JULY 27: Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star tweets that the Royals are expected to remain in the Ben Zobrist market “until the end,” which adds another versatile target to the list of Royals targets.
Zobrist, unlike Prado, is a rental player that’s eligible for free agency this offseason. He’s a bit more affordable, though, earning $7.5MM this season (of which $2.9MM remains). Zobrist is a better hitter than Prado and comes with the bonus of being a switch-hitter. He’s batting .268/.354/.447 and would be an excellent stopgap for Kansas City until Gordon is healthy enough to return to the lineup. Upon his activation, Zobrist would then be an immediate upgrade over Infante. The Athletics, who have already traded Scott Kazmir and could soon trade Tyler Clippard, are believed to be willing to part with Zobrist as well.
The Royals, it seems, will remain active even after picking up Johnny Cueto from the Reds in what has easily been the largest trade of the summer thus far.
JULY 26: The Royals have interest in Marlins infielder Martin Prado, FOX Sports’ Jon Morosi tweets. The 31-year-old Prado recently returned from a shoulder injury and is batting .277/.316/.374 in 308 plate appearances in his first season in Miami. He’s making $11MM this season and next, although the Yankees are paying $3MM of that in each season. Morosi notes that the Royals would need to receive cash from the Marlins in the deal. Whether the Marlins would agree to send any is unclear — another recent report indicated that they weren’t interested in dealing Prado at all.
In any case, the Royals have a good player, Mike Moustakas, at third base, where Prado has played most of this year. But Royals second baseman Omar Infante has mostly struggled, so Prado could potentially help at that position. Also, he can help the Royals in the corner outfield while they wait for Alex Gordon to return from the DL — right fielder Alex Rios has hit just .256/.290/.333 this season.
I was thinking getting Prado back would be a good idea for the Yankees to replace Drew. No idea how available he is though.
That has been bounced around on here for the better part of a month..
Good points above about his versatility.
Prado is a smart, opportunistic, strong fundamental player that would fit in seamlessly with the Royals.
He’s still a glorified utility player making 11m a year of which the Yankees are only paying 3m the next 2 seasons. His defense isn’t good enough at middle IF positions to warrant playing them and his offense isn’t good enough to play 3b,
Marlins got fleeced in the Eovaldi trade, which some of us were saying when that deal was 1st done.
Phelps has out pitched Eovaldi, and Prado has out preformed Jones. The $3M being sent for Prado equalizes the pay, Prado $11M/Jones $5, in the end both clubs are paying $8M for this part of the trade.
Phelps also has an extra year of control, and Prado has more trade value than Jones. Unless the single A pitcher who hasnt pitcher all year due to Tommy John amounts to anything, the Marlins in no way got fleeced.
Phelps hasn’t out pitched Nathan. I really hope you were joking.
WAR
Phelps – 0.4 rWAR, 1.2 fWAR
Eovaldi – 1.9 rWAR, 2.1 fWAR
I agree that that Marlins did not get fleeced, but Phelps has not outpiched Eovaldi.
I was thinking about your comment. Two things…..
1. The Royals want him to be a utility player.
2. The Royals scouts are very good. it Moore is in fact going after Prado, then his scouts have said he can play effectively under certain circumstances.
The Royals have not missed much on support players the past few years. I’ve watched most of their games, and guys they get contribute. They were criticized for obtaining Aoki – said he could’t play D or hit. He hit fine, and they covered his D by playing him shallow in RF and getting him out of games around the 5th-6th inning after his last AB, Then they were criticized when they let him go in free agency – Rios is an improvement. The same with Katz catching to be replaced by Butera. And the pitchers they’ve gotten nice innings out of – Madson, Young, Blanton, and now maybe Medlen.
The one thing the Royals are exceptionally good at is understanding what it is a player can do well that they need done, and putting him in a position to do it. I see so many other teams that try to stretch players into doing things they are unable to – the Royals do not do that. The only problem I have with this is that I like both Christian Colon and Cheslor Cuthbert – think they have decent MLB futures. But they’re making a push for a championship, so I can understand them wanting a veteran in and having lesft money in the budget to do so.
Good points about the scouts but I would argue that they overpaid Rios by quite a bit and that Madson and Blanton were super cheap tryouts.. I expected Young to have this type of season after his first half last year.. The real trick will be to keep him from fading in August/September.. Medlen was viewed as a decent risk by several teams.. He chose KC.. Can’t really give the scouts credit for him.. Morales as well was seen as a very good bounce back candidate.. Since most of the KC roster is home grown I would agree that they have very good scouts though..
Would be a great fit. Prado is a winner. He comes through in the clutch.
Agreed.. In his short stint in New York last year he was the one player I hoped would come to the plate with someone on base late in the game.. He would be a terrific addition to KC..
Of course they are. Done with pitching, now to improving their hitting and depth.
In all seriousness, I could see how Martin Prado would be an excellent fit with them. He can play most of the infield and outfield positions capably and fits what they seek in a player. Could be a good fit if Miami is willing to part with him.
OK…. so who would be the centerpiece(s) of a trade to get Zobrist or Prado???
For zobrist probably miguel almonte and chase vallot with one other lottery ticket.
Zobrist is going to depend on what Beane lands with his other trades.. If he unloads Clippard and possibly Reddick for pitching I could see him wanting an OF prospect over Almonte.. Plus, I am not sure that KC moves Almonte.. With Finnegan and Lamb gone he is the closest thing they have ready for the show..