The Royals have a signed veteran catcher Jason Kendall to a 2012 minor league contract. Kendall will report to Double-A Northwest Arkansas today and is scheduled to start at catcher at Springfield tomorrow night. The 38-year-old Kendall is a three-time National League All-Star (1996, 1998, 2000) and a career .288 hitter in 2,085 games for Pittsburgh (1996-2004), Oakland (2005-07), Chicago Cubs (2007), Milwaukee (2008-09) and Kansas City (2010). Kendall, who is fifth all-time in baseball history with 2,025 games caught, missed the final month of 2010 and all of 2011 with shoulder surgery.