Royals Acquire Tony Pena Jr.
Yesterday we learned that the Royals had a list of 20 shortstops in their sights; today they made a deal. Dayton Moore nabbed Tony Pena Jr. from his former employer, the Braves.
Pena, 26, is the son of the former Royals manager. I’m not sure he’ll be of much value offensively, but at least he’ll play good defense. Pena’s PECOTA calls for a Berroa-like .244/.279/.337 line.
Royals Hunting For A Shortstop
How bad was Angel Berroa‘s .592 OPS in 474 ABs last year? Was it among the worst ever for a shortstop with 450 ABs? Nah. Hal Lanier is the record holder – he hit .206/.222/.239 (.461 OPS) in 1968. He must’ve been a stud with the glove.
Since 2000, Berroa’s season was the third worst for a shortstop. Only Neifi Perez and Cristian Guzman topped his futility and kept their jobs all year. There were a lot of really poor-hitting full-time shortstops last year – Berroa, Clint Barmes, Ronny Cedeno, Adam Everett. Only Everett is keeping his job.
Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star writes that the Royals are not happy with internal shortstop options Berroa and Alex Gonzalez, and have a list of 20 or more trade candidates. Dutton names Barmes, and John McDonald as two likely possibilities, with Erick Aybar or Brandon Wood as longshots. Personally I think there’s a snowball’s chance in hell of the Angels trading Wood to the Royals.
Josh Wilson is probably on the list, and Yunel Escobar might be too. Sean Rodriguez is another option. If the Royals wanted to up the ante, Orlando Cabrera or Jack Wilson could be available.
Berroa’s contract exists as proof that locking up young players long-term for cost certainty does not always work out. In the spring following his 2003 Rookie of the Year season, he received a four-year, $11MM deal.
More Ken Rosenthal
Ken Rosenthal has been working overtime, posting a second column tonight. To summarize:
- The Astros plan on keeping their relief core of Brad Lidge, Chad Qualls, Dan Wheeler, and Trever Miller, despite interest from the Red Sox in Lidge and Qualls.
- In Marcus Thames, Chris Shelton, and Ramon Santiago, the Tigers appear to have a surplus of players. However, Rosenthal spoke to another team’s exec who thinks the trio will stay with the club. It’s nice to have depth. Speaking of which, top pitching prospect Andrew Miller will start his season in A ball but could make an impact in the second half.
- The Cubs and Rangers would like to add shortstop Clint Barmes as a utility man (might even make sense for the Cubs to start him). The Rox still like Barmes though and may keep him around as a 2B option for ’08. Rosenthal mentions the Royals as another fit for Barmes. The Royals need a shortstop like the Marlins need a center fielder.
- The Dodgers want to add a right-handed slugger. Assuming the price tag on Rocco Baldelli remains too high, L.A. could go after Kevin Mench or Reggie Sanders. The Royals would love to get rid of Sanders or Emil Brown. The O’s have some mild interest in Sanders. I guess the offseason helped the Dodgers and Orioles forget that Sanders is 39, makes $5MM, and posted a .729 OPS last year.
Will Royals Trade Mike Sweeney?
For years, Mike Sweeney may have been the only Royal a casual fan was able to name. Gil Meche, Alex Gordon, and others are changing that these days. Sweeney is on his last leg, finally reaching the contract year of his painful five-year, $55MM deal. (I’m surprised the Royals didn’t do 5/54 with Meche just to block out the Sweeney contract).
Sweeney is earning $11MM this year to DH for the Royals. This time around, he’s all about yoga and the health vibe remains positive. It’s all his back. He’s spent about 30% of the last three seasons on the disabled list. I’m sure the Royals would love to keep him relatively healthy and effective leading up to the break and send him packing. There was some talk of the Angels acquiring him in seasons past but it never went too far, mostly because the Royals were asking for too much.
Let’s say Sweeney was a free agent this year instead of next. I think the most he could command is $4MM guaranteed as someone’s DH. That would make him worth $2MM tops at the deadline, so the Royals would have to eat $9MM. Might be worth it to allow Billy Butler (BA’s #25 prospect) a half-season trial in the bigs and get a prospect back. Of course, the more likely scenario is that Butler is granted his chance when Sweeney hits the DL.
Tim’s take: Chance of a midseason trade of Mike Sweeney – 20%.
Royals Interviews
Recently I asked some questions of Craig Brown of Royals Authority and Will McDonald of Royals Review. They kindly supplied some great answers, so check out their blogs. You can view the first part of the interviews here.
Which Royal is going to surprise people in 2007?
Craig: I think the power projections for Ryan Shealy are low. He won’t hit as many HR in Kansas City as he would have in Colorado, but I’m still leaning toward 30 HR for him. He just needs to learn to hit lefties at the Major League level and drive that inside pitch.
It might not fall under the category of surprise, but Alex Gordon is everything he’s supposed to be. The only thing that will keep him from the Opening Day roster is if he fails miserably in Spring Training. He’s ready for the big leagues and has to be a leading candidate for Rookie Of The Year.
Will: In a good way? I thought that was like threesomes and being able to dunk a basketball, something that happens to other people. I expect Meche to have a flukey-good start ERA-wise, with some subsequent crowing from the Royals to Jayson Stark and other usual suspects. I’ve always liked David Riske so he’s my second candidate. Its a strange roster, filled with horrible players and low-upside OK players. And maybe Alex Gordon. Reggie Sanders may surprise people with a league-average start, proving he’s still alive.
Royals Interviews
Recently I asked some questions of Craig Brown of Royals Authority and Will McDonald of Royals Review. They kindly supplied some great answers, so check out their blogs. I’ll do this in a few parts.
Which Royal is most likely to be traded this spring?
Craig: It always sounds stupid to say a team coming off a 100 loss season has a "logjam" at a position. It reminds me of that Spinal Tap album review: "They are treading water in a sea of mediocrity." But the Royals do have a logjam in the corner outfield. By moving Mark Teahen to make way for Alex Gordon the Royals now have three players for the two corner spots. The Royals thought enough of Emil Brown that they offered him arbitration for the second year in a row (they settled) and also have Reggie Sanders in the mix. Sanders was on his way out of town last August before a groin injury put the kibosh on the rumored deal to the Yankees. New acquisition Ross Gload can also play the corner and that’s also the position of future star Billy Butler.
I think Moore will try to deal Sanders, but due to his age, declining production and recent injury history, will find the market to be underwhelming. The prediction here is there will be no trades made while the Royals are in Arizona.
Will: Hopefully Justin Huber, but the Royals have done so much to poor-mouth him, who knows his value. Posnanski wrote today that the team is looking to acquire a veteran 1B backup to Ryan Shealy. This seems utterly nonsensical to me, but alas. I think the Royals are done for the spring, but an in-season trade of Emil Brown, Mark Grudzielanek or Reggie Sanders seems highly likely. A Dotel trade seems like a lock as well. I think the Royals WANT to trade Teahen, they just aren’t sure what he is and may want to let him accrue more value.
Royals Interviews
Recently I asked some questions of Craig Brown of Royals Authority and Will McDonald of Royals Review. They kindly supplied some great answers, so check out their blogs. I’ll do this in a few parts.
Which Royal is most likely to be traded this spring?
Craig: It always sounds stupid to say a team coming off a 100 loss season has a "logjam" at a position. It reminds me of that Spinal Tap album review: "They are treading water in a sea of mediocrity." But the Royals do have a logjam in the corner outfield. By moving Mark Teahen to make way for Alex Gordon the Royals now have three players for the two corner spots. The Royals thought enough of Emil Brown that they offered him arbitration for the second year in a row (they settled) and also have Reggie Sanders in the mix. Sanders was on his way out of town last August before a groin injury put the kibosh on the rumored deal to the Yankees. New acquisition Ross Gload can also play the corner and that’s also the position of future star Billy Butler.
I think Moore will try to deal Sanders, but due to his age, declining production and recent injury history, will find the market to be underwhelming. The prediction here is there will be no trades made while the Royals are in Arizona.
Will: Hopefully Justin Huber, but the Royals have done so much to poor-mouth him, who knows his value. Posnanski wrote today that the team is looking to acquire a veteran 1B backup to Ryan Shealy. This seems utterly nonsensical to me, but alas. I think the Royals are done for the spring, but an in-season trade of Emil Brown, Mark Grudzielanek or Reggie Sanders seems highly likely. A Dotel trade seems like a lock as well. I think the Royals WANT to trade Teahen, they just aren’t sure what he is and may want to let him accrue more value.
White Sox Acquire Sisco For Gload
Baseball Digest Daily reports that the White Sox have acquired reliever Andy Sisco for first baseman/outfielder Ross Gload.
Seems like a big win for the Sox. Sisco, a big lefty, turns 24 in January. Since jumping from A ball to the Majors in ’05 as a Rule 5 pick from the Cubs, Sisco has been in over his head. The White Sox could fix him up as a lights out reliever like they did with Matt Thornton, or else switch him back to starting.
How does Gload help the Royals? He’ll turn 31 next season and the club has absolutely no room for another 1B/OF. Shouldn’t Dayton Moore be stockpiling young arms instead of guys like Gload?
Gil Meche Projection
I have a 2007 projection up at RotoAuthority for new Royals ace Gil Meche. I’ve also included projections from three other sources for comparison.
Royal Treatment For Dotel
Octavio Dotels has turned down an offer from the Boston Red Sox, according to the Kansas City Star, and is about to officially sign with the Kansas City Royals for a 1-year/$5MM contract that may be bumped up to $7MM after incentives. Dotel will likely replace Ambiorix Burgos as the front runner for the Royals’ closer position in 2007.
This will probably push the Sox to go after Eric Gagne a bit more in the coming days. The Boston Herald is reporting that Gagne is still looking for an annual salary of over $5MM.