Reitsma's Next on Moore's List

The Royals are now considering strengthening their bullpen by signing Chris Reitsma. He’s coming off elbow surgery, but is expected to be ready in time for Spring Training. Reitsma was awful in Atlanta last year—going 1-2 in 27 appearances with an 8.68 ERA. But presumably, his elbow was at least partly to blame. His career ERA is 4.58 (a little high for my taste, but far better than what we’ve seen out of our pen in recent years) and he has saved 37 games in his career. Obviously, he wouldn’t be closing games for the Royals unless Octavio Dotel goes down.

Jeff Suppan’s agent said that Suppy won’t be making a decision about where he’ll sign until after Barry Zito gets a contract—which means he’s hoping to get top dollar. That is not good news as far as I’m concerned. If he ends up demanding a lot more than Meche got, I can’t see the Royals signing him.