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Royals Hunting For A Shortstop
How bad was Angel Berroa's .592 OPS in 474 ABs last year? Was it among the worst ever for a shortstop with 450 ABs? Nah. Hal Lanier is the record holder - he hit .206/.222/.239 (.461 OPS) in 1968. He must've been a stud with the glove.
Since 2000, Berroa's season was the third worst for a shortstop. Only Neifi Perez and Cristian Guzman topped his futility and kept their jobs all year. There were a lot of really poor-hitting full-time shortstops last year - Berroa, Clint Barmes, Ronny Cedeno, Adam Everett. Only Everett is keeping his job.
Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star writes that the Royals are not happy with internal shortstop options Berroa and Alex Gonzalez, and have a list of 20 or more trade candidates. Dutton names Barmes, and John McDonald as two likely possibilities, with Erick Aybar or Brandon Wood as longshots. Personally I think there's a snowball's chance in hell of the Angels trading Wood to the Royals.
Josh Wilson is probably on the list, and Yunel Escobar might be too. Sean Rodriguez is another option. If the Royals wanted to up the ante, Orlando Cabrera or Jack Wilson could be available.
Berroa's contract exists as proof that locking up young players long-term for cost certainty does not always work out. In the spring following his 2003 Rookie of the Year season, he received a four-year, $11MM deal.
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