Kansas City, Mo. ? Jose Lima rejoined the Kansas City Royals when he agreed to a one-year contract Saturday, hoping to provide stability and leadership to a rotation that was awful last season.

Lima, who pitched for the Royals in 2003, spent last season with Los Angeles, going 13-5 with a 4.07 ERA. He walked 34 and struck out 93 in 1701/3 innings, then threw a shutout in the NL playoffs against St. Louis.

In 12 major-league seasons, the right-hander is 84-82 with a 5.00 ERA. His best stretch came in 1998 and ’99, when he went 16-8 and 21-10 for the Houston Astros.

“He’s a proven guy that can give you innings and wants the ball in big situations, so we’re glad to have him,” Royals general manager Allard Baird said.

Terms of the deal were not immediately available.

Two years ago, Kansas City plucked Lima from the roster of the Newark Bears of the independent Atlantic League at midseason. His 8-3 record with a 4.91 ERA in 14 starts helped the Royals to their first winning record in a non-strike year since 1993.

But in 2004, the Royals — plagued by injuries that kept their pitching staff unsettled throughout the season — lost a team-record 104 games.

The pitching staff had only three shutouts and recorded the AL’s worst ERA (5.15). Late in the season, things got so bad that left-hander Darrell May blamed his league-high 19 losses and 5.61 ERA on poor run support and ineffective relievers.

May was traded to San Diego last month, opening up a spot in a rotation that includes Jimmy Gobble, Runelvys Hernandez, Brian Anderson and Zack Greinke.

“From a pitching standpoint, we’re going young,” Baird said.

“We really needed an innings guy to add to our rotation — not only to add stability, but to protect our bullpen.”