Royal Treatment For Dotel

Octavio Dotels has turned down an offer from the Boston Red Sox, according to the Kansas City Star, and is about to officially sign with the Kansas City Royals for a 1-year/$5MM contract that may be bumped up to $7MM after incentives. Dotel will likely replace Ambiorix Burgos as the front runner for the Royals' closer position in 2007.

This will probably push the Sox to go after Eric Gagne a bit more in the coming days. The Boston Herald is reporting that Gagne is still looking for an annual salary of over $5MM.

By Adam Howe

Comments

[EM3]

Go get Gagne now, Theo. 1 year, $5M. That's nothing.

[nrmax88]

BREAK UP THE ROYALS!!!

[Yankee Fan 88]

nice signing - if they get batuista they will have a strong rotation

[nrmax88]

i hope that was a joke, dotel isnt a starter, so this has nothing to do with their rotation anyway

[kyledavidson]

nrmaxx88 -

he said it was a nice signing, and that if they get bautista they will have a strong rotation. Nowhere does he say Dotel is a SP.

[Paul AKA twinsfan]

Good deal for the royals if he comes on strong he's trade bait if not no long term commitment.

[Gleebo]

"BREAK UP THE ROYALS!!!"

Ha! I said the same thing when they signed Grudz, Bako, Elarton, and Juan Gone. With all the salary dumping the Royals have done in the past decade confuse me because then they go out and sign mediocre talent to replace their homegrown talent.

I think taking a flyer on Dotel is a good move for the Royals. He's a nice little post hype risk with a decent enough upside to sign him.

[bsox21]

If his velocity goes back to mid 95+, his upside is "unhittable".

"Decent enough upside" doesn't quite explain it.

I like this signing better than the Meche deal.

Moore won't be the GM that has to dump Meche's contract either.

THat will be his successor's job.

[allabouthephils]

yeah... the Royals shouldn't take out ads in the local newspaper for their general managers anymore. I don't understand why you are going to pay Gil Meche 11MM a year and dump Runvelys <<<(I know I botched that one) Hernandez who cost a ton less... I know Meche has upside but not 11MM a year upside... It seems like some of you don't remember when Dotel was setting up Wagner. He was every bit as nasty as Wagner. If he regains his velocity and control, this has the potential to be the best signing of the season... Although I like the Jose Guillen signing as well.

[nrmax88]

Yeah and Dotel was off the hook when he came up with the mets to, i still regret getting rid of him. Who did the mets trade him for anyway? Was he involved in getting hampton? Or was hampton a FA, i dont even remember at this point

[allabouthephils]

March 20, 1993: Signed by the New York Mets as an amateur free agent.

December 23, 1999: Traded by the New York Mets with Kyle Kessel (minors) and Roger Cedeno to the Houston Astros for Derek Bell and Mike Hampton.

June 24, 2004: Traded as part of a 3-team trade by the Houston Astros to the Oakland Athletics. The Oakland Athletics sent Mike Wood and Mark Teahen to the Kansas City Royals. The Houston Astros sent John Buck and cash to the Kansas City Royals. The Kansas City Royals sent Carlos Beltran to the Houston Astros.

October 28, 2005: Granted Free Agency.

January 4, 2006: Signed as a Free Agent with the New York Yankees.

[Rayman]

Is this a joke? Does he not want to win? I realize it's only 1 year, but come on. Why sign with the Royals?

[ArodSucksAtLife]

"Moore won't be the GM that has to dump Meche's contract either.

THat will be his successor's job."

See occasionally say something relevant and we can't relegate you to the corner of complete stupidity, and then you say something like this. After praising Omar for signing Pedro and Beltran, to make the Mets a relevant franchise, you disregard when moore does the exact same thing but on a Royals level. He gets two players that wouldnt sign there normally but will because he overpays them, to get their b.s productivity now, but a slightly higher level of respect later. But somehow Omar is god, and Moore is going to be replaced soon. Keep posting your comments about how you wont explain to people about how stupid they are, and how smart you are; while making stupid ass comments yourself.

[bsox21]

arod,

relax there. i thnk ur gona bust a vessel on what u think is a revolutionary finding.

beltran is the best CF in the game. His chaning the outlook of the team is an ancillary benefit. His play supports his salary as well.

Pedro is one of the best SPs to ever play and clearly had a few productive years left. (best ever if u ask me) He ALSO supports his contract with performance.

Meche.....not so much. He does NEITHER.

The Meche contract only proves that their willing to pay big for mediocrity.

If he overpaid Schmidt, or lets say, a good player, I'd potentially praise the move as one that will help develop their younger players and help the franchise.

Yes Schmidt wanted to stay on the West coast. Just saying, someone of that caliber.

Perhaps there was nobody that fit the profile.

SO what's wrong with simply not doing ANYTHING.

We have seen what happens to GMs that make moves just to make moves. THere were lots of them in the 90's.

Most, are gone now.

Meche does nothing. It doesn't raise ur profile. It doesn't help ur team enough to justify his salary.

It does nothign but make u slightly less shitty.

and for 5 years?

I praised the Tigers when they overpaid Magglio. THey took an opportunity to overpay an awesome playr and convince him to join when he was least marketable.

I praised them when they signed Pudge. Pudge is GREAT.

Those types of players, win games. They make u better at their respective positions than some other teams. They provide PREMIUM.

Meche? There's no PREMIUM.

He's below the standard for what they want him to be, which is a front line starter.

Simple enough for you?

Not all big contracts are alike.

Beltran, Pedro, Arod, Vlad = 8 digit multi-year annual salaries

Meche = not quite.

[greenbaydude1232]

God what a shit move for Dotels career. I'd much rather play with Boston for 3 mm/1 year than KC for 5 mm/1 year. Then if he pitches real well in boston he will cash in next offseason and make up the money he lost this offseason. Even if he closes he will get 20 SV tops.

[henry14theking]

Umm... he's just stockpiling trading pieces.

Hypothetically, lets say we're at midseason. The Royal's as usual will not be winning or near contention. But there will be about 10-12 teams fighting for division leads and wild card spots. My guess is that atleast 1 will need another starter (3-4 type guy) and atleast 1 will need a good reliever.

Enter Meche and Dotel. Dotel will be easy to trade. 1 year contract, no commitment, and might bring a decent pitching or hitting prospect. Meche might bring a little more as well. 5/55 is overpaying but if you look at the market, its not overpaying by much.

If you're a losing organization, but you have money to spend, you're best off spending it on scouting if the FA class is mediocre. BUT, it's also a a good idea to sign a few guys, especially pitchers because they will be (no matter how mediocre they are) trading commodities. No one will trade for a league average hitter. In this market, people will trade for a league average pitcher.

Hopefully that's what Moore is looking to do. Pawn off both Dotel and Meche at the deadline and bring in 3-4 more minor leaguers that can help in a year or two.

NOTE: I'm not saying they'll trade Meche for Homer Bailey or something equally ridiculous. But 2 or 3 good AA/A level relief arms for Meche? Why not. A future 4/5 type for Dotel? If Burgos gets you Bannister, why can't Dotel get you someone better especially at midseason.

My ... long 2 cents.

[achilles17]

Need I point out Dotel's 10.80 ERA last year? As a Yankee fan, let me say that he never looked very dominant in his limited stint back in the majors. There were times when he looked good, but they were few and far between, and even then he never looked like a closer. I don't understand why he is at all coveted.

[achilles17]

henry, nobody is going to want to take on Meche's contract, at least not so early into it. He is going to be a Royal for quite a few years - they just better hope he starts to live up to that rediculous sum of money.

And frankly, I don't see why Dotel would get you anybody better than Burgos fetched. Burgos is young, has a high ceiling, and is cheap. Dotel is older, has some room to improve but will probably never be the Dotel of old, and will be expensive. Even if it's only one year, $5-7 million is a lot for Dotel. Unless he really has a breakout year this year, that contract is going to fall flat on its face, and more importantly, he won't be a trade deadline commodity. The Royals should be happy they only signed him for one year, in my opinion.

[Fake Teams]

Unlike Baez, Dotel said he wanted to sign as a closer, and he stuck to his guns.

Once he reestablishes himself, he can hit the market again next off-season.

Of course, he may just want to be a multi-millionaire with no pressure to win, too.

www.faketeams.com

[Gleebo]

In 3 years it isnt gonna matter what the Royals did in this offseason. The team will look like this.

CF - Alex Gordon
2B - Alex Gordon
1B - Ryan Shealy
3B - Alex Gordon
RF - Alex Gordon
C - Alex Gordon
DH - Mike Sweeney
SS - Alex Gordon
LF - Mark Teahan

SP - Alex Gordon
SP - Gil Meche
SP - Alex Gordon
SP - Alex Gordon
SP - Alex Gordon

C - Alex Gordon

-----
Actually if they get some pitching somewhere along the way they could have a decent team in a few years.

I bet there are alot of teams that would love to get their hands on the likes of David DeJesus and Esteban German.

[nickjs21]

Wow, the Royals have really set themselves up to contend for ... the cellar. 65-70 wins is STILL last place.

And they're probably paying Meche a million dollars per win.