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Odds And Ends: Figgins, Peavy, Royals

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Some more links to check out…

  • Cubs manager Lou Piniella told the Chicago Tribune that he expects his team to be speedier next year. The Tribune suggests Chone Figgins could be a fit for the Cubs. With his versatility and speed, Figgins would be a fit on a number of clubs.
  • As MLB.com's Rustin Dodd points out, Figgins has also emerged as one of the league's best defenders at the hot corner.
  • Scot Gregor of the Daily Herald believes the White Sox would be wise to rest Jake Peavy for the rest of the season if they're not within five games of the division lead by next weekend. 
  • Whether Peavy returns this year or not, MLB.com's Mike Bauman says the White Sox have a lot to look forward to in coming seasons.
  • A "baseball guy" tells Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star that the Royals are bad because even "their good players aren't very good." Zack Greinke and Billy Butler are presumably exceptions.

Odds & Ends: Uggla, Royals, New Blood

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Here's some links to start off a gorgeous Sunday (at least around these parts)…

  • After calling out teammate Hanley Ramirez, Bill Shaikin of The LA Times wonders if Dan Uggla might get a ticket out of Florida. If so, he says Uggla could be a fit for the Dodgers, who he says "are not expected to engage in a bidding war to retain second baseman Orlando Hudson."
  • Sam Mellinger of The KC Star presents a few ways to improve the Royals for 2010. In addition to not handing out albatross contracts to players like Kyle Farnsworth and Jose Guillen, Mellinger suggests the team trade Alberto Callaspo, nontender Mike Jacobs, and resign Coco Crisp.
  • Joel Sherman of The NY Post rates which teams "succeeded and failed in bringing new blood to their organizations" over the last year. The Yankees take home top honors thanks to additions of CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Mark Teixeira, and Nick Swisher. The Mets … well they come in last.
  • Make sure you follow MLBTR on Twitter for the fastest rumor updates around.

Odds & Ends: Hillman, White Sox, Japanese Pitchers

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Let's start the evening off by rounding up a few spare links…

  • According to The Associated Press (via ESPN), Royals manager Trey Hillman will return to the team next season. Kansas City GM Dayton Moore, who originally hired Hillman, had his contract extended through 2014 earlier this week.
  • White Sox GM Kenny Williams was asked if the Jim Thome and Jose Contreras trades indicate that he was throwing in the towel according to Scot Gregor of The Daily Herald, and Williams replied "Hell no. We're still in it to win it.”
  • Patrick at NPB Tracker passes along a report saying that the Yokohama BayStars are looking to import Japanese pitchers currently playing in the States. The article mentions that players like Tomo Ohka, Yasuhiko Yabuta, and Masahide Kobayashi could interest the BayStars, while Patrick throws the names of Kei Igawa and Takashi Saito into the ring.
  • ESPN's Jorge Arangure Jr. writes that Miguel Angel Sano is not the only big name Latin American free agent stuck in age investigation limbo. Venezuelan pitcher Daniel Sanchez, considered one of the best pitchers available this year, is stuck in the same boat after the Brewers put in a formal request to MLB to investigate his age. An age investigation is a prerequisite to signing any player from Latin America.

Offseason Outlook: Kansas City Royals

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The Royals are up next in our Offseason Outlook series.  Their 2010 commitments:

C – John Buck – $2.9MM+
C – Brayan Pena – $405K
1B – Billy Butler – $421K
2B – Alberto Callaspo – $416K
SS – Yuniesky Betancourt – $2MM
3B – Alex Gordon – $457K+
IF/OF – Mark Teahen – $3.575MM+
IF/OF – Willie Bloomquist – $1.7MM
LF – David DeJesus – $4.7MM
CF – Mitch Maier – $401K
RF – Jose Guillen – $12MM
OF – Josh Anderson- $400K
DH – Mike Jacobs – $3.25MM+

SP – Zack Greinke – $7.25MM
SP – Gil Meche – $12MM
SP – Brian Bannister – $1.7375MM+
SP – Luke Hochevar – $1.325MM
SP – Kyle Davies – $1.3MM+

RP – Joakim Soria – $3MM
RP – Juan Cruz – $3.25MM
RP – Kyle Farnsworth – $4.5MM
RP – John Bale – $1.2MM+
RP – Doug Waechter – $640K+
RP – Robinson Tejeda – $437K+
RP – Roman Colon – $435K+

Options: Coco Crisp – $8MM club option with $500K buyout, Yasuhiko Yabuta – $4MM club option with $500K buyout, Miguel Olivo – $3.3MM mutual option with $100K buyout

Non-tender/trade candidates: Buck, Bale, Waechter, Colon, Jacobs, Teahen

Cot's Baseball Contracts says the Royals entered 2009 with a $70.5MM payroll.  If the Royals non-tender or trade the six players I've listed as candidates, they'll have about $58MM committed before arbitration raises to Gordon, Bannister, Davies, and Tejeda.  So let's put them in the low-$60MM range.

Crisp's $8MM option is a tough call; it seems slightly steep but the market for center fielders is weak.  If exercised, the Royals won't have much to spend on their other needs unless payroll is raised.  But should they be spending more money?  I advocate using Pena plus a cheap free agent at catcher, promoting Kila Ka'aihue as a 1B/DH, and signing a reasonably priced reclamation project pitcher like Erik Bedard, Justin Duchscherer, or Randy Johnson.  The bullpen might be lousy again, but it's pricey enough as is.

My version of the 2010 Royals is probably not a contender unless everyone stays healthy and they get breakout seasons from Gordon and Hochevar and bounceback years from Guillen, Meche, Cruz, and others.  Halfway through the season, if that's not happening, Dayton Moore should hold a fire sale and get what he can for Crisp, Guillen, Meche, Cruz, and Farnsworth.  The current mix of cheap effective young players and overpaid, underperforming veterans is not a formula for success.

Odds & Ends: Astros, Royals, Abreu

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Let's kick off the day with links…

Rangers Acquire Danny Gutierrez

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The Rangers acquired pitching prospect Danny Gutierrez from the Royals for catcher Manuel Pina and outfielder Tim Smith, according to Greg Schaum of 610 Sports in Kansas City (via Twitter).

Gutierrez, a 22 year-old righty, has a 1.65 ERA in 27.3 High A ball innings this year.  Coming into the season he was ranked the Royals' #7 prospect by Baseball America and #6 by Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus.  Why has Gutierrez pitched so little this year?  In part due to a shoulder injury, and in part due to off-field issues and a disagreement with the Royals (Schaum tells me).

Pina is a Double A catcher with a .259/.313/.393 line, while Smith hit .309/.380/.439 at the same level.

Odds And Ends: Royals, Kazmir, Hudson

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Some links for the morning…

  • Jeff Sackmann of the Hardball Times can imagine an excellent Royals team in 2012, but says there's no guarantee we'll see such a thing.
  • As MLB.com's Doug Miller shows, cheap, no-name closers can be just as effective as proven commodities.
  • Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports says the addition of Scott Kazmir should help the Angels reach the playoffs once again.
  • Tim Hudson and Dan Meyer were traded for each other in 2004. This week, Hudson pitched against Meyer's team for the first time, as MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez reports.
  • Jamey Newberg ranks Justin Smoak and Martin Perez ahead of the other Rangers minor leaguers in this week's prospects report for MLB.com.

Rosenthal On Abreu, Royals, Garland

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The latest from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports…

  • Bobby Abreu and the Angels have mutual interest in continuing their relationship, according to his agent Peter Greenberg.  Greenberg says there have been discussions but they'll probably wait until after the season.  Abreu, 36 in March, is hitting .297/.391/.428 in 547 plate appearances while playing subpar defense.  He should end up earning $6MM given his plate appearance incentives.  He'll easily achieve Type A status again.
  • Rosenthal praises the Royals for extending GM Dayton Moore, and suggests the team should commit to a full-bore rebuild.  Rosenthal believes it would've been wise to trade Mark Teahen and Gil Meche.
  • Rosenthal says to expect another overloaded 1B/DH market this winter.  Survey the free agent market here.  I think we might find a .400 OBP on the cheap in Nick Johnson, while Jason Giambi is in for a minor league deal.  Carlos Delgado, Russell Branyan, Hank Blalock, Ken Griffey Jr., Hideki Matsui, Aubrey Huff, Gary Sheffield, and Jim Thome are some of the other names.
  • The Phillies decided to stick with Miguel Cairo as their right-handed bench bat, rather than pursue Nomar Garciaparra.
  • A rival exec Rosenthal spoke to feels that Tony Abreu is not enough for Jon Garland, since the D'Backs are picking up all of Garland's contract.

Royals May Part With Catchers This Winter

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The Royals may be ready to cut ties with catchers John Buck and Miguel Olivo this winter, according to Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star.  Buck is a non-tender candidate, while Olivo has a $3.3MM mutual option.  Dutton also speaks of mixed reviews on rookie catcher Brayan Pena.  My take: if the Royals decide to enter the free agent market, they can consider names such as Rod Barajas, Ramon Hernandez, Jason Kendall, Bengie Molina, Ivan Rodriguez, Brian Schneider, and Jason Varitek.  Arizona's Chris Snyder could potentially be available via trade.

Dutton traces Buck's history as a major piece in the Carlos Beltran deal.  The 29 year-old has a career-best .446 SLG in limited playing time, but he's never mustered an OBP above .308 in his career.  He's easy to run on as well, unlike Olivo.  Olivo changed his mind and re-signed with the Royals in November once he was promised the starting gig.  He has better power than Buck but is even worse at getting on base.  I think Pena deserves a better shot; he's only 28 in January and he's showing improved power this year.  He seems just as good as most of the options listed above.

Odds & Ends: Diamond, Penny, Pelekoudas

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Links for Tuesday…

  • Chat today, 2pm CST.
  • The Rangers designated pitcher Thomas Diamond for assignment, according to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan.  Diamond was the 10th overall pick in the 2004 draft.  He was considered the #52 prospect in the game by Baseball America in '05, but he had Tommy John surgery in '07 and dealt with shoulder soreness this year.
  • ESPN's Buster Olney says the Angels were in on Brad Penny, with a bullpen role in mind.
  • Stephen Strasburg has a few things to learn about dealing with media attention, says John Feinstein of the Washington Post.
  • Mariners Associate GM Lee Pelekoudas has resigned to pursue other career opportunities, according to a team press release.  Pelekoudas was the Ms' interim GM before Jack Zduriencik was hired.  He spent 30 years in the organization. 
  • USA Today's Paul White writes about the stigma of a college degree for ballplayers.
  • Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star suggests newly-extended GM Dayton Moore, and not the Glass family, is accountable for the Royals' future performance.
  • Reliever Luis Ayala, recently designated for assignment by the Marlins after pitching badly, was upset by the team's "lack of respect" (Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reporting).  Ayala earned $1.3MM for his 5.63 ERA this year in 40 innings.
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