The Rockies should look at the Royals’ model of success, opines Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. Both teams are mid-market clubs so they share the same constraints. In today’s game, that often means they can’t compete for top or even mid-tier free agents. Royals GM Dayton Moore told Saunders “You have to continually make the transition with two or three impact players [from the farm system], every single year. That means a position player, a starter and a bullpen piece.” Additionally, bold trades like the swap of Troy Tulowitzki are necessary too. The Rockies received Jose Reyes, Jeff Hoffman, Miguel Castro, and Jesus Tinoco in the deal. While Reyes is the most recognizable name, the trade was all about the three pitching prospects. Colorado absolutely must solve their rotation woes if they want to field a consistently good club.
- The Royals success in the middle of the free agent market may be the trait rival teams attempt to replicate this offseason, writes Joel Sherman of the New York Post. We’ve already heard about numerous ways other clubs hope to emulate the Royals with athleticism, defense, and an elite bullpen as oft cited details. However, the club also brought in eight productive free agents for just $35.875MM. With a deep and talented free agent pool this offseason, we may see clubs eschew top targets like Jason Heyward in favor of multiple additions (Sherman lists Gerardo Parra, Darren O’Day, and Marco Estrada as an example).
- Kansas City did get lucky in one regard, per Sherman. Their top target for designated hitter was Torii Hunter. Had he signed with the Royals, they would not have pursued Kendrys Morales. Instead, the former Angel and Twin led the club with 22 home runs and 106 RBI.
- Sherman also notes that the Royals hope to re-sign Alex Gordon and Ben Zobrist. The club will not pursue Johnny Cueto.
- The U.S. government and Major League Baseball have been working on a new system for would-be Cuban defectors to reach America, writes Michael S. Schmidt and Julie Hirschfeld of the New York Times. Presently, Cuban players usually have to survive dangerous journeys in order to defect. Smugglers often take a large percentage the player’s initial contract as payment. While creating a transparent process for moving from the Serie Nacional to state-side professional baseball would solve a human rights issue, there are still barriers. Most notably, any payment to the Cuban government would violate the U.S. trade embargo with the island. Any typical compensation scheme would either directly or indirectly send money to the Cuban government.
The Obama administration lifted the embargo with Cuba, which would mean that the two governments could work out an agreement…
The Obama admin. lifted *parts* of the embargo. Freedom of trade is not entirely granted and the thawing of more than 50 years of hostile relations isn’t repaired with just one act. A step in the right direction for MLB and Cuban players, yes. A means of free trade from Cuba to the U.S. is a different story entirely at this juncture.
The embargo hasn’t been lifted. Travel restrictions have been softened and ferry service from Florida is allowed to exist. But the embargo itself is still completely upheld in law.
Obama only opened diplomatic relations with Cuba. Congress would have to vote to remove the embargo and they haven’t done that.
How would the Rockies follow the Royals?
How are the Rockies going to get arms like Medlen, Madson, Volquez, Young, Vargas and Morales when they play in Coors? They need to continue to develop good hitters than flip them for pitching. I’d expect them to atleast look at trades for Blackmon, Cargo and Rosario this winter.
Yes…or they would have to overpay any free agent pitcher in order to coax them to Denver, like they did with Mike Hampton in December of 2000.
And look how well that turned out. They took one of the better pitchers in the league, gave him a huge contract, and it ruined his career.
They need to develop pitching that can pitch to Coors.
The Royals signed Rios, Morales, Young, and Madson, mostly because they couldn’t get others to sign. They even had to overpay on some of them to get them. Are they really the smartest guys in the room, or the luckiest?
If you’re a FA pitcher, why on EARTH would you choose Denver—-a mile high treehouse of horrors for pitchers? The Royals can attract guys like Chris Young and Ed Volquez because they know they stand not only a chance of getting into post season but putting together decent seasons and pick up a good contrct AFTER their contracts end in KC.