle Isle because Castroneves and Power finished first and second. "You dream about these weekends," Penske said. "To be as strong as we were and see both guys in the winners circle." Castroneves lead was so large that when he made his final pit stop on Lap 49 he still was ahead when he got back on the track. The competition got closer after cautions led to restarts with seven and three laps left, but Castroneves could not be caught in part because Power did not want to risk ruining his teammates path to victory by possibly hitting him. "Because of Roger, I definitely wasnt going to race him hard," Power said. Castroneves has 29 IndyCar victories, tying Rick Mears for 11th on the career. "Oh, really?" Castroneves asked. "Wow. What an honour." Castronneves finished 0.dddddddddddd060 seconds behind Ryan Hunter-Reay last week in the Indianapolis 500 in his bid to join Mears as a four-time winner in open-wheel racings signature event. Power won Saturday and played a big part in a sloppy start Sunday. He was penalized for avoidable contact on the opening lap, failing to turn right and causing Josef Newgarden to hit him from behind to trigger a three-car crash. That led to the first of two cautions within the first ten laps after a false start briefly delayed the race beginning. Despite a drive-through penalty, Power was able to pull into contention later in the race with aggressive moves. No one, though, was faster than Castroneves. Hunter-Reay, meanwhile, had a poor ending to a rough weekend after the biggest win of his career. He started 21st in the 22-car field on Saturday and Sunday because of crashes. Hunter-Reay ended the first race by crashing on the final lap and the second one did not last as long due to an electrical problem knocking him out after 61 laps. "You name it, we had the problem this weekend," he said. "Im just glad to be getting out of here." Hunter-Reay left Detroit -- heading to New York for an appearance Monday night with David Letterman -- without the IndyCar points lead. He entered the weekend with a 40-point lead on Power and exits it in third, 27 points behind Power and eight more behind Castroneves. "Major hit," Hunter-Reay acknowledged. Honda had dominated the Detroit Grand Prix the previous two years -- in the shadow of Chevys world headquarters -- and had the fastest car last week at the Indy 500. The engine manufacture did not fare better than fifth on Sunday with James Hinchcliffe following Charlie Kimball and Scott Dixon. Pole-sitter Takuma Sato was spun twice, dropping him to 18th. 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