Aruba Native Pitched for the Netherlands in WBC

SURPRISE, AZ - The Kansas City Royals have signed right-handed pitcher Sidney Ponson to a minor league contact for the 2009 season. Ponson will receive an invitation to Major League Spring Training camp and is scheduled to report to Surprise, Arizona, on Wednesday, March 18. Consistent with club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Ponson, 32, most recently competed for the Netherlands as they made a surprising run to the second round of the World Baseball Classic. Ponson was 1-1 with a 4.00 ERA in two starts for the Dutch, allowing seven hits and four runs in 9.0 innings. He walked four and struck out four. His most recent appearance came on March 14 against Venezuela when he allowed two runs on two hits in 5.0 innings, but suffered the loss, 3-1. Ponson picked up the win in his only other WBC start on March 7 against the Dominican Republic, allowing two runs on five hits through 4.0 innings.

The 6-foot-1 native of Aruba last pitched in the Majors in 2008 with the Rangers and Yankees, posting a 4-1 record with a 3.88 ERA in nine starts for Texas and a 4-4 mark with a 5.85 ERA in 16 games (15 starts) for New York. Originally a member of the Baltimore Orioles, who signed him as a non-drafted free agent on August 17, 1993, Ponson has pitched 11 seasons in the Majors for the Orioles (1998-2005), Giants (2003), Cardinals (2006), Yankees (2006, 2008), Twins (2007) and Rangers (2008). He has compiled a 90-106 career record with a 4.95 ERA in 284 games, including 269 starts. He won a combined 17 games for Baltimore and San Francisco in 2003.