Royals Acquire Yuniesky Betancourt

Thanks for trading for him, Royals. Wanted no part of him in Pit.
Regards, Bucs Fan.

Cortes is 6-6 with a 3.92 ERA and 1.58 WHIP in AA

Saito is 2-6 with a 4.26 ERA

ouch

doesn't look like the M's got anything

Seriously? Did Dayton Moore just give up Cortes for Betancourt? The hell? Awful trade for the Royals.

Betancourt has negative trade value.

I really don't like that DM just helped a division rival.

Melonis, Royals and Mariners are in different divisions...

Although I guess he just helped every division rival by acquiring Betancourt.

The Mariners aren't a division rival, as they are in a different division, but that doesn't make this trade any less stupid. Betancourt is an awful fielder who isn't hitting and is tied to a long-term deal. melonis is right, he has negative value.

Cortes has struggled this year, but has great stuff, just poor command. He was the third best prospect in the system according to BA. Saito seems like a really good LOOGY in waiting who could rise quickly.

Ugh, I am so done with Dayton Moore. This winter was awful and he just went and double downed on suck. A lifetime .302 OBA. -18 UZR. Perfect fit Dayton.

Guys Melonis is an A's fan, thats what he meant by helping a division rival.

Melonis Rex I believe is an A's fan? I bet thats what he means by division rival.

I didn't know that Yuniesky was such a poor hitter and fielder. The numbers are pretty bad and have been for a while. Maybe they want to make him a 2B?

Big win for the Mariners here, minor league pitcher of the year for terrible hitting/avg D SS? Bobby Crosby could have probably been had for less

bbxj, Royal's got Callaspo at 2B.

Wow - my initial reaction: win for the Mariners even if they have to pick up ALL of Yuni's salary.

"Looks really favorable now for the Mariners, saving money and getting a couple of half decent arms, but if Yuniesky holds down SS and the Royals contend next year then maybe it turns in KC's favor, but with A ball prospects nothing is sure."

Even if the prospects don't pan out..Betancourt is bad defensively and horrendous offensively.

Cortes gets arrested for pissing in public so GMDM trades him for Tony Pena Jr Ice.

And that Jack Z does...

As a Mariners fan,

Have fun watching Betancourt bobble slow rollers and make errant throw after errant throw. Seriously, if you think his higher average in comparison to Pena's is going to get more runs than his atrocious defense is going to cost, you haven't watched him play.

How did Zduriencik EVER convince Moore to give up Cortes and Saito? This trade is just an instant win for Seattle. It makes me wonder if he is going to try to flip Cortes or Saito in another deal to pull in a 3B.

Wow. Trading for a poor defensive shortstop with no power and a .278 OBP with at least 10 million left on his contract for the next 2.5 years. And giving up valuable prospects! This is indefensible. The royals hate on base percentage. Seeing this move definitely makes me think the braves could get a prospect or two for frenchie from the Royals.

Let the Spork play short the rest of the year they're not competing for the division. So don't trade away your best arm above A ball that still has a chance to start or be a late innings guy next year for an overpaid underachieving stopgap. Make a trade for a blocked prospect with upside when you're rebuilding.

"Check out Tony Pena's numbers, and tell me you wouldn't rather have Yuni. It's a no brainer!!"

Betancourt: -0.8 WAR, 2MM in '09 with 9MM due to him in 2010-11

Tony Pena Jr: -0.6 WAR, making 400K...

I'd rather have TPJ. It's a no brainer.

Oh. One more thing. You have to think that the M's with this freed salary and open spot move Lopez to 3B and go after one of Freddy Sanchez or Jack Wilson, with Cedeno playing one of 2B or SS. My guess is Sanchez, since that team needs offense.

Johnny mac could have been had for salary relief, and at least he can play defense.

"I can't give any credit to jack z on this one, I don't believe any other gm in the mlb would have made this deal.

Posted by: The_Bunk "

Thats the point "The_Bunk" (which by way if thats a Wire reference I love it). Jack Z got a good return when no other team was bidding against the Royals. Also the fact that he either asked/held out for those prospects shows he's pretty good at the poker table. Anyone else handling the deal for the M's would have accepted less.

melonis rex,

Here's a nice article that made me think of you. You're using "WAR" as the best way to compare Pena and Yuni! Give me a break. Also, you don't know how much of Yuni's paycheck the M's are picking up. Enjoy the article..

http://scienceblogs.com/principles/2008/09/baseball_statistics_are_crap.php

This deal is so bad it makes the moves the Pirate's front office do look smart.

LOL @ Royals.

If Dayton can do one thing decent, it is evaluating pitching. If he traded Cortes he probably isn't going to pan out. Now....could he have gotten something better than Betancourt? Maybe. Maybe Betancourt flourishes under a new team as well. You never know. The Royals had no other alternatives to play short so they had to do something. You can't properly evaluate this deal until you know the amount of cash either.

"I get it, negative value is the new positive value."

Its the new market inefficiency Dayton Moore is trying to exploit!

But seriously, on a team that is horrible defensively and offensively, DM just traded prospects for the worst starting shortstop in the majors, and one that is still owed at least 10 million.

Its time to fire Dayton Moore. I don't care if he's rebuilt the lower minors or not. He's shown absolutely no knowledge of how to judge major league talent and has made numerous mind numbingly stupid move. Can his ass and bring in Paul DePo.

If you read the actual article, Divish writes "Perhaps, not the haul or the impact that you expected giving away an every day, but it shows how far Yuni has fallen off in the Mariners eyes." This is coming from a Mariners insider. He's not raving about it being some steal and how the Royals got robbed. Could be a great opportunity to buy low for the Royals.

It doesn't matter how much the Mariners are eating on Yuni; the dude was on the verge of being DFA'd. Just getting that cancer out of the clubhouse is a win all on its own, not to mention excising his anemic glove from the infield.

All hail Jack Z. Brilliant move.

I guess I will never understand Dayton Moore. He seems like such a smart GM sometimes, then he pulls this crap. This is like the 4th deal he's made where he traded a solid young player (usually a pitcher) for an over-paid vet who MIGHT provide a short term improvement to the big league team. Does Dayton think he gets an award for finishing .500?

Before the week started Royals fans at least had reason to be optimistic about the future but since then Hosmer and Moustakas fell in Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus prospect rankings, Bud Selig's office refused to sign off on the deal they reached with Chris Dwyer their 4th rd pick(possibly their 3rd rd pick too), and now we trade our #3 prospect for another player with no on base skills and declining defense.

As an M's fan, the only thing I'll miss is the fantastic name.

@RoyalsJayhawk: Excellent posts! If you are thinking of a job in the KC front office, I would be happy to provide a letter of reference.

(And a confidential note to you: Once you do get that KC job, your first move MUST be to pry loose Carlos Silva and Miguel Batista Seattle. I know you don't believe in stats -- so let me assure you that Silva is the league's leading jokester, and Batista writes POETRY! A dynamic duo by any stretch of the imagination. Obviously, paired with best buds Bloomquist, Guillen and Olivo, these are the "character guys" KC needs to make a run at the Central long term. Just throw the M's that closer with the first name no one in KC can pronounce.)

funny thing is that Willie Bloomquist came from the M's and is better than Yuniesky. Don't the Royals also have Jose Guillen (previously from the M's), developed Raul Ibanez than shipped back to the M's...KC is starting to look like Seattle's AAA squad.

Olivo is another Seattle castoff that went to the Royals, sephmeier. Poor Kansas City fans.

good call jdub. I think there have been more Mariners sent away to KC in the past. Anyone got more?

I have watched Yuni his entire career (including minors).

He was touted as the next AL Gold Glover making his way through AA. He was slick as anyone in the field and had a rocket arm. Then he got to the bigs, gained about 20 pounds and turned into a lazy, cheeto munching pig.

I am not joking one bit. He got his long term contract and figured he didn't need to work anymore. Just show up. Ask anyone involved with the Mariners, Yuni is probably the laziest player in Major League Baseball. Even when he got benched for booting balls and swinging at every pitch he saw (almost literally), players in the club house said he didn't take one ground ball for that entire stretch. Let me say that again... The Seattle Mariners starting shortstop got benched for being a poor fielder and didn't take a groundball for a week? Are you effen' kidding me?

Bentancourt is a pile of crap and squandered talent. I would have been happy if he was flat out released. The fact GMZ actually got value for him is flippin' amazing.

Oh and the rumor is that the Mariners are paying all of Betancourt's 2009 salary and are chipping in 1 mil in 2010 and 1 mil in 2011. So thats about 3 million of the 10 he's owed. If thats true, Moore does indeed need to be fired asap.

I feel like punching a baby.

I agreee as well, I think we should go after Sanchez. The only this that concerns me is that fact that he's has limited action against AL Pitching. If deals like this are any indication, we give up very little & get a lot in return. DO IT! DO IT! DO IT!

Don't forget Gil Meche, Tug Hulett and Horacio Ramirez.

I'd say Dan Cortes must have some serious character flaws. There was that posting on his MySpace page a few year ago when he was with the White Sox where he was sitting on the can drunk and naked.

Are Seattle paying any of his contract, if so it makes it slightly more understandable if not then Seattle absolutely robbed KC.

Did I miss the news story reporting the untimely death of Mike Aviles? I know he's been bad/injured this year, but he's still young and has good peripherals.

I'd love to see the O's get Kila. Perfect fit for the team, and logjammed in KC.

Great trade for Jack Z. Someone from the Royals should be fired.