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Randy Johnson for what?
12.31.04 (3:19 pm)   [edit]
Brad Halsey, Javier Vazquez, and Dioner Navarro.

Then the D-backs will take the best chit for a rebuilding team(Navarro) and trade him for the albatross that is Shawn Green. Give credit to Brian Cashman and the Evil Empire.. They get what they want.

This deal should have stoked the fires of my Yankee hatred even further. I hate their resources and I despise their fans. This franchise will always be my white whale. As much as I have professed in the past to desire a salary cap just to cripple their sizable payrolls I must admit there is an Ahabian drive to see the Royals put the harpoon in the Yanks themselves. There are fans that go in to every season dreaming of winning the World Series(Stupid Cubs, Sox, and Yanks). That's never really been the goal for me. I want to see the Royals make the playoffs and beat the Yankees. ALDS or ALCS, it doesn't matter to me. I want to see the national media and the hacks at FOX stumble over the K.C. roster and sell the next round that will certainly include the much more marketable N.Y. team. I want to see a bunch of nobodies in blue take the mound and stick it to future Hall of Famers whose Free Agent contracts have yet to see the ink dry. I want to see the stroke that kills Steinbrenner in his club seats as his brain fails to accept that a team with a 40 million dollar payroll could beat a team with a 240 million payroll.

The trophy and the title will always have the basic allure. But people don't remember trophies.. they remember moments. The Miracle at Lake Placid didn't occur during the gold medal game. N.C. State didn't end Wooden's win streak in the National Championship. There are fans that hold out hope for trophies and titles because they don't know any better. I'm holding out for that moment, the chance to see my team on the stage against the ultimate adversary.
 
It's Lima Time!
12.25.04 (4:39 pm)   [edit]
Lima signs a one-year deal with K.C.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news" title="http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news" target="_blank"http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/n...;_ylc=X3oDMTBpcDBuM2RlBF9 TAzk1ODYxNzc3BHNlYwN0aA-- ?slug=ap-royals-lima&prov =ap&type=lgns

Hooray? This certainly isn't a groundbreaking move that will turn around the franchise. I'm curious as to how much this deal is costing us. If its 1 million or less I'm ok. If this is a one year deal for 2.5+ I'll be a little irritated. After all, K.C. offered Lima a low-cost MLB contract last year.. Jose claimed that it was a low-ball offer and then proceeded to have to fight his way on to the Dodgers with a minor league deal.. Lima has a scary ability to rack up meaningless stats like wins.. He started 7-0 with the Royals back in 2003 and picked up 13 wins in a swing starter role with LA last year. As for real stats..

170-1/3 IP
178 H
33 HR
34 BB
93 K
1.24 WHIP
4.07 ERA

33 homeruns!.. Ouch. His Hit and K rates are less than phenomenal.. This reeks of a Chavez mirage.

However, when Lima wasn't pulling his groin 2 years ago for K.C. he was effective when I saw him. The slider that Cumberland taught him has made him a bully on righties and damn it all.. I sort of like stupidly babbling, "It's Lima Time!" If nothing else.. if Jose goes off like a firecracker in the first half then we can trade him to a contender for some lower tier prospects or something.

Do I need to make a projection.. Man.. I dunno

If he is a reliever..

75 IP
3.60 ERA

Starter.. It gets a little hazy
165 IP
4.60 ERA

I wouldn't really have an issue with Lima in the starting rotation. I think he could be a very good reliever. But he is given to hot streaks and he could have a magic month or two and be flipped to the Mets for whomever their top prospect is at the deadline.

Let me add one more thing: This is the kind of signing that the Royals have done fairly well historically. Whether its dusting off Tim Belcher or snagging a Paul Byrd the royals have had some success with veteran retread pitchers who have been kind of sloughed by the rest of the league. Keep in mind that this is not really a big asset to a young rebuilding ball club. But all in all it probably won't do any harm.
 
Randa to Reds..
12.22.04 (6:04 am)   [edit]
Hats off to Joe Randa for getting a chance to start in Cincinatti. The net result of this transaction is that the Royals have a slightly better chance of acquiring Austin Kearns now that he won't be the starting third basemen.
 
Mench, Kearns, and Michaels..
12.21.04 (9:03 am)   [edit]
Three names have been leaked to the K.C. media as targets of Allard Bairds to patrol our corner outfield spots. All 3 of these guys would be quality acquisitions for our ballclub.

Austin Kearns: The twenty four year old Kearns has the most upside of the three. Unfortunately he also has the greatest risk. His inability to stay healthy the last two seasons has resulted in a drop off in performance. His OPS was down to .740 last year from .900+ as a rookie. Kearns trade value will never be lower so the time to strike is now.

Kevin Mench: A lot of pop but not a lot of plate discipline. Mench may hit 30 homeruns next year but that will be his zenith unless he learns to draw a few more walks. A further caveat with Kevin is that his OPS is near .900 in the friendly confines of Arlington, but its below .800 on the road. I think that Mench will suffer from a change of scenery and his plate discipline will harm him further. This acquistion may be for a player in the .780-.800 OPS range as opposed to the developing difference maker that many see him as.

Jason Michaels- Of all the players on this list that I was happy to see pop up, Michaels may take the cake. He's a little old(28), and he's in the Aaron Guiel category as a contributor. Put he draws walks, plays solid defense and shows enough power(not a lot) to hit a ball out of the park occasionally. Michaels is the player that would require the least to acquire.

Trade offers:

1. Andres Blanco, Jonah Bayliss, and Mike Macdougal for Kearns.

2. Gobble for Mench

3. Brian Anderson, Colt Griffin, and cash for Michaels..


That first offer represents the kind of things the Red's would like. Two big fastball pitchers and a flashy defensive wizard at SS.

The second offer we balked at last season. I don't like Jimmy's K rates and wouldn't mind trading him off

The third offer may or may not be fair. How much could we demand for a guy like Aaron Guiel or if we had traded Raul Ibanez? The Phillies were looking for a left-handed starter and Griffin has the raw arm that toolsy GM's love.

I'd consider trading either Gotay or Murphy in some of these deals if necessary. In most of these deals I chose players that I felt would be overrated by other scouts and organizations(the Beane method)
 
Marrero for Vazquez
12.17.04 (5:35 pm)   [edit]
Rob & Rany covered this deal pretty well

http://www.robneyer.com/robrany.html" title="http://www.robneyer.com/robrany.html" target="_blank"http://www.robneyer.com/robra...

Is Eli Marrero worth 2.5 million dollars? Probably not. But the royals had 10 million dollars of cap space before the Benito trade. Now they are probably around 8.5. Since K.C. isn't going to make a bid for a prime free agent, and the second tier of FA's (Paul Byrd) are getting 4.5 million dollars a year.. I can understand this deal.

Marrero has real value as a platoon player because he kills lefties. Platooned with Terrence Long they will combine to be one slightly above average RF. Factor in Dejesus as a slightly above average CF and we are one position away from a medicore OF. If Guiel can see then our OF may occasionally score some runs and play some defense.

This isn't the kind of move that builds a champion. But it will improve the team a little bit next season.
 
Rule V
12.13.04 (9:42 am)   [edit]
The Royals selected Andy Sisco in the Rule V draft today from the Cubs organization. Sisco was generally regarded as the most attractive pick in the Rule V. Tommy John survivor Angel Garcia was selected ahead of Sisco but many analysts including myself would consider Sisco to be the safer pick.

The first thing you notice when looking at Sisco's profile is his mound presence.. Oh sorry, scoutspeak, umm he's tall. Standing at 6'9" and 250 lbs this southpaw will be plagued for the rest of his career with comparisons to the Big Unit. Another caveat that would lead scouts to overrating Sisco is his 'potential' for velocity. Right now Sisco throws his fastball in the low nineties in a 90-93 range. He 'tops out' at 95. He has a solid splitter and a progressing(ugh) curveball. According to scouts he needs to refine his changeup and control. The stats definitely agree with the latter.

Speaking of the area that I put most of my stock in.. How about the statistics on Andy Sisco

1. High school draftee: 21 years old
2. Has been slowplayed but promoted successfully every year in the minors.
3. K rate: 9.92/9IP that will do
4. BB rate: 3.94/9 that needs work
5. H rate: 7.64/9 very solid
6. HR: 17 in 334 IP.. that's fine too.

The biggest problem with Sisco is that he is only at the high-A level. We must keep him on the 25 man roster to retain him. Sisco should be broken in using the Earl Weaver method as he will likely throw out of the pen. I don't like what this will do to him development wise but I feel that he should be effective in that role. The limited stress should allow him to throw 94-95 more often and his complimentary splitter will keep hitters off balance for the inning or two he'll have to throw. And he always has his leftiness to fall back on. I'd prefer to put a guy like this in a situation where he could throw curveballs day in/day out and work on his command. Ideally that would be starting in the minors. The one positive associated with his presence on the big league club will be the hands on work he should get with Guy Hansen, a pitching instructor of solid repute. Hansen and the royals developmental staff is running out of excuses because the raw material is there. Guys like Bautista, Tankersley, Affeldt, and Sisco have quality arms and need instruction to make them the producers genetics meant them to be.

Bottom line: I like this pick more because I believe that the Cubs front office is slightly amiss and would overlook and underpromote a prospect of this caliber. I think Sisco will flourish in middle relief and develop stronger command of his fastball/split combo. However, I think his overall development will take a hit as he will have to head back down to Omichita for reeducation as a starter the next season and a half.

Other notable selection: Chris Demaria in the AAA phase.. A reliever in the Pirates system Demaria is a 'soft-tosser'. He is a righty that lacks an overpowering fastball but uses an assortment of off-speed stuff complimented with an outstanding changeup. He has outstanding control but it has only been displayed in A ball. Demaria will simply be stationed at Omaha so this selection may not have any consequence. But I'd add this: I'm not a velocity nazi who recoils at the selection of non-flame throwers. I liked our draftees this season in the June draft despite their inabilities to wow a radar gun. However, I don't like selecting soft-tossers that had to repeat a level as a reliever in A ball.

Bottom line: About as useful as one of the 10 NRI's that we will sentence to Omaha after ST.

This just in.......

Trade close to finalized
Pirates get: Benito Santiago and 1.4 million dollars
Royals get: Pitching Prospect Leo Nunez

Balco apparently didn't phase Pirates GM David Littlefield as he gobble the 41 year old backstop shortly after relieving himself of Jason Kendall's keystone contract. There are a number of things to like in this deal.. from the Royals perspective.

A) The Royals have finally dumped the Walmartian perspective that an albatross can't be moved unless they pick up no money of the contract.

B) The Royals recognized that they could get rid of money that was already being wasted and get a better trade in(prospect) out of the deal because of their financial generosity.

C) Allard Baird has finally had the other arm untied from behind his back and has the flexibility to do more than trade guys he knows he can't resign and rip off lesser GM's for their prospects in 3-way deals and reliever garage sales.

I didn't like having Benito Santiago as a back up catcher. He would have posted solid numbers in that role but I doubt he would have been happy about serving as a bench player on a team that could lose 100 games. As much as I despise intangibles, we don't need that kind of attitude in a developmental year.

This opens the door... I guess for Paul Phillips to serve as our backup catcher. Phillips is a little old.. but he can sort of hit and is fairly good defensively. This still doesn't justify his spot on the 40 man roster.

Whoops I haven't even covered the prospect: Leo Nunez.

I like this guy. We will start with stats and move from there.

Nunez is a 21 year old righthander from the dominican with the ability to throw in the mid-90's and he has a good slider. And you won't believe this.. but he has good control. 2.41 BB/9IP is fine with me. And his K rate of 8/9IP is also very acceptable. He is a little gopherball prone and he is somewhat hittable but I factor those things as the price of control. And I'd rather have control. This guy is currently in A ball and will probably be working in Wilmington this year with Ambriorix Burgos. I really like that tandem and hopefully they will rub off on each other. Burgos needs fewer walks while Nunez could use another K or two.

One other benefit: Santiago Ramirez.. a minor league FA that Baird picked up earlier this offseason was not selected after a ridiculous performance in winter leagues. He has strikeouts to spare and seems to have his control back up to snuff. This guy could be a real sleeper in the back of our pen.