Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star tweets that the Royals have exercised David DeJesus' $6MM option for the 2011 season. The team confirmed the move via press release.
The move comes as no surprise, as DeJesus will be a tremendous bargain for the Royals thanks to a mix of solid outfield defense and strong offense. Prior to a season-ending injury in late July, DeJesus had been hitting .318/.384/.443 in 394 plate appearances. It was that production and this club option that had led many to consider DeJesus the Royals' best trade chip.
The Royals will now be faced with the decision of moving DeJesus this offseason in a rebuilding effort, or waiting for a few months and letting him build up some value by proving that he's healthy and productive. The Padres, Giants, Red Sox, and Rays all had interest prior to his injury. While he spent the majority of his time in right field this season, DeJesus is capable of playing all three outfield spots well, although UZR suggests that his left field defense is truly elite (career UZR/150 of 18.9 in nearly 2300 innings).
I would think that they would keep him either for a piece of a potential (and I use that term very loosely) playoff team or as a trade chip next summer. You mention that his left field defense is elite going off of UZR but I’m curious to see if they stick DeJesus there or if they move him considering the Royals moved Alex Gordon to left.
Good move by the Royals. The whole point will to be to rebuild his value by keeping him for at least the first two months of next season and then trade him assuming he plays the way his carrer stats suggest.
Being a Royals fan, I will say that their minor league system (which is the best in Baseball) wont suffer from DeJesus not being traded for prospects. It’s good to be a Royals fan because the future is extremely bright!
I don’t think Alex Gordon is guaranteed even a roster spot next year, let alone a starting job. He’s hitting 215/318/346 this year.
Or you know they could try to resign him. He has stated many times that KC is where he wants to be, so I sure hope they do. Just because you have a pretty solid cheap player doesn’t mean you always need to trade them away. We all know how that has worked out for this organization.
cough Leo Nunez and Ramon Ramirez cough
cough Leo Nunez and Ramon Ramirez cough
I’m with the you. I don’t think you have to trade every single player that’s any good or making a little money just because you aren’t contending. You could make a case for always keeping one veteran starting pitcher, one veteran outfielder and one veteran infielder just to help all of the youngsters transition on to the team. Yost is a good manager for a team that’s developing; why not let him have a few sure pieces to work with.
Having said that, if KC gets an offer they can’t refuse, and they just might if he plays like he did this year, they have to listen. But no, I go into the season planning for him to be one of my outfielders.
I’m with the you. I don’t think you have to trade every single player that’s any good or making a little money just because you aren’t contending. You could make a case for always keeping one veteran starting pitcher, one veteran outfielder and one veteran infielder just to help all of the youngsters transition on to the team. Yost is a good manager for a team that’s developing; why not let him have a few sure pieces to work with.
Having said that, if KC gets an offer they can’t refuse, and they just might if he plays like he did this year, they have to listen. But no, I go into the season planning for him to be one of my outfielders.
Napoli and Willits from the Angels for DeJesus from the Royals. Same cost, equivalent value. Napoli delivered total 8 WAR over the last seasons in 1212 plate appearances, and DeJesus delivered 8.5 WAR in 1598 PAs. KC got exactly one HR from the catching position all year, and the Angels need a LF leadoff option for a year or two until Mike Trout arrives.
Willits is just a bench guy for the most part, but he has the same career OBP as DeJesus, is a switch hitter, and delivered UZR/150 of 25.0 from LF this season. He’s a throw-in with a little value to complement Napoli.
I wonder what the asking price on this guy would be. What are the royals looking for if they are interested in trading him?