Royals Sign Gil Meche
Steve Phillips reports for ESPN that the deal is done, and it is for five years. I can see how that fifth year would seal the deal for Meche quickly. RotoWorld says it’s for $55MM with $9MM paid out in ’07.
The move may be shocking to some, but KC had roughly $15MM to burn this winter.
Meche turned 28 this year. He posted a career best 7.5 per nine strikeout rate. The team now has some starting pitching depth (2007 salaries estimated):
SP – Gil Meche – $9MM
SP – Odalis Perez – $1.7MM
SP – Brian Bannister – $0.38MM
SP – Luke Hudson – $0.38MM
SP – Jorge de la Rosa – $0.38MM
SP – Zack Greinke – $0.38MM
Note: Runelvys Hernandez was released this morning. Thanks to Royals Authority for the tip.
Bannister for Burgos: done
ESPN is reporting that the Mets are sending Brian Bannister to Kansas City for Ambiorix Burgos. Neither pitcher is a difference-maker, but I’m a bit surprised the Mets are giving up a solid rotation option (albeit a back-of-the-rotation option) for a short reliever.
Burgos has upside, but this says to me that Omar Minaya is very confident of landing at least one more starter this offseason. The Mets rotation could be spectacular once everyone is healthy, but there are a heck of a lot of question marks for Minaya to be trading away his insurance. On the flip side, this seems like a solid deal for the Royals: they need somebody to eat a bunch of innings, and Bannister comes a whole lot cheaper than the Mark Redmans, Tomo Ohkas, and Miguel Batistas of the world.
By Jeff Sackmann, Brew Crew Ball
2007 Kansas City Royals
It wouldn’t be kind to ignore the Royals in my 2007 Team Outlooks.
Dayton Moore’s contract obligations:
C – Jason LaRue – $2.5MM
C – John Buck – $0.38MM
1B – Ryan Shealy – $0.38MM
2B – Mark Grudzielanek – $4MM
SS – Angel Berroa – $3.25MM
3B – Mark Teahen – $0.38MM
IF – Esteban German – $0.38MM
LF – Emil Brown – $1.775MM
CF – David DeJesus – $2MM
RF – Reggie Sanders – $5MM
OF – Joey Gathright – $0.38MM
DH – Mike Sweeney – $11MM
SP – Odalis Perez – $1.7MM
SP – Luke Hudson – $0.38MM
SP – Jorge de la Rosa – $0.38MM
SP – Runelvys Hernandez – $1.225MM
SP – Zack Greinke – $0.38MM
RP – Jimmy Gobble – $0.38MM
RP – Ambiorix Burgos – $0.38MM
RP – Todd Wellemeyer – $0.38MM
RP – Andy Sisco – $0.38MM
RP – Joel Peralta – $0.38MM
RP – Joe Nelson – $0.38MM
RP – Ryan Braun – $0.38MM
RP – Ken Ray – $0.38MM
RP – Brandon Duckworth – $0.38MM
Injured players:
SP – Scott Elarton – $4MM (recovering from August shoulder surgery, targeting June 1 return)
Departed players:
RP – Elmer Dessens – $1.7MM
I know I’ve listed 26 active players here, but I’m not sure which reliever isn’t a part of the 2007 Royals. The team is going to take payroll to the $50-55MM range, a franchise record. They’ve got about $38.5MM tied up, but Brown, Hernandez, Gobble, Duckworth, and Wellemeyer are all eligible for arbitration. I’ll ballpark it at $15MM left to spend this winter.
This outlook reflects the current state of the roster, as if the season started tomorrow. Here’s what could happen between now and Opening Day to change the picture:
– Moore finds a decent offer for Emil Brown at the winter meetings, freeing up left field for Mark Teahen.
– Alex Gordon is starting at third by May and is the team’s best hitter.
– Injuries to Sweeney, Sanders, or both opens up playing time for German, Shane Costa, or even Billy Butler.
– At the very least, the Royals acquire one Tier 2 starter, perhaps pushing Hernandez to the pen.
– A veteran reliever is acquired, and a couple of the guys I’ve listed go to Omaha.
I just had to get that out of the way before jumping into a closer analysis.
The Royals aren’t paying much for LaRue, so hopefully they spin him into something decent before the trading deadline and turn back to Buck. Why wouldn’t a team like this just stick with Buck?
The right side of the infield is pretty well set, and not too shabby. Berroa is just awful at short, but it would take a sly trade by Moore to find a replacement. Teahen is said to be the team’s third baseman at present, even with super prospect Alex Gordon nearly ready to launch. One of the two will shift to an outfield corner this spring once Moore figures out how to unload one of Brown/Sanders. Brown is obviously more marketable.
German probably fills the Chone Figgins role. The outfield is pretty much in a complete state of flux, as any success by Gathright would push DeJesus to left permanently. Teahen could play right with Butler as the DH of the future. That’ll be fun, but Gathright could flop plus the Royals are still stuck with Sanders, Sweeney, and Brown at the moment.
The first three spots in the rotation appear penciled in as Perez-Hudson-de la Rosa. De la Rosa is nobody’s idea of a #3, but hey, why not give him a good ten starts and a little security to work with. Everyone would love Greinke to succeed and to start, but we’ll just have to wait and see. Elarton won’t return until June at the earliest. Hernandez made more starts in ’06 than any current Royal, but he posted a 6.48 ERA. He probably gets the boot once Moore brings in a free agent.
Those targets include Gil Meche, Miguel Batista, and former Royals Jeff Suppan and Mark Redman. My money is on Batista unless Brown can bring in a comparable guy.
The bullpen will obviously not consist of all nine guys listed. Nelson, Ray, Wellemeyer, Gobble, and Peralta are probably in. One veteran Joe Borowski type will be imported as well. The Denver Post reports that Octavio Dotel has received offers from three teams to close games; the Royals are one team in a position to make that offer.
With Moore in charge, Royals fans are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Shealy, Teahen, DeJesus, Gordon, and Butler make for a strong, affordable offensive core. Moore will continue hoarding young pitchers; hopefully top pick Luke Hochevar‘s shoulder strain last month in the AFL was nothing serious. For 2007, it would be ideal if vets like Brown, Sanders, LaRue, and Sweeney stay healthy and relatively productive to allow Moore to get some starting pitching back.
Turkey Day Tidbits
Happy Thanksgiving from MLB Trade Rumors!
Grab your shopping list — Bucco Blog has posted the Pirates top 10 prospect list.
I initially thought one of the collateral consequences of the increased market value of players this year would be that arbitration values would go up over the next few years, but Jim Callis at Baseball America said he doesn’t think that will happen since arbitration contracts are compared to people with similar service time. Interesting.
Did anyone else see ProTrade’s reaction to the 2006 MVP awards? Talk about blowing out the industry – whew!
USA Today has a couple of nice articles — on the Royals rebuilding plans and the other on the Brewers potential to return to respectability.
Will Steinbrenner’s potential desire to name son-in-law Steve Swindal as the next CEO be sidetracked with Swindal becoming the next operator of the New York’s three major thoroughbred racetracks — Aqueduct, Belmont Park and Saratoga?
By Jake
Tuesday tidbits
Nothing in the news that is too breathtaking today, but there have been enough things worthy of mention that I thought I’d throw them all into one thread.
Here’s a fun trade possibility: the Red Sox are interested in Chad Cordero (uh, who wouldn’t be?) and may be dangling Wily Mo Pena, whom Jim Bowden is known to…how should I put this?…really like. Bowden hasn’t acquired a toolsy outfielder for a couple of weeks now, so if the Sox found a way to sweeten the deal, perhaps Trader Jim would take the bait.
The Yankees have been quiet lately, but they may soon make an offer to bring back Ted Lilly. They have also been linked to Shea Hillenbrand and Rich Aurilia to fill a spot at first base.
The Rockies signed Jeff Francis to a four-year deal for $13.25M, which takes him through his arbitration years. He’s still only 25, and if nothing else, he’s proven he can eat innings. He may still turn into more than that. Even if he’s no more than a 5th starter, he’ll be worth close to that amount, and the Rockies will probably want to exercise their ~$7M option for his first year of free agency in 2011.
According to the LA Times, who I would link to if they didn’t require registration, Carlos Lee isn’t interested in the west coast, which would rule out the Dodgers, Angels, and Giants. You gotta admit, it would’ve been pretty funny if El Caballo signed in LA and he and Juan Pierre played side by side for the next five years. By the end of those deals, Vin Scully would’ve said "double to the left-field gap" more times than he did in his first twenty years of broadcasting.
The Reds sent more than half of Jason LaRue‘s salary along with him in yesterday’s trade. I didn’t think it was a horrible deal for the Royals in the first place (though, admittedly, do they really need a mediocre stopgap catcher to help get them to 70 wins?) but this makes it a better one. More coverage at Royals Review. (You didn’t know there was a Royals blog, did you?)
By Jeff Sackmann
LaRue traded to the Royals
According to Baseball Digest Daily‘s newsletter (not yet online), Jason LaRue (and, I would guess, some portion of his $5.2 million salary for 2007) are headed to Kansas City for a minor leaguer to be named. The Royals had been in the market for a catcher, and this means they won’t have to sign Gregg Zaun to the three-year deal he’s after.
LaRue had a disastrous off-year in 2006, hitting below .200 in limited duty. (Hit below .200 with a couple of good catchers on the roster, and you will always find yourself in limited duty! Unless you’re Brad Ausmus.) However, he’s only one year removed from a 4.7 win season–if the Royals can get anything close to that out of him, he’s worth the full five million bucks. However, he’s a catcher going into his age-33 season; ZiPS projects him to "bounce back" to .234/.331/.411. That wouldn’t earn him a fan club in KC, but it would be good enough, especially if he continued to be above average on defense, which he has been over his career..
Looks like this could be a great trade for both sides: the Reds save some cash on a player they don’t need, and the Royals get a catcher with some upside without tying themselves into a long-term contract.
UPDATE: Here’s a link for now.
By Jeff Sackmann
Kansas City Star: Zaun To Return To KC?
Ah, finally a legitimate Royals rumor. I know there are some Royals fans out there. Jeffrey Flanagan of the Kansas City Star reports that the Royals may have an interest in bringing back catcher Gregg Zaun.
The Royals acquired Zaun from the Tigers via trade in March of 2000. He hit quite well for them in limited duty but wasn’t retained when he hit free agency. Zaun will be representing himself this winter and may seek a three-year, $9MM deal.
Would You Trade Alex Gordon For A-Rod?
Tom Keegan would. I can only hope Dayton Moore disagrees. Sure, the contracts of Mike Sweeney and Angel Berroa are painful…but a team looking to win in 2008 or 2009 shouldn’t be giving their best prospect to the Yankees.
Perhaps the Royals win an extra game or two over the next few seasons with Rodriguez instead of Gordon at third. Even that is an open question. But I don’t think A-Rod would put butts in the seats any more than Gordon will.
If Moore wants to make a splash and spend some money, he should put in the top bid for Daisuke Matsuzaka and keep the cheaper Alex.
Royals Join Matsuzaka Chase
An unlikely eighth team has expressed interest in Daisuke Matsuzaka: the Royals. KC joins the Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, Rangers, Orioles, Dodgers, and Mariners as a suitor.
While it’s unlikely that the Royals would pony up more than $10MM annually for one player, it would bring some excitement to the ’07 team. It would also be better than the way they spent free agent money in 2006: $5MM for Reggie Sanders, $4MM for Scott Elarton, $4MM for Mark Grudzielanek, $1.85MM for Doug Mientkiewicz, $1.7MM for Elmer Dessens, and $1.5MM for Tony Graffanino. Granted that was a different GM, but the Royals spent $18MM on six players that A)wouldn’t help them win when the team becomes competitive and B)won’t put butts in the seats.
Minor Trades and Rumors
The Cubs unloaded Neifi Perez on the Tigers today, and it was no surprise Neifi got through waivers. What team would want to be on the hook for $2.5MM for him next year? Ditching Neifi at this point at least partially rights the wrong of signing him to an extension in the first place for Jim Hendry. The Cubs’ "everything man" will be making outs atop of Detroit’s lineup now. Even more impressive is that Hendry snagged a 22 year-old catching prospect, Chris Robinson, in the deal.
The Mets added righty reliever Guillermo Mota today. Along with Oliver Perez, this is another project with plenty of upside. Mota was one of the game’s top setup men a few years ago.
Tom Glavine‘s got a possible blood clot, which could mean season or career-ending surgery. At least his life is not in danger. The news first appeared on an ESPN message board from a man said to be Glavine’s brother-in-law. Back when Glavine appeared healthy, the same source indicated that the southpaw would finish his career with the Braves, at any salary.
Reggie Sanders may have cleared waivers. Who wants a 38 year-old right fielder with a .248/.304/.424 line? Don’t forget the $5MM he’s owed next year.
From Yankees announcer Jim Kaat: the Rangers may be talking to the Orioles about Mark Teixeira. Tex is from Maryland, for what it’s worth.
Plenty of buzz going around in various forms of media that the Red Sox may acquire reliever LaTroy Hawkins. We’ll know soon enough. The 33 year-old has, at least, kept the ball in the yard and exhibited good control with the Orioles this year.