Scotty Pods goes to Hollywood

I've been busy the last several days and just flew into Houston, so much has happened to blog about since I last touched base. But most notably was the Royals trading Scott Podsednik to the Dodgers for two minor leaguers. I'll be blunt in my thoughts about this trade: Absolutely can't go wrong in this deal. 

Considering what the Royals got Podsednik for in the offseason--One year, $1.6 million, and what he produced for them in 95 games .310/.353/.400 with 30 stolen bases, he was a great pick-up. And the fact that they were able to get a couple prospects at the deadline for him was gravy. 

The two prospects the Royals received are Lucas May and Elisaul Pimentel. May is a 25-year-old Triple-A catcher who played for team USA last summer. By all accounts he appears to be the more major-league ready of the two, but as Rany Jazayerli says, Pimentel is the bigger haul in this deal. 

Pimentel, 22, has struck out 97 batters in 90 innings this season before being traded. The scouting report on Pimentel is that he throws between 89-93 with an average changeup, with a below average breaking ball. Now to me that doesn't sound like much of a haul, but Pimentel's numbers at one point this season were exceptional (71 IP, 44 H, 27 BB, 75 K, 1 HR) some rough starts after that caused his numbers to balloon a bit, but there is definitely something to be desired in what he did through 71 innings. 

If nothing else the Royals got another catcher in the organization that could potentially be a back-up and young live arm in their minor league system--you can never have too many of those. But, more importantly, this deal was about getting something out of player that a lot of teams were not interested in before this offseason and was playing on a minor-league contract with the White Sox, if you can believe that. Yes, the Royals got exactly what they wanted out of Podsednik and I commend them for it. If only we could do this more often, or better yet if only we were in a division race in which Podsednik would've been a very valuable leadoff man in. 

With Scotty Pods gone roaming the outfield in Los Angeles, this clears up room for Alex Gordon to play left field every day for the club, and hopefully allows Mitch Maier to gain back some playing time. The next move for the Royals will hopefully be to move Jose Guillen if possible. (If not I would think he would clear waivers and be moved at the end of August) By any measure that should allow my man-crush, Kila Ka'aihue to be called up and play everyday as a DH/1B. 

If the Royals can finish the season looking like this: 

LF-Gordon

CF-Ankiel

RF-Maier

3B-Betemit

SS-Betancourt 

2B-Aviles

1B-Butler

C-Kendall  

DH-Kila 

Then I would be satisfied, you know besides the Ankiel, Betancourt, and Kendall part, but hey it's a start. Deadline is less than three hours away and the Royals might not be done yet.

Hawaiian Slugger

.312/.460/.581....Not bad right? These numbers belong to Kila Ka'aihue who is once again shredding through minor league pitching 88 games through the Omaha Royals season. And at 26, it begs the question, when in the hell will this guy get some freaking at bats with the Kansas City Royals?

Traditional thought is that the Royals are waiting to unload Jose Guillen before they will bring up Kila, but my question is, what if they don't? Does that leave the Hawaiian slugger in AAA for yet another season, while the big league club continues to look for run-producing answers? For an organization that has been notorious for calling up minor league talent too early, it appears that they are leaving some serious power down there too long. 


The sentiment, by most, is Dayton Moore is unfair toward talent in the system that was there before him. Kila falls under this category. Or another suggestion is that Moore is being reminded by the Glass family that Guillen is making $12 million a year and sure as hell isn't going to be splitting time as long as he's on the roster. The ladder is understandable, but still doesn't address why Kila isn't getting his swings in on the big league club. They are simply sources of reason and understanding for Royals' fans like me wondering why the man hasn't gotten a realistic shot to prove himself the last two seasons.

Attention the following is aimed at Alex Gordon: 
With all that has been said about Kila destroying minor league pitching and the possible reasons why he hasn't been called up. One fact that I can't ignore is that the Royals DID make a call up from Omaha. But it was Alex Gordon. The same Alex Gordon that began the year playing third base for the Royals but after 20 errors and a sub .200 batting average (OK I exaggerate, sadly, just a bit) he was sent down and told to go learn how to play the outfield, because third base wasn't doing it for him. (Which led Alex to ask the question, "How do you expect me to be the next George Brett, when I won't even be playing the same position as him.") All joking aside, Alex responded well by going .315/.442/.577 in 68 games. (Slightly worse than Kila)

What unnerves me a bit about Dayton deciding to call up Alex amidst the Dejesus injury is that he was quoted a few weeks earlier about Gordon saying something to the effect of, "He will remain in AAA the rest of the season. Alex needs to learn how to play the outfield." This soon turned into. "Unless one of our five outfielders goes down. Then he will be forced to step into the line up and start in right field at Yankee Stadium." My point is, Gordon was doing well in Omaha, but we've seen what he can do with a full season's worth at bats. Let him do what you said he was going to do, only a few weeks ago, and figure out how to play LEFT field and continue to gain some confidence at the plate. Meanwhile lets give Kila, who is hitting even better than Gordon in the minors, a chance to perform on an everyday basis in the big leagues.

You see, Ankiel was coming up no matter what, once he was healthy. So essentially all we did by moving Gordon up, was take away playing time, from Mitch Maier, who at least has some upside. It would have been just as easy, and more effective, to let Gordon finish the year in Omaha and go with a four man outfield rotation, while Kila switches on and off with Butler playing first base and DH'ing.

Dayton owes it to the organization and, more importantly, Kila, to see whether or not he can produce in the big leagues. If Kila struggles with significant at bats, then there is no harm done and Eric Hosmer will be your first baseman of the future. If he succeeds then you have a very good problem in figuring out what to do at first base with Butler, Kila, and Hosmer. From what I've heard, the Royals might be best suited to have Butler DH, Kila play first base, and Hosmer in the outfield. Not sure how that would end up defensively, but that has the potential for some serious pop in the middle of the order.

I hope Gordon succeeds just as much as any other Royal's fan, but I've seen this episode before and it doesn't end well. The likeliness of Gordon, 26 as well, finally figuring it out at the plate are slim. Kila, on the other hand, hasn't been given a fighting chance.    

  

Royals Trade Callaspo to Angels

I started off writing this post in order to talk about the Kauffman experience and how it will fare in the 2012 All-Star Game.  But news broke about 30 minutes before the Royals played the Yankees Thursday night that 3^rd baseman Alberto Callaspo had been traded to the Angels for RHP Sean O’Sullivan and minor-league LHP Will Smith.

My initial reaction to this trade was actually a bit of shock, because Callaspo was pretty much the only Royal to be rumored among trade speculation that I didn’t include in my previous post. Because, to be quite honest, I didn’t think the Royals would part ways with Callaspo until the offseason.

Last offseason he was viewed as an above average bat for a 2^nd baseman, but a very below average glove, which was the main reason the Royals were so interested in trading him.  This season Callaspo has moved to 3^rd base to replace Alex Gordon and while his offensive numbers have dropped off a little bit, his defense has been more than adequate and a pleasant surprise for the organization. However, Callaspo has always been undervalued by the rest of the league and I didn’t see much increase in Callaspo’s value from when they were shopping him this past February.

After coming to my senses and looking at the big picture I decided that: I LIKE THIS TRADE. Why? Because there is no real harm that can come from it. Callaspo is a solid player at 3^rd base and I personally will miss him, but you just added two young arms (21, 22 years old) one that is major league ready and another who has sniffed AAA this year. And the more important reason why I like this trade is that it shows me that the Royals truly believe that Mike Moustakas is the real deal and will be major league ready by next season. And why wouldn’t they based on his enormous strides in AA (.347/.413/.687) and his early numbers in Omaha have been encouraging as well.

Moustakas is really what the Callaspo trade is all about. Now lets hope Moustakas can hold up his end of the bargain and keep raking for the remainder of the season, so me and other Royals fans can breathe easy. 

The most fascinating thing about this trade to me is it shows a different approach in two very ideal situations. Remember in 2006 Royals when Mark Teahen was playing 3^rd base for the Royals and putting up great numbers (.290/.357/.517) with 18 HR and 69 RBIs? And at the same time, the young Alex Gordon was raking in the AA Wichita (.325/.427/.588) with 29 HR and 101 RBI's and playing a good glove as well at 3^rd base. The thought at the time was that Teahen was breaking out and too good to trade, even though interest was there and definitely at its peak by the end of the season. Sound familiar?

The Royals decided to hold on to Teahen, who had the reputation of being a solid athlete that could play all over the diamond. So they catered in the golden boy Gordon and moved Teahen out to left field, which ended up, as we all know, backfiring. Teahen never had another season like the one in 2006 and struggled to find himself in the outfield and meanwhile the stud prospect, Alex Gordon was batting below .250 and showing early signs of struggling with the glove at 3^rd base. The Royals had missed a golden opportunity to capitalize on Teahen’s surprising 2006 season with a few solid prospects.

Now I’m not going to sit here and try and analyze the two pitchers that the Royals got in the deal. I do know that O’Sullivan had a very solid outing against the Yankees on Saturday where he line was 6 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 4 Ks. Some more info on him comes from the Royals MLB.com blog:

The 22-year old O'Sullivan has made five appearances, including a start, for the Angels this season, compiling a 1-0 record and a 2.08 ERA (13.0 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 6 SO).  His start came Tuesday at Yankee Stadium where he earned a 10-2 win allowing two runs on two hits in six innings, walking three and striking out four.   The 6-foot-2, 230-pounder also made 15 starts for Triple-A Salt Lake this season, going 5-5 with a 4.76 ERA. 

O'Sullivan, the Angels' Organizational Pitcher of the Year in 2007, also made 12 appearances (10 starts) for the big league club in 2009, posting a 4-2 record and a 5.92 ERA as the Angels were 8-2 in his starts.  Selected by Los Angeles in the third round of the 2005 draft out of Grossmont Community College in El Cajon, Calif., he tossed the first no-hitter in Salt Lake Bees history on July 28 of last year.  O'Sullivan was a high school All-American in 2005 while starring at Valhalla High School (El Cajon, CA). 

It was rumored a few days earlier that the Angels had proposed this trade to the Royals without Smith and Dayton Moore declined. While I was interning at the 810 WHB’s the Border Patrol this morning, Nate Bukaty had his weekly segment with ESPN Baseball Analyst, Buster Olney and he asked Olney about this trade. Olney said something to the effect of, “Definitely a good move to decline that trade. I don’t think Callaspo is worth as much as the Royals do, but he is definitely worth more than Sean O’Sullivan.”

So here we are less than 10 hours after Olney’s comments with Sean O’Sullivan AND Will Smith. Now if Smith lives up to the actor Will Smith and New Orleans Saints’ defensive end Will Smith’s precedent, than I think we have a steal on our hands. However, I don’t think that the case. As Baseball Prospectus writer Kevin Goldstein tweeted after the trade in regards to Smith:

“He’s not very good. Strike thrower with far more control than command.”

So I think we can throw out thoughts of an Oscar or a Super Bowl Ring, but nonetheless he is a 21-year-old left-hander with an above 90 mph fastball, so there’s always a chance that sentiment by Goldstein and others could change over time. Anyway here are the numbers on Smith from the press release:

"Smith, 21, has pitched at three levels in the Angels' farm system this year.  He began the season at Class A Rancho Cucamonga where he posted a 2-2 record with a 4.58 ERA (37.1 IP, 19 ER) with 13 walks and 31 strikeouts in six starts.  Smith was transferred to Salt Lake on May 10, where he compiled a 2-4 record with a 5.60 ERA (53 IP, 33 ER) with 20 walks and 40 strikeouts in nine starts.  After being transferred to Double-A Arkansas on June 25, he has posted a 1-2 record with a 7.23 ERA (18.2 IP, 15 ER) with nine walks and eight strikeouts in four starts.  Overall in 2010, he owns a 5-8 record with a 5.83 ERA (109 IP, 67 ER).  A native of Newnan, Ga., Smith was selected by the Angels in the seventh round of the 2008 draft out of Gulf Coast Community College (FL).  He was a non-roster invitee to spring training this year."

Make from it what you will, but the Royals did get something of value out of Callaspo who looks to have a more worthy bat behind him in Moustakas for next season. (I’m still uncertain about Moose’s glove) And don’t forget, the Royals got Callaspo for a failing prospect in Billy Buckner, so anything that the Royals could get out of Callaspo was all gravy.

Hate to part ways with Alberto, but it was a trade that does make sense and anything you can get from O’Sullivan and Smith will be extra as long as Moustakas comes up and outperforms Callaspo. Which wasn’t the case in the Teahen/Gordon experiment.

I like the trade Dayton, keep them coming.  

Deadline Dealing..Sort of

After a brief stint which saw the Royals win 10 of 13 and bring themselves within 7.5 games of the division leading Detroit Tigers and giving fans false hope in a possible division race…the Royals appropriately dropped their next six at the hands of the new division leading White Sox and the Oakland A’s.

Now standing 11.5 back of the White Sox and 13 games under .500 it is reasonable to say that the Royals have become sellers as the July 31 trade deadline nears.

First off, I’d like to say that I was in the majority of Royals fans who knew that it was unreasonable to think that the Royals were in a division race before the six game losing streak, but unfortunately I was not. Its no knock on the Royals fan base to say that they (and me) have no idea what it’s like to be in a division race, although I get the feeling that it’s pretty exciting from my over-exuberant Cardinals friends. It’s not our fault that we are ignorant on this subject, because we haven’t really been in a division race for all 21 years of my existence. So we get excited whenever we look up at the standings as the All-Star break is nearing and see not only are we not in last place, but we’re within SINGLE digits of first place! But, to no fault of our poor little baseball hearts, we fail to recognize the difference from being 7.5 back and in SECOND and being 7.5 back and in FOURTH. You see, in second place you gain a game every time you win and the team in front of you loses, but when you’re in fourth place, the only way you truly gain a game is if you win and all three of the teams in front of you lose. And for that to happen roughly eight times over the course of 80 games is very unlikely, especially when you’re playing below .500 baseball to begin with.

But I digress, and refocus to the purpose of this post, which is to evaluate where the Royals are as a team now, and what they should be looking to do as the deadline approaches.

There have been numerous names that have popped up in trade rumors. Most recently it has been Joakim Soria to the Yankees. Let me go ahead and start out by saying that I think it would be the height of stupidity to even consider trading Soria. Closers aren’t easy to come by in baseball, especially closers that have established themselves as one the best in the league over the last three years. I could see the logic in trading Soria if it were five years from now and he was in his 30s and had wore out his welcome in the closer universe as a consistent and successful save man. But Soria is only 26-years-old and for the last three years that he’s seen action as the closer, he’s been one of the best in the business. That is simply a commodity that you don’t give up. And I am confident that Dayton Moore knows this as well. Next.

David Dejesus is the next Royal that has been inked in trade rumor. I’ve gone back and forth on the prospect of trading Dejesus to a contender and have decided that I think it would be in the Royals’ best interest to keep Dejesus. Some national baseball writers, including Buster Olney, think that Dejesus would only warrant B level prospects and probably just a couple. And I tend to agree with this logic, which is exactly why I wouldn’t trade Dejesus. He isn’t a stud that is going to give you a 30/30 season or go out and win you a batting title. He is, however, a very nice piece to have in your outfield, which is why he is a wanted man by contenders such as the Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies and Padres. Some Royals baseball analysts will tell you that Dejesus is what he is which is an everyday outfielder that is going to hit for a decent average and little power but is going to bring you above average defense --and his value isn’t going to get any higher than it is now so you should take a good deal if it’s offered. Which is exactly why the Royals should hang on to him, because his value to the Royals in the future is far greater than anything that he would be able to garner in a trade.

It may never come to pass, but it is my belief that Dejesus will be a real asset and an integral piece on a playoff team. So I think it is worth the risk for the Royals to see if they can be that team and if not it definitely outweighs the alternative of watching him be that piece for another club while the they wait on mid-level prospects from the deal to make it to the big leagues. Next.

Jose Guillen is the popular choice of Royals’ fans and I’m sure of the Royals organization to get rid of at the deadline. And I don’t think Dayton should be picky in his negotiations. Guillen is producing well for the Royals this year .278/.340/.459 with 15 home runs and 54 RBI, but lets not lose perspective. He is aging (34) and at this point in his career a liability in the outfield, although the Royals made a valiant effort to try and showcase his “skills” for several weeks in interleague play to boost National League teams’ interest, but the “class 1 strain” that he suffered didn’t help his stock.

So basically, you’ve got a 34-year-old that can’t play the field, but is a solid run producer with some pop. This just screams post-deadline with waivers being cleared and part of his remaining $12 million salary being picked up plus a little incentive for the Royals if Jose performs adequately with his new team. He could only be so kind as to do so. The real reason Dayton should be moving Jose, if not only to spare the fans with the injury plagued, under-producing loudmouth, is to allow Kila Ka’aihue, who’s hitting .310/.462/.595 in Omaha, to get up to the big league club and actually get some AB’s. And believe me, he will with Guillen gone, because a small market team like the Royals can’t sit their highest paid player in favor of a minor league talent, that is unfortunately why this move hasn’t happened already.

Kyle Farnsworth is the only other player that I think the Royals will consider moving and I think he is the most likely to get traded for prospects. What kind of prospects will he draw? I’m not qualified to tell you but I think that he would draw a little more than Guillen before he got hurt and a little less than Dejesus. If you can get a prospect that might someday be a backup catcher or a fourth outfielder than that alone would be worth the deal. But moving Farnsworth just makes since regardless. He’s not a part of the team’s future and his contract expires at the end of the season. I think if you would’ve told me that we could trade Farnsworth for a decent prospect at the beginning of the year when we signed him to the ridiculous $4 million deal then I would have taken it.

Beyond those four, the other names that have been mentioned are Brian Bannister and Scott Podsednik. I don’t see there being too much interest from either side of the Posdenik trade market. Now if the Royals are blown away with a team’s offer that suddenly has a need for a speedy fourth outfielder than they would probably deal Posednik. But in all likelihood that team is looking for Dejesus and Podsednik would be a last-stitch effort. And from the Royals point of view, Podsednik is only here another year and is a temporary fill-in in the left field until next year when, in all likelihood, Alex Gordon will be given his chance.

It is my belief that only one-half of the Brian Bannister and Kyle Davies duo will be around next year. Both have had their struggles and with the abundance of solid young arms in the minors right now, there simply won't be a need to keep both. If it were up to me I would keep Bannister over Davies, just due to the fact that I think Bannister will grind it out for you and has a place as a 5th starter on a good team. Which seems to be the consensus of the rest of the league who has shown some interest in Bannister and virtually none in Davies. But he is what he is as Royals blogger Rany Jazayerli says so profoundly.

Let’s face it: with his upper-80s fastball, there’s simply a limit to how good Bannister can be in the superior league. He’s the quintessential National League pitcher; against inferior hitters, without having to face the DH, and in a big ballpark – hello, NL West! – he could be a revelation. Plus, he’s an excellent hitter for a pitcher. At least, this is the pitch the Royals should be making.

If the offers are out there for Bannister then the Royals should listen. But I'm not sure I like the possibility of being left with Davies out of that duo. If the Royals can get value out of Bannister, however, then they should definitely take it.

I think there is real value in creating a winning environment with the big league club, which is part of the reason why I think you hold on to Dejesus and Soria. You want there to be some experienced success in the clubhouse when Hosmer, Moustakas, Montgomery and others get to the big leagues. Now don’t get me wrong. Trotting out Scott Podsednik, Jason Kendall, and Rick Ankiel does you absolutely no good and I would much rather see Kila and Mitch Maier take their lumps for maybe a couple less wins as a team. But keeping guys like David Dejesus and Soria sends a message to other guys like Billy Butler and Zach Greinke of “We’re building for the future still but we think that future is soon enough to hold on to a couple valuable veterans.”

The Royals aren’t in a division race or even in the playoff hunt, but there is still much significance left in the season and it starts with Dayton Moore and the trade deadline.