Bloomquist Wants To Be Everyday Player
Royals veteran Willie Bloomquist is intrigued by the possibility of being an every day player elsewhere as he heads into free agency, writes Bob Dutton of The Kansas City Star. After setting career highs in plate appearances and games played in 2009, the soon-to-be 33-year-old has taken on a dramatically reduced role this season.
“I’d be lying,” the utility player said, “if I said the National League didn’t entice me. I could play pretty much every day whether I’m starting or not. That’s awful enticing.”
However, Bloomquist is more at ease with having a reserve role than he once was. Two years ago, the right-handed batter was anxious to leave Seattle via free agency for Kansas City in order to see more playing time. To date, Bloomquist has yet to receive a contract offer from the Royals but he might be willing to re-up with the club before testing the waters of free agency.
“After the season,” Bloomquist said, “they have the [exclusive] rights to talk to me for a couple of weeks. If something comes up that’s decent and fair, then why rock the marriage? On the other hand, it could definitely be in my interest to see what’s out there.”
The former Seattle Mariner has earned a combined $3.1MM in his two seasons with the Royals.
The Royals’ 2011 Rotation
Zack Greinke may not be happy with the Royals' direction, but he's probably going to anchor their rotation next year. The Royals will surround him with a combination of familiar major league arms and, potentially, unproven minor league pitching prospects.
First, the familiar major leaguers. Gil Meche is rehabbing as a reliever now and though he makes $12MM next year and has a history as a reliable starter he can't be expected to return to the rotation. He will pitch out of the bullpen to avoid surgery, so unless he comes to spring training feeling stronger than expected, he'll be in the 'pen. Luke Hochevar is also on the DL, but showed promise (6.6 K/9, 3.2 BB/9) before an elbow strain sidelined him. Hochevar should join Greinke in the Royals' 2011 rotation.
After those three pitchers, there's much uncertainty. Bruce Chen has provided the Royals with serviceable innings as a swingman this year. They could bring him back in a similar capacity for 2011, but Chen doesn't change the Royals' long term plans.
Kyle Davies and Brian Bannister both go to arbitration for the third time this winter, but won't necessarily be tendered contracts. They have ERAs over 5.00 and will each make over $2MM next year if offered arbitration. Bannister is currently on the DL rehabbing from rotator cuff tendinitis and a strong September would go a long way toward preventing a non-tender.
Recent acquisition Sean O'Sullivan and former first-rounders Bryan Bullington and Philip Humber have all started games for the Royals this year, with varying degrees of success. Humber has looked good in 10.2 major league innings this year and he struck out four times as many batters as he walked at Triple A (though it was his fourth stint at the minors' highest level).
But the Royals' hopes rest in the minor leagues. They have standout position players – Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer in particular – and a group of exciting young arms. At this point, however, the Royals' pitching prospects don't seem likely to contribute much to the 2011 rotation.
Aaron Crow, Tim Melville and John Lamb are promising, but probably need more seasoning. Danny Duffy and Chris Dwyer have each handled AA batters well, but neither has started more than five games at the level. Top prospect Mike Montgomery made a successful leap to AA this year, but the Royals are still monitoring his innings carefully and it would be unfair to expect him to debut in the majors before late 2011. Edgar Osuna isn't the prospect Montgomery is, but he has struck out three times as many hitters as he has walked in the upper minors and posted a season ERA of 4.17.
At this point, it appears that Greinke and Hochevar will figure prominently into the rotation while the organization's best prospects develop in the minor leagues. The Royals will likely look for some stabilizing inning eaters, whether that means bringing back some combination of Chen, Davies and Bannister, or signing a free agent.
Odds & Ends: Draft, Pirates, Betemit
Links for Monday, as the Yankees' Ivan Nova prepares for his first big league start in Toronto…
- RotoAuthority looks at the five first basemen who returned good value in fantasy baseball mixed leagues this year.
- The Dodgers led baseball by spending 224% of their estimated slot on the draft, according to Baseball America. Most clubs spent more than MLB suggested, but only eight exceeded 150% of MLB's preferred budget.
- BA's Jim Callis creates a fresh Pirates top ten prospects list, given all the new talent entering the system recently.
- U.S.S. Mariner's Dave Cameron would like to see the Mariners acquire recently-designated Matt Downs from the Giants.
- In a FanGraphs article, Cameron examines the Royals' situation with Wilson Betemit's last arbitration year coming up.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Lee, Feliz, Braves, Kershaw
On this date two years ago, umpires agreed to the use of instant replay to help determine boundary calls, such as fair or foul, on home runs. Expanded use of instant replay remains a hot topic in baseball, and even though Commissioner Bud Selig continues to dance around the subject, more replay feels inevitable at this point.
Here are a bunch of links from around the baseball blogosphere…
- Mike Ashmore's Thunder Thoughts interviews players and team personnel about minor league life, touching on everything from salary to housing to food, the whole nine. It's a long, but truly great read.
- Capitol Avenue Club analyzes the Derrek Lee trade.
- Pine Tar and Pocket Protectors says that Pedro Feliz is not the answer for the Cardinals.
- Beyond The Box Score looks at which teams are building the best bullpens on the cheap.
- Amazin' Avenue tries to figure out who should close for the Mets with Francisco Rodriguez out for the season.
- Royals Review questions whether or not Kansas City has something in Bryan Bullington.
- The Few, The Proud, The Brave looks ahead to Atlanta's offseason as well as the 2011 season.
- Pittsburgh Lumber Co. tries to figure out if the Pirates should start spending this offseason.
- The Process Report lists the Rays' farmhands eligible for this year's Rule 5 Draft.
- SD Sports Net wonders if the Padres whiffed by failing to sign first rounder Karsten Whitson.
- Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness uses Ricky Romero's new contract as a basis for a Clayton Kershaw contract extension.
- Baseball Time In Arlington examines the hidden value of Cliff Lee.
- Camden Crazies wonders if Brad Bergesen is back to being an effective pitcher.
- 1 Blue Jays Way introduces us to Toronto's prospects.
If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here.
Odds & Ends: Cubs, Simmons, Crisp, Royals
On a night when Brian Matusz stifled the AL West leaders, here are some news items…
- ESPNChicago.com's Bruce Levine looks at how the Cubs might replace Derrek Lee, whether it be going after a big free agent or by moving Aramis Ramirez or Tyler Colvin to first base.
- The Mariners are "starting to eye" Ted Simmons as a managerial candidate, according to Fanhouse.com's Tom Krasovic. Simmons, 61, is in his second year as San Diego's bench coach and has only three years of coaching experience overall, though he has spent 19 years in various front office positions. Simmons was an eight-time All-Star during a 21-season playing career with St. Louis, Milwaukee and Atlanta from 1968 to 1988.
- Mychael Urban of CSNBayArea.com predicts that Oakland is "likely" to pick up Coco Crisp's $5.75MM club option for next season.
- Royals owner David Glass adamantly denied rumors that he is thinking of selling the team, reports Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star.
- Gil Meche is "ninety-five percent" sure that he'll pitch out of the bullpen next season, writes MLB.com's Dick Kaegel.
- The Cardinals' contract with first-round pick Zack Cox is analyzed by Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
- Fangraphs' Dave Cameron looks at the top five "free agent signings that worked" from the past winter. The Rangers' deal with Colby Lewis tops the list.
- MLB.com's Jordan Bastian talks to Toronto general manager Alex Anthopoulos about the GM's busy first year and his future plans for the Jays.
Odds & Ends: Torre, Royals, Colome, Hawpe
Links for Wednesday, a year to the day after the Rangers acquired Ivan Rodriguez…
- Check back in at 2pm CDT and join our weekly chat.
- After speaking to Dodgers manager Joe Torre about his future, Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports is starting to believe the skipper will retire after the season.
- The Royals spent slightly under $6.7MM on this year’s draft, according to Daniel Paulling of the Kansas City Star.
- The Rangers signed Jesus Colome, who has already been released by the Mariners and Dodgers this year. The transactions page for the Pacific Coast League says Texas assigned the righty to Triple A.
- Yankees GM Brian Cashman told Marc Carig of the Star Ledger that he doesn't expect to make any trades this month.
- Troy Renck of the Denver Post fully expects the Rockies to have parted ways with Brad Hawpe by the weekend (Twitter link).
- Dan Bickley of the Arizona Republic likes what he sees from D'Backs interim GM Jerry Dipoto and interim manager Kirk Gibson.
- The Pirates spent a franchise-record $11.9MM on this year’s draft, according to data obtained by Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
- Count Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos among those who wouldn't mind moving the deadline to sign draft picks earlier in the summer. He told the FAN 590 that he would also prefer to see the deadline in the evening, rather than late at night.
Draft Pick Signings
Today's draft pick signing deadline passed at 11pm central time. This post contains notable signings outside of the first round, with the latest up top.
- The Padres signed sixth-rounder John Barbato for $1.4MM, according to ESPN.com's Keith Law (on Twitter).
- The Blue Jays signed fourth-rounder Sam Dyson for $600K, according to Jim Callis of Baseball America (on Twitter).
- The Tigers signed second-rounder Drew Smyly for $1.1MM, according to Kendall Rogers of Yahoo (on Twitter).
- The D'Backs signed 14th-rounder Ty Linton for $1.25MM, according to MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo.
- The A's signed second-rounder Yordy Cabrera for $1.25MM, according to ESPN.com's Keith Law (via Twitter). The team has since confirmed the deal, but not its value.
- The Pirates have signed second-rounder Stetson Allie, according to Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer (on Twitter). The 19-year-old, who plays third and pitches, had committed to the University of North Carolina. He gets a $2.25MM bonus, according to Hoynes (on Twitter).
- The D'Backs signed eighth-rounder Tyler Green for $750K, according to Aaron Fitt of Baseball America. The prep righty can hit 95 mph with his fastball.
- The Reds signed sixth-rounder Drew Cisco for $975K, according to Jim Callis of Baseball America.
- The Cardinals signed second-round right-hander Jordan Swagerty for $600-650K, according to Kendall Rogers of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter).
- The Giants signed second-rounder Jarrett Parker for $700K, according to Jim Callis of Baseball America. The 21-year-old outfielder set multiple single-season records at Virginia last year.
- The Mariners signed second-rounder Marcus Littlewood for $900K, according to ESPN.com's Keith Law (on Twitter). Here's Law's scouting report on the prep shortstop.
- The D'Backs agreed to sign sixth-round right-hander Blake Perry for $500K, according to Aaron Fitt of Baseball America.
- The Nationals agreed to sign 12th-round left-hander Robbie Ray for $799K, according to MLB.com's Bill Ladson.
- The Red Sox will sign Garin Cecchini, according to Kendall Rogers of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). The fourth-round pick was looking for about $1.35MM and Jim Callis of Baseball America reports (on Twitter) that he'll get $1.31MM.
- Eighth-rounder Alex Lavisky agreed to terms with the Indians on a $1MM bonus, according to Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer (on Twitter). The prep catcher is "a good athlete with arm strength," according to Baseball America.
- The Red Sox signed second-rounder Brandon Workman for $800K, according to Alex Speier of WEEI.com.
- The Red Sox agreed to sign third-rounder Sean Coyle, a 5'8" shortstop, for $1.3MM, according to Jim Callis of Baseball America. That's more than $1MM more than MLB recommends for the 110 slot.
- The Dodgers signed 11th-rounder Joc Pederson, a prep outfielder, for $600K according to Baseball America's Jim Callis. That quadruples MLB's recommended maximum. BA ranked Pederson #154 in their draft preview.
- The Rangers signed fifth-rounder Justin Grimm, a righty out of Georgia, for $825K plus incentives ($677K over slot), reports Baseball America's Aaron Fitt. BA ranked Grimm at #109 in their draft preiew.
- The Indians signed fourth-round pick Kyle Blair for $580K ($334K over slot), reports Baseball America's Jim Callis. Blair is a righty drafted out of the University of San Diego; BA ranked him 84th overall in their draft preview.
- The Royals signed second-round pick Brett Eibner and fifth-rounder Jason Adam, according to a press release. Baseball America's Jim Callis tweets that Eibner gets $1.25MM (almost $600K over slot), while Adam gets $800K ($629K over slot). Eibner is a center fielder and pitcher out of the University of Arkansas, and Adam is a righty drafted out of high school. Baseball America rated Eibner the 23rd-best player in the draft, calling him the "best two-way prospect" in the class. The Royals instead plan to use him as a center fielder.
Giants Acquire Jose Guillen
The Giants acquired outfielder Jose Guillen from the Royals for a player to be named later and $250K. The Royals, who gave Guillen an ill-advised three-year, $36MM deal in December of 2007, designated Guillen for assignment on August 5th. The $250K is about $138K more than the pro-rated portion of the major league minimum salary.
Guillen still has $3.39MM left on his contract, but the Royals are covering some of that, according to a press release. The 34-year-old is hitting .255/.314/.429 on the season with 16 home runs in 437 plate appearances. He has logged only 169 innings in right field, so playing him regularly in the outfield would be risky. The Giants probably don't have an everyday role in mind for Guillen anyway – there's no reason he should supplant Pat Burrell, Andres Torres, Aubrey Huff, or Travis Ishikawa.
Enrique Rojas of ESPNDeportes first reported that a deal was close and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, Ed Price of AOL FanHouse and Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle also broke elements of the story (all Twitter links).
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Royals, Rays, Burrell
On this date 41 years ago, Major League owners unanimously elected Bowie Kuhn to a seven-year term as commissioner. It was under Kuhn that the reserve clause was eliminated, paving the way for free agency as we know it.
We've got a lot of links to get to, so let's dive right in…
- Joe Posnanski tries to determine who the worst everyday player in baseball is.
- Royals Review breaks down all the changes the Royals have gone through since the start of last season.
- Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness congratulates Garret Anderson on the worst offensive season in Dodgers history.
- Bright House Sports Network looks at the Rays' history of waiver trades, plus some names they might target this month.
- The Process Report wonders if this season will be Dan Wheeler's last stand in Tampa.
- DRays Bay tries to figure out if Gabe Kapler should be designated for assignment.
- Disciples of Uecker thinks the Jim Edmonds–Chris Dickerson trade was the best for everyone.
- Around The Majors posted a two part series looking at the events that have brought Andres Torres' career back from the dead (parts one & two).
- Meanwhile, Joe Pawlikowski at FanGraphs examines Pat Burrell's resurgence since joining the Giants.
- The Nats Blog breaks down Stephen Strasburg's first bump in the road.
- Red Sox Beacon re-introduces us to Carlos Delgado.
- U.S.S. Mariner looks at the job security of Major League managers, or the lack thereof.
- Camden Crazies explains the Buck Showalter magic going on in Baltimore.
- Randall On Baseball revisits the trade that sent Brandon Morrow to the Blue Jays for Brandon League.
- Baseball 101 looks at a different way of valuing relievers based on the work of Bill James.
- Baseball Analysts analyzed the Rule 5 Draft.
If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here.
Odds & Ends: White Sox, Olsen, Adam, V-Mart
Another round of links for Wednesday, as Cliff Lee falls short of eight innings for the first time in two months…
- The White Sox are cautiously optimistic about signing the team's top remaining unsigned picks, amateur scouting director Doug Laumann told MLB.com's Scott Merkin.
- Scott Olsen made $250K in incentives for starting his 11th game of the season tonight, according to Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post (Twitter link).
- 2010 draftee Jason Adam is close to signing with the Royals, according to Daniel Paulling of the Kansas City Star. Adam, ranked by Baseball America as the 54th-best prospect in this year’s draft awaits approval from the commissioner’s office.
- Victor Martinez told Jim Bowden of Sirius XM Radio that the Red Sox have not offered him an extension (Twitter link). The catcher hits free agency after the season.
- The Yankees agreed to sign third-rounder Rob Segedin for a $377K bonus, according to Jim Callis of Baseball America. Segedin, a third baseman, receives about $100K more than MLB’s recommended bonus for his slot.
- Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News explains why he believes the Rangers shouldn't try to sign Cliff Lee long-term just yet. It's probably a moot point, since Lee seems destined to reach the open market.
- MLB owners and executives approved the sale of the Rangers to the group led by Chuck Greenberg and Nolan Ryan, according to Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (on Twitter). The final vote occurs tomorrow.