Royals Trade for Yuniesky Betancourt

The Royals just traded minor league pitchers Danny Cortes and Derrick Saito to Seattle for shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt.

We certainly needed to do something about the shortstop position but Betancourt is having a poor season offensively. In fact, he was on the verge of being benched. He’s hitting .250 with 2 HR and 22 RBI. His OBP is a pitiful .278. His career OBP is just .302. If fact, if you look at his walk totals throughout his career, they could be mistaken for Angel Berroa’s walk totals. His best season was 17.

Unfortunately, he is also tied for last in fielding percentage (.967) of all qualifying American League shortstops. This post points to a book that reportedly says Betancourt is the fourth worst defensive shortstop in baseball. Sounds like he knows how to turn a double play though. He’s turned 341 of them since 2006 which ranks him second in MLB.

On the plus side, he doesn’t get hurt often. He’s played at least 153 games the past three seasons. Ironically, he’s currently on the 15-day DL with a strained left hamstring and he’s just beginning a rehab assignment. He’ll join NW Arkansas to continue his assignment.

I wonder if this trade will be the defining move in Dayton Moore's career as the Royals' GM. Is this when the masses turn on him?

An Offensive Explosion

Game Date: July 9, 2009
Kansas City @ Boston
Royals 8, Red Sox 6 / Box Score
WP: Hochevar (5-3), LP: Masterson (3-3), SV: Soria (14)
KC Home Runs: DeJesus (7)
Royals Record: 37-48 / Record in July 4-5

Who saw that one coming? Especially after the Red Sox put a three spot on the board in the first inning. But Hochevar battled and found a way to keep the Royals in the game. Not a great performance from him, but it was good to see him slow the attack.

Offensively, every starter for the Royals had at least one hit except for Mike Jacobs. Mark Teahen and Willie Bloomquist had three hits. And what’s with all of the stolen bases? Bloomquist stole his 16th, Teahen stole his fourth, and Miguel Olivo stole his third. David DeJesus even went deep. It’s about time the offense pulled its weight. Let’s not read too much into this offensive explosion though. We all know how quickly it can fade away.

On a somewhat related note, I found Gil Meche’s comments interesting regarding the possibility of waiving his no-trade clause. He said he wants to be in Kansas City and then he said, “If everybody is healthy, this is a different team. Why would I want to leave what could be a good situation? I came here to win. So to leave when we have guys hurt would be a waste. That doesn’t make sense to me.”

Surely losing Alex Gordon, Coco Crisp, and Mike Aviles have left huge holes in the lineup. If all three had remained healthy, we probably wouldn’t have seen Luis Hernandez or Tug Hulett in Kansas City. Mitch Maier wouldn't have seen nearly as much playing time. And you wonder if Alberto Callaspo would been able to hang on to his spot since Teahen would probably be the everyday second baseman and Willie Bloomquist would be a utility man.

But every team has injuries. I’m just glad to hear Meche say he wants to be in Kansas City. I don’t really understand why, other than the reason he stated—he came to Kansas City to win.

Tomorrow, Brian Bannister (6-6, 3.87) will go up against Jon Lester (7-8, 4.16). Bannister is 0-3 in his career against the Red Sox with an 8.22 ERA in 15.1 IP. Lester is 2-1 against the Royals with a 1.64 ERA in 22.0 IP.

A Lack of Offense, Again

Game Date: July 8, 2009
Kansas City @ Detroit
Tigers 3, Royals 1 / Box Score
WP: French (1-0), LP: Greinke (10-5), SV: Rodney (19)
KC Home Runs: Callaspo (6)
Royals Record: 36-48 / Record in July 3-5

I continue to be baffled by Kansas City outfielders who refuse to throw to second base when the situation warrants it. David DeJesus did it again last night in the first inning when he threw the ball to the middle of the infield, allowing Placido Polanco to take second. Polanco came around to score.

DeJesus has done this more than once this season. So has Coco Crisp. So has Jose Guillen. So, what gives? It can’t be pinned on poor minor league instruction since Crisp and Guillen didn’t come up through our system. And we know that guys like Frank White, George Brett, and Willie Wilson have been part of the instruction, at least during Spring Training, for a while now—so surely guys are hearing fundamentals preached. If that’s true, then what’s the problem? Why does a team like the Twins always play the game the right way while we don’t?

Maybe the answer can be found in an organization’s toleration of obstinate players. Can you see a outfielder in the Twins’ organization making the same mistake over and over again without paying the price with his job? I can’t. Can you see a .220 hitter for the Twins taking a huge rip at the ball on every swing while keeping his spot on the roster? Me either. So why does Dayton Moore and Trey Hillman tolerate such things?

I’m not saying that heads should role every time a mistake is made. But when a player shows a consistent pattern of not being willing to play the game the right way, you’ve eventually got to cut him lose and find somebody who will. When Dayton Moore became the GM of the Royals he said that he wanted to change the atmosphere. There would be no better way than to start targeting obstinate players for replacement.

Ultimately, DeJesus’ mistake didn’t cost the Royals the game because they only managed to score one run, but having an anemic offense is all the more reason we need players to throw the ball to the correct base.

Enough about that.

Zack Greinke settled down after the first inning and pitched pretty well. Just not well enough. I remain relatively unconcerned about his recent outings. His ERA is still barely over 2.00. And even if you are look at his seven starts in June and July, his ERA during those starts is 3.97. The one statistic that is alarming is BAA. In April it was 1.88, in May it was .229, in June it was .290, and now in July it is .320. His career BAA is .269.

The Royals begin a new series tonight in Boston. Luke Hochevar (4-3, 5.08) will go up against Brad Penny (6-3, 4.67). Hochevar is 0-2 in his career against the Red Sox with a 6.94 ERA in 11.2 IP. Penny is 0-1 against the Royals with a 3.86 ERA in 7.0 IP.

If you get a chance, check out the article I wrote about the Omaha Royals’ loss in New Orleans last night during which Scott Thorman hit his 17th home run of the season.

Too Many Walks, Too Many Home Runs

Game Date: July 7, 2009
Kansas City @ Detroit
Tigers 8, Royals 5 / Box Score
WP: Verlander (9-4), LP: Chen (0-3), SV: Rodney (18)
KC Home Runs: Butler (8)
Royals Record: 36-47 / Record in July 3-4

Bruce Chen didn’t help his chances of staying in the starting rotation with this performance: seven earned runs on four hits and five walks. He also gave up three home runs. Is Chen another one of those guys on the list of Royals’ starters who can put up solid numbers in Omaha but then can’t do it at the big league level? I guess we’ll see, but his 6.88 ERA can’t be acceptable for too long.

The top of the order for the Royals continues to hit well. The combination of David DeJesus, Willie Bloomquist, and Billy Butler went 6-for-14 with 4 RBI and a walk. Unfortunately, the middle of the order didn’t do much. Mark Teahen, Jose Guillen, and Mike Jacobs were just 2-for-10 with one RBI. Guillen got both hits and produced the RBI. He removed himself from the game with an injury, but I haven’t heard his status. Have you?

Newly acquired Ryan Freel got the start in center and went 1-for-3 with a run scored. I echo the sentiments of many regarding the Freel trade—it doesn’t make a lot of sense if everybody else stays in place—but it was fun to watch him get out and run the bases yesterday. He can fly. And you have to like his .355 career OBP. But he has no power, he doesn’t drive in runs, and he’s 33 years old. He also hasn’t played more than 75 games in one season since 2006 with Cincinnati. Throw in the issues he’s had off the field and the bad seems to outweigh the good. But now that he’s here, I’m hoping he can get on base and make things happen.

Tonight, Zack Greinke (10-4, 2.00) will go up against Luke French (0-0, 2.35). Greinke is 10-4 against the Tigers in his career with a 2.69 ERA in 97.0 IP. French has never faced the Royals.

Last night in Oklahoma City, Brandon Duckworth was hit hard before being ejected. Check out the article I wrote about it.

Ponson Throws Eight Shutout Innings in Omaha

I wrote an article for Examiner.com about Omaha's 2-0 win in Oklahoma City last night behind the strong pitching effort of Sidney Ponson. Here's a link if you are interested: Sidney Ponson hurls eight shutout innings in Omaha win.

Jacobs Blast Lifts Royals

Game Date: July 6, 2009 
Kansas City @ Detroit
Royals 4, Tigers 3 / Box Score
WP: Colon (1-0), LP: Rodney (0-2), SV: Soria (13)
KC Home Runs: Bloomquist (2), Jacobs (11)
Royals Record: 36-46 / Record in July 3-3

So, are the Royals teasing us or what? A three game winning streak is almost enough to create some hope. Remember how we felt when the Royals won four in a row last month . . . at least until they followed it up with a five game losing streak?

Too bad Gil Meche didn’t get the win. He wasn’t great tonight, but decent enough to keep the Royals in the game. And isn’t this like the third day in a row that the bullpen has been solid? Joakim Soria seems to be back to normal—he picked up his third save in the last three days.

In the ninth inning, a friend who is a Tigers fan started sending me text messages which included his predictions that the Tigers would come back and win. I wasn’t confident about the Royals holding on to the lead, but I played the part and it turned out okay.

Tomorrow night, Bruce Chen (0-2, 4.38) goes up against Justin Verlander (8-4, 3.54). Chen is 0-1 in his career against the Tigers with a 5.00 ERA in 18.0 IP. Verlander is 8-1 against the Royals with a 2.21 ERA in 77.1 IP.

Royals Even the Series

Game Date: July 5, 2009
Chicago @ Kansas City
Royals 6, White Sox 3 / Box Score
WP: Bannister (6-6), LP: Richard (3-2), SV: Soria (12)
KC Home Runs: Olivo (13)
Royals Record: 35-46 / Record in July 2-3

What is this offense that you speak of? The Royals had 14 hits—eight of which came from the top three hitters. The bottom of the order wasn’t bad either. Brayan Pena and Alberto Callaspo were a combined 3-for-7 with 2 RBI and a walk.

Brian Bannister is quietly putting together a solid season and he picked up another win today. At 6-6 with a 3.87 ERA he fits into the rotation nicely. Joakim Soria is starting to look like his old self again. And the bullpen in general hasn’t been bad the last couple of days.

You just never know which version of this team is going to show up from one day to the next. But at least they found a way to even the series with the White Sox. They’ll begin a new series in Detroit tomorrow night.

Gil Meche (4-8, 4.20) will go up against  Armando Galarrago (5-7, 5.34). Meche is 8-5 in his career against the Tigers with a 3.79 ERA in 114.0 IP. Galarraga is 2-0 against the Royals with a 1.80 ERA in 20.0 IP.

Royals Trade Rumors

Buster Olney made the following observation on his blog today about a possible trade between Atlanta and Kansas City:

The Braves and the Royals match like puzzle pieces in a possible [Yunel] Escobar deal. The Royals want and need a shortstop. The Braves could use someone like Mark Teahen, who could give Atlanta great flexibility. Teahen, a solid veteran hitter, could play third in place of Jones, or start in left field or right field, or first base, or even second base. If the Braves required the Royals to take on some money, then Francoeur could be added to the trade; Dayton Moore, the Kansas City GM, has known Francoeur for years and coveted him, and he could use the last months of this season to evaluate him. The Braves could use another middle reliever; the Royals have Juan Cruz and Ron Mahay, pieces that Atlanta knows well. Moore knows the Braves' farm system. A lot of elements in place here.

Remember the last time Dayton Moore made a trade with Atlanta for a shortstop? Looking at Escobar’s numbers, it’s not really fair to compare him to TPJ though. In 296 games in Atlanta, he’s hit 22 HR with 130 RBI. His career OBP is .369. And at 26, he seems to be on the verge of establishing himself as a solid shortstop for years to come. In my opinion, Mark Teahen would be too much to give up for him though. A package deal might make more sense.

What are you thoughts?

Hochevar Picks up the Win

Game Date: July 4, 2009
Chicago @ Kansas City
Royals 6, White Sox 4 / Box Score
WP: Hochevar (4-3), LP: Floyd (6-6), SV: Soria (11)
KC Home Runs: B. Pena (2)
Royals Record: 34-46 / Record in July 1-3

Luke Hochevar was far from stellar this afternoon. In fact, usually when one of our starting pitcher gives up four earned runs it’s as good as a loss, but not today. We got a nice mix of timely hitting, situational hitting, a good effort from our bullpen, and even a long ball. It’s hard to get excited about one game, but let’s hope there’s a little carry over for the game tomorrow.

Tomorrow afternoon, Brian Bannister (5-6, 3.93) will go up against Clayton Richard (3-1, 4.48). Bannister is 2-4 in his career against the White Sox with an 8.15 ERA in 49.2 IP. Richard is 1-1 against the Royals with a 4.15 ERA in 17.1 IP.

It’s the Same Game Over and Over

Game Date: July 3, 2009
Chicago @ Kansas City
White Sox 5, Royals 0 / Box Score
WP: Danks (7-6), LP: Greinke (10-4), SV: Linebrink (2)
KC Home Runs: None
Royals Record: 33-46 / Record in July 0-3

I didn’t see a single pitch of this game. I was at Rosenblatt Stadium all day and part of the night. But when I looked at the score, I figured it was pretty much more of the same: no offense, a costly defensive blunder or two, and decent starting pitching. I looked up the numbers and what do you know . . . six hits, no runs, an error that led to two runs, and a quality start from Zack Greinke.

It’s the same game over and over again.

So, should Dayton Moore and/or Trey Hillman be fired? I don’t know. We’ve had so many injuries and a couple of guys are having bad years. But someone should be accountable for this atrocious defense.

Obviously, when you’re putting a team together during the offseason, you cannot completely ignore defense.

Again, I know that we’ve had some injuries, but at one time Alberto Callaspo was considered a viable option at second base. He’s one of the worst fielding second basemen I’ve ever seen. He might even be the absolute worst I’ve ever seen. What in the world did the Royals see in Callaspo that made them believe he could might be an everyday second baseman one day?

Billy Butler is better than he was last season, but I still don’t think he’s good enough in the field to warrant playing the field. But we can’t play Mike Jacobs there, so we’re kind of stuck with Butler.

And that brings us to Jose Guillen. His knees just won’t allow him to be a decent defensive player.

So, the entire right side of the field is sub-par and opponents continue to expose it as such. That’s just not acceptable.

And what about the offense? Someone should be accountable for this atrocious offense. They are one run from sharing the honors of scoring the fewest runs in the AL with Seattle. And they are dead last in the AL in OBP.

Thankfully, the starting rotation remains fairly solid. Imagine how bad this team would be without starting pitching.

Tomorrow afternoon, Luke Hochevar (3-3, 4.96) will go up against Gavin Floyd (6-5, 4.12). Hochevar is 0-2 in his career against the White Sox with a 4.50 ERA in 22.0 IP. Floyd is 1-4 against the Royals with a 4.35 ERA in 39.1 IP.

Alex Gordon makes a stop in Omaha

Alex Gordon was available to the media this afternoon at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha. I wrote an article for Examiner.com about what he said regarding his hip injury and how he's feeling ten weeks removed from his surgery on April 17. Here's a link. At the end of the article, I included video footage of Gordon taking BP indoors (it was raining in Omaha at the time).

John Buck, Alex Gordon in Omaha

A couple of notes about the Omaha Royals:

John Buck continued to look good in his rehab stint in Omaha. He hit a home run last night and he was behind the plate making throws to second and looking good as new. I snapped this photo of him resting between innings next to Brandon Duckworth (the starter last night):

Alex Gordon mania is running wild in Omaha today. He’s scheduled to play one game here before moving on to NW Arkansas on his rehab assignment. I’m planning to be at Rosenblatt this afternoon to cover it. In fact, in the future, most of the writing I do about the Omaha Royals will be on the Examiner.com website. I'm the new Omaha Royals Examiner for the site. My first article, about Rosenblatt Stadium, is posted up there now.

Buehrle Outduels Chen

Game Date: July 2, 2009
Chicago @ Kansas City
White Sox 4, Royals 1 / Box Score
WP: Buehrle (8-2), LP: Chen (0-2), SV: Jenks (19)
KC Home Runs: None
Royals Record: 33-45 / Record in July 0-2

I hate to see Mark Buehrle’s name on the probable starter list against Kansas City. He’s made a living against the Royals, winning his 20th game against us last night. He works fast naturally and that just makes our offense look even more inept at fast forward speed. Very few Royals stepped out against him and he had them reaching at pitcher’s pitches all night.

Bruce Chen wasn’t bad; he just wasn’t good enough. But I liked what I saw. I don’t know if he has enough speed variance between his fastball (which topped out around 89 mph) and his change up (somewhere between 76-80), but the White Sox took a lot of poor looking swings against his change, so it must have been enough.

I didn’t really understand the two base running errors by Willie Bloomquist and Mark Teahen—normally two good base runners. After the game Hillman said, “You gotta be able to check and pick up the ball when you're in motion like that.” So, why didn’t they?

The top of the order (the first four guys) was just 2-for-15 and that pretty much tells the story. As a team, the Royals didn’t draw a single walk. But Mark Buehrle is good. We know that. We’ve heard that. And we’ll continue to hear that every time he faces us.

It was funny to see Buehrle throw the ball back to the dugout after getting Mark Teahen out late in the game. Teahen is 22-for-50 against Buehrle and he had two more two hits last night. So getting him out must have felt like a milestone moment for Buehrle—enough so that he made a little fun of himself. I like that.

Tonight, Zack Greinke (10-3, 1.95) goes up against John Danks (6-6, 4.08). Greinke is 5-8 in his career against the White Sox with a 4.20 ERA in 111.1 IP. Danks is 1-0 against the Royals with a 3.25 ERA in 36.0 IP.

Twins Take the Series

Game Date: July 1, 2009
Minnesota @ Kansas City
Twins 5, Royals 1 / Box Score
WP: Perkins (4-4), LP: Meche (4-8), SV: Nathan (21)
KC Home Runs: None
Royals Record: 33-44 / Record in July 0-1

The good news was, Gil Meche’s velocity was back where it should be. The bad news was, he lost anyway, despite pitching relatively well. His pitch count (121) was too high for six innings and he walked too many guys (5), but he only gave up two earned runs.

At the plate, the Royals had 12 hits and managed to score only one run. That’s hard to do. And what’s even more bizarre is, Billy Butler was 4-for-4 in the three hole and he didn’t drive in a single run even though the two guys ahead of him had three hits between them.

Unfortunately, we found out before the game that Mike Aviles is going to have Tommy John surgery next week and he’ll be gone for the rest of the season. With the injuries and losses piling up, this could be a long summer.

Tonight, Bruce Chen (0-1, 5.68) will go up against Mark Buehrle. Chen is 0-1 in his career against the White Sox with a 5.66 ERA in 20.2 IP. Buehrle is 1908 against the Royals with a 3.48 ERA in 258.1 IP.

Another Tough Loss

Game Date: June 30, 2009
Minnesota @ Kansas City
Twins 2, Royals 1 / Box Score
WP: Baker (6-6), LP: Bannister (5-6), SV: Nathan (20)
KC Home Runs: None
Royals Record: 33-43 / Record in June 10-16

If official scorekeeper really wanted to tag somebody with this loss, he wouldn’t have given it to Brian Bannister.

He would have given it to Billy Butler. His errant throw toward second base in the sixth inning on what should have been a double play but instead the ball ended up in the outfield which led to the winning run for the Twins. Or he would have given it to the Royals offense which never could get a timely hit or even productive outs. Or he would have given it to Dayton Moore or Trey Hillman—whoever made the decision to carry 96 weak hitting infielders on our roster so we could pinch hit them for each other.

After the game, Hillman had this to say about Bannister getting the loss: “It adds a little insult to it, no doubt,” Hillman said. “You can’t not produce in the two major areas that we didn’t—and that’s defensively and offensively—getting the big hit and making routine plays.”

In other news, Alex Gordon is set to make a rehab appearance for the Omaha Royals on Friday night. He’ll be the DH. I plan to be there to snap some photos on the field and hopefully get in on the interview process. He’s never played for the Omaha Royals and it looks like it might be a one time thing since Omaha goes on the road on Saturday. Gordon will go to NW Arkansas after the game in Omaha.

And in totally unrelated news, has anybody seen the numbers that Jeremy Affeldt is putting up this season? He has pitched 18 straight innings without allowing a run; he also has 16 holds and a 1.48 ERA. And we thought we made a great deal when we sent Affeldt and Denny Bautista to Colorado for Ryan Shealy and Scott Dohmann. 

Back to the current series. This afternoon, Gil Meche (4-7, 4.27) will go up against Glen Perkins (3-4, 4.70). Meche is 8-5 in his career against the Twins with a 4.62 ERA in 103.1 IP. Perkins is 0-0 against the Royals with a 4.40 ERA in 14.1 IP.