KC Royals: Tim Collins Signs Minor League Deal With Nationals

KC Royals reliever Tim Collins signed a minor-league deal with the Washington Nationals on Tuesday evening. Kansas City non-tendered Collins this winter after his second Tommy John surgery last spring.

Collins signed a minor-league contract with the Nationals along with P Jacob Turner, INF Emmanuel Burris, and P Mike Broadway.

The 27-year-old Tim Collins pitched four seasons for the Kansas City Royals from 2011-14. Collins joined the KC Royals from the Atlanta Braves along with Gregor Blanco and Jesse Chavez in return for Rick Ankiel and Kyle Farnsworth on July 31, 2010.

The 5 foot 7 Collins was known among Kansas City fans as “Tiny Tim”, but enjoyed a nice run with the club. He compiled a respectable 3.54 ERA in 211.0 innings for the Royals, with a 9.4 K/9. Collins was downright dominant in 2012, finishing with a 5-4 record, a 3.36 ERA and an outstanding 12.0 K/9.

However, Tim Collins inability to find the plate consistently was his downfall in Kansas City. His 5.2 BB/9 prevented him from becoming part of the KC Royals vaunted “three-headed monster”. Even so, Collins was a useful middle-inning reliever.

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Tim Collins was part of a wave of young talent that debuted in 2011 that eventually helped the Kansas City Royals win their first American League pennant in 29 years. Twelve rookies debuted that season, including Collins, Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Salvador Perez, Danny Duffy, and Kelvin Herrera. That group formed the core that transformed the Royals from perennial losers to American League Champions.

Collins posted a solid 3.18 ERA in the 2014 playoffs, including finishing out the ninth inning in Game 6 of the World Series to force Game 7:

Now Collins gets a chance to bolster a Washington Nationals bullpen that failed to land premier closers Aroldis Chapman, Mark Melancon, Kenley Jansen, or Wade Davis.

Next: Royals Rumors: Trading Yordano Ventura Is A Bad Idea

I hope you have better luck than you did in Kansas City, Tim. You were an inspiration to vertically-challenged baseball fans across the country.