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 2nd 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 3rd 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 3rd 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 3rd 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 3rd 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 3rd 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.
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