Howell Traded for Gathright

First, the Royals waived former first round pick Kyle Snyder, and now, a few days later, J. P. Howell (a guy who was a sandwich pick between the first and second rounds in 2004) is on his way to Tampa Bay. The Royals traded Howell for outfielder Joey Gathright and infielder Fernando Cortez.

Howell was horrible at the major league level for the Royals in 2005, going 3-5 with a 6.19 ERA. But this seems a little soon to be giving up on the guy. He was 3-2 with a 4.75 ERA in eight starts in Omaha. For a team that desperately needs pitching, it seems a bit odd to trade such a high draft pick for two unproductive players.

Gathright is a career .245 hitter with absolutely no power. He's never hit a home run at the major league level and his career slugging percentage is .291. He does have a little speed—he has 12 stolen bases in 55 games with the Rays this season, but he was hitting .201.

Cortez doesn't look much better. Last year in Triple-A he hit .227. He can hit Double-A pitching (as evidenced by his .345 average in Double-A last season), but he's 24 years old. If he can't hit Triple-A pitching by now, when will he be able to? And what about major league pitching?

This trade is a bit of a head-scratcher from my perspective.