Gimme a U! A Knee! An S! A Key!
Posted: July 11th, 2009 | Filed under: Baseball | 98 Comments »
So here’s the deal: I had absolutely no intention of writing about the Kansas City Royals this weekend. None. I’m pretty sure everyone who would care knows exactly where I stand on the Royals.
They’re in a death spiral. They are a baseball team with a few interesting pitchers — Greinke, Soria, Banny(!), Meche — and an every day lineup of players that, as a group, cannot hit, cannot hit with power, cannot run, cannot throw and cannot field. They have a five-tool lineup from hell — six tools if you consider plate discipline a tool, which I do — and I have no idea how they fix it in the short term. Well, they don’t fix it in the short term. They are handcuffed with bad contracts, non-tradeable commodities and young players who aren’t that young anymore. They have ended games lately with Ryan Freel in center and Tony Pena Jr. at shortstop. Talk about being strong up the middle. I thought it would be good to take a weekend off.
So, I got into my car on Friday afternoon and headed for St. Louis — as mentioned, I’m doing a book signing and talk at the Central Library today (Saturday) at 2 p.m. and then I’ll stay around for the All-Star Game and toasted ravioli. When I got into the car, the Royals were not at all on my mind. I was thinking about the new Wilco CD that my buddy Pop Warner sent me (he’s been trying for years to convert me to the wonders of Wilco — he continues to try, he’s like a Wilco Missionary), I was thinking about how I really want a basketball goal in my driveway, I was thinking about how I wish that the iPhone would have an App that would make the phone buzz when you get a new GMail.
I was thinking about all of that when my iPhone did buzz … someone texted me that the Royals traded two minor league pitchers for Seattle shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt.
And here were my two reactions: (1) Hey, I remember seeing Yuniesky Betancourt make the most amazing play a couple of years ago. He dove into the hole between short and third, stretched and backhanded, bounced off the ground like he was Ozzie, came out firing, threw the guy out, a sweet play, one that stays with you. (2) Well, at least that means Tony Pena will be gone.
That’s it. Two quick reactions. As it turns out, those two reactions speak to the two themes of the Yuniesky Betancourt trade — (1) The power of everlasting promise and (2) The absurdity of being a Royals observer — but I tried not to think any more about it. I had no Betancourt stats in front of me. I had not been paying any attention to Betancourt. And I was off duty. I would think about it all later. For the moment, I listened to my music, and then I turned on the Royals-Red Sox pregame show on XM Radio* and drove into St. Louis.
*OK, so is it possible that the Red Sox pregame show could have MORE commercials? I mean, yes, I do realize that the Red Sox are popular. But at one point the announcer was saying something like “Red Sox baseball is brought to you by Verizon, Home Depot, your local Chevy Dealers, AT&T, your New England Ford Dealerships, Taco Ball, Hertz, the good people at Bank of America, Gatorade – is it in you?, Dr. Herbert Schwartz, Bicycle playing cards, Lisa Massey’s baby-sitting services, Broyhill Furniture, Papa Gino’s Pizza, Bill Simmons …” I mean, he rattled off names and companies for something like AN HOUR. It sounded liked he was listing off the NASDAQ. It was awesome. Meanwhile, a Royals game on television plays the same four commercials over and over again — that girl trying to jump up to get the chips for that Keystone Lite commercials, the families having the most awesome vacations in Colorado, the people who are getting a great deal at Shawnee Mission Kia (just a short drive, Shawnee Mission Parkway and I-35!) and the Royals’ own promotion (“Forty years and where have wee been? Around the world, and we’re going again!”).
When I got to my hotel in St. Louis, I popped open the laptop and ran into a million-jillion-shmillion emails from brilliant readers asking me — begging me, PLEADING with me — to skewer the Royals on the Betancourt trade. And I have to admit … I just wasn’t all that motivated to do it. The Betancourt trade had not yet inspired any real emotion in me. This is where those two themes emerge.
Start with the “power of everlasting promise.” There are certain kinds of players who — at least among fellow players and scouts and executives and a certain kind of baseball fan — will spark the imagination for much longer than others. By that I mean, well,let’s look at the opposite — take my favorite guy around, Brian Bannister. Banny had a strong rookie season, but because he didn’t throw hard, because he didn’t have a killer pitch, because he openly admitted pitching lucky that year, because he’s a thinker, because he had just never been on the “Future Star Radar” … everybody remained skeptical about him. When he struggled in his second year, he was mostly written off. He started this season in the minor leagues. I remember going to a speaking engagement before the season began and having a guy virtually ACCOST me because I said that I believed Bannister would have a rebound season. When Banny had a bad start, that same guy emailed me to mock. Funny thing, of course, I have not heard from him now that Banny has a very solid 3.66 ERA and just pitched a gem at Fenway Park (and lost … because the Royals are the Royals).
But the point is that there are a lot of players like Banny, players who will not get the benefit of the doubt because what they do — even when they are successful — does not meet our expectations of success. And then there are others, players like Yuniesky Betancourt who — because he made a few flashy plays, because he has had a reasonably decent batting average, because he was Top 10 in triples one year, because a few scouts have long loved his potential — manages to live in a perpetual state of potential.
“He’s a very talented shortstop with a chance to make an impact with the glove and the bat,” Royals general manager Dayton Moore told the Star’s Bob Dutton.
“He’s pretty darn good. He’s fun to play with,” former teammate Gil Meche said.
“He could be the best defensive shortstop in the game hands down … and offensively he can swing it,” former teammate Willie Bloomquist said.
The point is not to mock these statements — hey, these guys know Yuniesky Betancourt and I don’t — no, the point is this idea of everlasting promise can be blinding. I’ll be perfectly honest: In the pleasant ignorance of my car, I didn’t think it was a tragic trade. In large part, this was because I only had this blurry vision of Betancourt … I had not seen his numbers and I just kind of assumed that Betancourt was still 24 or something, that he had put up decent numbers, he had a little speed, he was sloppy but electric on defense. That was the vision that I had in my mind. That was the impression baseball people had given me. I simply didn’t know any better.
Well, as it turns out — ha ha, funny story here — um, actually, NO. Betancourt is not 24 — he’s 27. He is not in the “shows promise” stage of his career — this is already his fourth season as a full-time player. And when I got to the hotel and actually looked up some numbers, well … I started with his defensive numbers.
Ultimate Zone Rating
2008: -12.6
2009: -8.3
Um, that’s not good, right? I mean, there’s a MINUS sign in front of those numbers. This would seem to indicate that Betancourt — at least by these numbers — is a LEGENDARILY BAD defensive shortstop. No, really, we’re talking legendary, like in three hundred years kids will be sitting around a campfire and singing songs about how bad a shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt was.
Well, that’s just UZR. I like John Dewan’s plus/minus numbers for defense so maybe those will be a bit better …
Dewan plus/minus
2007: -10
2008: -19
2009: -13
OK, well, that’s horrific. Betancourt last year ranked 35th among shortstops, this year he’s 33rd, and you might recall there are only 30 teams in baseball. Of course, maybe you like your defensive numbers plain — like fielding percentage. Betancourt was last in the American League last year, second-last this year. So he’s got that going for him.
Well, OK, breathe deep … how about Betancourt as a base-runner?
Base Running Numbers
2008: -20
2009: -11
Hmm. Horrendous base running numbers. Blood-curdling. Execrable. This guy is one of the worst baserunners in the game. I mean, I just haven’t really been paying any attention to Yuniesky Betancourt, he plays out in Seattle, the Mariners have struggled and …
Walk totals
2006: 17
2007: 15
2008: 17
2009: 10
No, that’s not true. That’s not true — the Royals did not really trade for a shortstop who has a CAREER HIGH of 17 walks in a season. Well, OK, I think we can stop with these numbers now, I think we are all getting a pretty clear picture …
Stolen bases and caught stealing
2006: 11 and 8
2007: 5 and 4
2008: 4 and 4
2009: 3 and 1
All right. Stop. Really, stop right now. I get it. Yuniesky Betancourt is not exactly a …
Walks vs. Grounded Into Double Plays from 2007-2009: 42 walks, 42 GIDPs.
Slugging percentages: 2007: .418; 2008: .392; 2009: .330.
Shortstop he best compares to at age 27: Neifi Perez.
OK, now my head hurts. The truth is, I had absolutely no idea just how bad a player Yuniesky Betancourt really was … and the biggest reason for this is that certain baseball people simply will not give up on him. There seems to be this very real belief that one day — one day soon — a light will turn on for him, and he will suddenly harness all of his talent, and he will hit with some authority, and he will make all the great plays defensively … and lost in this dreaming is that almost certain reality that Betancourt is slow, his bat’s slow, he has no power, he has lost any range he might have had, he’s sloppy, he blunders, he’s getting worse, he’s getting baseball old and the harsh truth is probably that there is no baseball talent to harness. Sigh.
The second part of the theme is the absurdity of following the Royals. A few years ago, the Royals traded Jermaine Dye for Yuniesky-comp Neifi Perez. Now, that trade was an absolute disaster — the worst in team history in my opinion — but there was this indisputable line of reasoning. The Royals felt like they did not have a shortstop ready to play in the big leagues. This is a powerful problem: When you play baseball, you must have a shortstop … otherwise teams will laugh at you. Yes, true, they will laugh at you if you have Neifi Perez at shortstop too, but they’ll laugh at you more if you don’t have a shortstop at all.
Now, years later, the Royals once again do not have a shortstop. I mean they don’t have a shortstop ANYWHERE in the system. They have not had a shortstop for five stinking years. In 2005 and 2006, they had Angel Berroa who may have been the worst everyday player in the American League. In 2007, they gave Tony Pena Jr. 536 plate appearances and he put up a 66 OPS+, which is both (a) lousy and (b) Herculean for Tony Pena Jr. In 2008, Pena was so preposterously bad that the Royals promoted a guy they did not consider a prospect — sort of the anti-Yuniesky Betancourt — Mike Aviles, and he hit .325 and was the Royals Player of the Year. In 2009, Aviles was hitting .183/.208/.250 and was so lost that no GPS could ever find him. Then it turned out he was hurt, he had Tommy John surgery, and his career is in jeopardy. And the Royals, again, have no shortstop, none, nowhere.
Well, again, you gotta have a shortstop. The Royals put Willie Bloomquist out there … he’s not a shortstop. They Royals put Tony Pena Jr. out there … he’s not a Major League player.* There’s no shortstop anywhere in the minors. Desperate times. As a Royals follower you could see the hopelessness of the situation. The Royals could ride out the year and try to regroup come the off-season. The Royals could trade for some temporary shortstop who could stem the bleeding until they figured things out. The Royals could trade for a shortstop who could be a stop-gap for the next two or three years so that at least they can focus on other troubles.
*But he might be a big league pitcher. Tony … please … try it.
The Royals, being the Royals, decided to do the last of these. They traded for Yuniesky, and it would be fair here to put the Royals view on the subject. He has been an every day shortstop in the big leagues. And he hit .289 in back to back years. He has made some great plays. I’m sure the Royals have some good scouting reports on him — they have had their eye on him for a while now. And some of his teammates were wowed by him.* Plus, they got some money back, so it’s not financially crippling.
*The Royals have now acquired four — count them FOUR — players off the 2005 Seattle Mariners. They’ve got Meche, Bloomquist, Miguel Olivo and Betancourt. It’s like they are trying to rebuild that 69-93 team brick-by-brick. Call Richie Sexson’s agent!
So, they traded a couple of pitching prospects — the big one, Dan Cortes (who suddenly is known as “Danny” — not sure when that started) is 22 and has good stuff but has command issues, both on and off the field. Barely a week ago, he was arrested for public intoxication and disorderly conduct. Apparently, he was caught urinating on a fence. Don’t know if that played any role in this deal … anyway, he may or may not make it.
But that’s not the big point … the big point is that the Royals are now stuck with Yuniesky Betancourt at shortstop. From my view here in a St. Louis hotel room, they are stuck hoping that he will mobilize talent he almost certainly doesn’t have. They are stuck believing that they really didn’t have a choice — they needed a shortstop. They are stuck one more time with another team’s problem … Seattle was so eager to get this guy off the books they offered to pay almost half of his remaining salary — not for this year but for the WHOLE CONTRACT. I guess that’s cheaper than releasing him.
And at the end of the day, I guess, it’s pretty simple to sum up: The Royals are team that cannot field, hit, hit with power, run or walk. They just traded for a player who cannot field, hit, hit with power, run or walk. I’m just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round — I really love to watch them roll.
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Well said sir.
In running across other sports fans on the Internet, the only other fan base as grimly resigned to their team’s inestimable ineptitude is made up of Detroit Lions fans.
Even Natinals fans have hope; Royals fans get a decent pitching staff with live arms and the 2002 Apopka Little League team in the order.
I think a good debate is: Which is the worse player that got traded yesterday, Betancourt or Francoeur? It’s probably worth noting that an Atlanta guy acquired Betancourt and the Atlanta organization got rid of Francoeur.
And the Neifi Perez line is a trident to the heart.
Too often, teams make a deal simply for the sake of making a deal.
Well said. I didn’t know that about Cortes’ “problems” – hopefully he gets himself straightened out and hopefully Betancourt is serviceable. Is that too naive to ask?
Yes, everlasting promise is overrated.
I don’t know why a team like the Royals wouldn’t trade for someone like Chin Lung Hu from the Dodgers. He’s regressed with the bat at AAA and might be an attrocious big league hitter, but he also might be one of the best defensive shortstops in the world.
No longer riding on the merry-go-round?
This is almost as bad as the Mets-Braves trade, which is only worse because the Mets gave up a league average player for one of the worst players in baseball.
I saw this news posted on an Orioles message board, and responded to it saying that since you hadn’t blogged about it yet (as of 8:00 p.m. or so), I was worrie dyou may have snapped.
I don’t think I was joking, and reading this I don’t think I was too far off, either.
Thanks, Joe. I’d been hoping against hope that his deal might be a good deal disguised as something fugly but you’ve just shattered my dream. Can you come over and tell my kids about Santa Claus?
Seiously, though, that Neifi Perez comparison really stings.
Thanks Joe, and Uber Thanks to Dayton for making this deal. I’m only happy because it means the Padres won’t trade for Yuniesky, as has been rumored for months.
Also, I did a blog post that takes ‘e-migo’ to a different level; http://foxyurl.com/obX
I thought Dan Cortese played Elaine’s boyfriend “pretty boy Tony” ….. he had the rock climbing accident on Seinfeld.
I wonder what Dayton Moore’s calendar looks like. Is there a little reminder that pops up every three weeks: “Rearrange deck chairs”?
Joe – here’s a stat for your non-enjoyment. Betancourt is actually *more* of a hacker than Tony Pena, Jr.
Betancourt averages 3.21 pitches per plate appearance (7083 pitches in 2206 career plate appearances)
Pena, Jr. averages 3.36 pitches per plate appearance (2906 pitches in 864 career plate appearances)
Joe,
Please skewer this in the Star. If the Royals are ever going to be good, they need to get rid of Dayton Moore and clean house. It’s plainly obvious to everyone now.
Joe – Great post. I would also love for you to come out opposed to this trade (and the string of terrible trades by an increasingly incompetent front office) in the Star. They need to feel a little pressure from the local media. Dayton Moore’s honeymoon is over and I think this might be the trade that broke the camel’s back. Fans that were excited when DM was hired are jumping off the bandwagon fast.
The really sad thing is that Bloomy has been a better SS this year, than Yuni.
The team who watched him play every day decided that acquiring a guy who urinates on fences and having Ronny Cedeno be the regular shortstop was preferable to keeping Betancourt. I think that about sums it up.
Ties in nicely with Rany’s recent bashing of the Moore administration’s complete disregard for statistical analysis, not to mention the irony of the timing:
http://www.ranyontheroyals.com/2009/07/moving-on.html
I am amazed that Dayton Moore only did the second-dumbest thing today.
http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/files/oracle/discussion/mets_acquired_francoeur/
Joe, you should do some investigating to see if there’s an out in the Royals’ lease with Kansas City, something like, “if the team has the worst OBP in the league, the lease is void.” Maybe David Glass is trying to move the team to Miami, and so is forcing Moore to go against his baseball instincts and sign a bunch of misfits to trigger the out-clause. But then the misfits will surprise everyone and come together during the season, and Miguel Olivo will reach on a miraculous bunt single on the last day, putting their OBP .001 points higher than the A’s. Take that, Glassy boy!
Well, I’ll say this. Your buddy Pop Warner is right about Wilco. They’re amazing.
Also, peeing on a fence when you’re 22 is not a sign that you have behavior issues. It’s a sign you’re 22.
I didn’t realize that a guy whose last name is Warner is still sometimes nicknamed “Pop”. You learn stuff from this blog.
I wouldn’t know how to fix the Royals either. But it’s long past time to start over.
Joe,
My Giants could go another 50 plus yrs without winning a World Series and things would still not be as bleak as they are in KC. I feel for Royals fans. The consistent incompetence demonstrated by their team is staggering. It is Pirate-esque. The good people of KC deserve better. I will keep them in my thoughts and prayers.
There is a big difference between Neifi Perez and Betancourt. Take Perez out of Colorado and he was pathetically worse than any season Betancourt has had. Betancourt is not going to come here and be awesome or the light turn on. Most logical fans can tell you this but at the same time, he can hit .275(albeit with a .300 OBP) and he can hit 40-50 xtra base hits. Great? No but a lot better than any Royals shortstop has done in a long, long time(outside one fluky year by Aviles) More importantly, now the Royals can concentrate on finding a shortstop in the draft or somewhere else to develop the next 2+ years and not have to worry about a guy at short hitting .150.
I recently had the tv on ESPN as background noise while on the computer. I heard a familiar name from the tv that caught my attention and looked up to see Angel Berroa come to the plate for the Yankees. I couldn’t believe he was still around, numbers still not that great. I had to watch his at-bat to see if he still had the habit of swinging at obvious balls in the dirt. Three pitches into the at-bat and he strikes out swinging at a terrible pitch in the dirt.
When will teams realize that players with such terrible fundamentals or tendencies are not worth the risk of playing them regularly or semi-regularly in hopes that said player will finally do the basics correctly and be a consistent contributor to success? In Berroa’s case I’m sure it has much to do with the ROY award, the once in a while flashy play, and occasional good day at the plate. But, like Betancourt, we’re not talking about a player who is young anymore.
Of course, the Royals situation is something of an outlier in that everyone they have is terrible and so on. But is there really a point in taking a guy who is so lacking in the intangibles pertinent to producing runs and defending the other team from producing their own? Isn’t this the point of the game, the point of every game?!?! You need to score more than the other team; therefore, efforts should be made to acquire players who have shown consistency in displaying these necessary skills to produce and defend runs. When will this basic concept come to fruition within this organization?
Sorry to rant about the same old stuff, but I think I’m about the only Royals fan in the Los Angeles area and haven’t had anyone to vent to in ages.
Interesting read about Betancourt.
In my opinion, you were pretty unfair to Betancourt. The players we traded for him are worth nothing in our system.
We need a short stop.
He has had 3 full years in thw MLB in the past. (150+ Games 500+ At Bats)
He hit .279, .289, and .289.
Those may not be Derek Jeter numbers, but they can sure as hell help the Royals now. Even at his .250 currently, thats higher than our entire bench and half of our every day lineup. We need somebody.
Whatever the case is, I did love your comments about Brian Bannister, easily my favorite player in the Royals, and in Baseball overall.
Kevin W., his batting average would be relevant… if this was 1937. Check out his OBP, which is infinitely more important. He’s an abomination of a baseball player in every way.
jopo–thanks for mentioning the sox pre-game ads. however,NESN and WEEI/WRKO are even worse during the games. on both tv and radio,esp in innings 1-7,there are drop-in ads(sometimes 2!!) between every out. ergo,i watch the games with the sound off and listen to the radio with my finger poised on the on/off button.my only other defense is that i will absolutely not patronize any of the advertisers whose names i see or hear.
[...] It long but worth the read. I'd say Reds fans can relate with him a lot more than he thinks. Link Walt, call the Royals right now. If Freel is the best they can do in CF have we got a deal for [...]
So now the 3 full time players signed/traded for by the Royals since their declaration that they need to focus more on OBP:
Mike Jacobs
Coco Crisp
Yuniesky Betancourt
The most amazing fact is, that compared to Mike Jacobs and Yuniesky Betancourt, Coco Crisp IS an on base machine.
Makes me wish, for your sake, that there were no Royals players in the All-Star Game. Out of sight, out of mind, right?
And I also have a guy who’s been trying to convince me for YEARS that Wilco is the second coming of the Beatles (except American, so even better). The problem is that he’s tone-deaf, but thinks he’s one open mic session away from stardom for himself. Credibility issue.
[...] This post was Twitted by rreinard [...]
As you can see, all of Seattle is in mourning over the loss of Yuni:
http://www.lookoutlanding.com/2009/7/10/944919/yuni-traded#comments
Defensively, Yuni has all the range of a Wet Cardboard Box.
Offensively, Wet Cardboard Box doesn’t chase as many pitches out of the strike zone and hits into far fewer DPs.
WCB is also better on the bases, but only by a little – so there’s that.
It’s shocking that the Royals couldn’t find a wet cardboard box to plug in at SS, but, hey, Yuni is close, so enjoy!
(Wilco is the best, but begin at the beginning and get ‘AM’ and ‘Being There’ – the progression to their later stuff is tremendous.)
It’s clear by now that Dayton Moore’s best-compares-to is Branch Rickey; no, not the Dodgers Branch Rickey, and no, not the Cardinals Branch Rickey before that–same guy, but the 1951-1955 Pirates Branch Rickey.
We all sympathize with you. I particularly liked the Walks vs. GIDP stat.
Poor Zack Grienke.
Mike
Also, peeing on a fence when you’re 22 is not a sign that you have behavior issues. It’s a sign you’re 22.
Absolutely.
That poor soul (almost certainly not Edwin Jackson @ #7) really thought he/she had a solid point.
I’m too weary from years spent frequenting baseball blogs to mount an appropriately condescending retort.
For the love of all that is holy–on this very thread, I just witnessed someone cite batting average as evidence of a hitter’s offensive prowess. I’m pretty sure he was serious, too.
Nice Lennon reference, Joe. Here’s another that’s appropriate for Royals fans:
HELP!
Joe -
What does David Glass have to pay to get Bill James in KC? Seriously, ask him. We’ll start up a donations web site.
At Tim #27:
40-50 Extra Base hits? Yeah right.
He’s been in the 40s the last three years, but this year has just 15 in 245 PAs.
I think the Royals are trying to acquire as many Bavasi-era Mariners as they possibly can and I hear Jose Vidro’s available.
Before reading this I thought to myself, please do not let Neifi Perez come up as – compared to. Sure enough, here we have it.
Good job Poz. I get a very good kick at this:
“It’s like they are trying to rebuild that 69-93 team brick-by-brick. Call Richie Sexson’s agent!”
The Mets just picked up Angel Berroa. Omar is trying to remake his team as Royals East.
you the man JP. the Royals’ aversion to OBP continues to vex me – their braintrust make Kenny Williams look like Billy Beane – and i’m not even a fan, so i can only imagine how you must feel. keep your head up, and i’ll pour out a little liquor.
In the Keystone Light commercial, when the guy tips over the shelf trying to get the girl her chips, why doesn’t he just stand up and hand her a bag instead of laying there all embarrassed? Just act like you meant to do it so the chips would be easier to reach. Come on.
Joe, here’s a theory for which I have absolutely no proof and that fact alone makes me more sure my theory is right.
So here’s the theory.
Now that we are more or less in a post-juiceitron period of baseball, aren’t we seeing the distinction more clearly than ever before between good players and the players who used to have impossible-to-understand good stats? Like Barroa and the Royals Newly-Adopted-Shortstop-From-Hell?
We all know that some great players used the juice to enhance their careers, but isn’t it just as likely that average players — or ones so bad they should never have been in the majors — were juicing even more intently just to keep their hands on a paycheck?
I make no specific accusation. But anyone who has access to the total statistic picture can see plenty of players whose physiscal skills seem to have evaporated almost overnight. We are left to wonder wassup.
I would hate to pitch for the Royals with Bert and Yuni up the middle.
I was hoping we got at least a mediocre shortstop with this trade who could hit a little. I figured I’d come here to get the scoop. It’s depressing. Moore talks like he cares about OPS, but with this trade he even acknowledged Betancourt’s OPS is lousy. I WANT to believe in Moore, but ……
I can’t imagine what it’s like to be involved in a losing baseball organization. It’s not like football where, at worst, you would lose once every 7 days. The Detroit Lions just had the worst NFL season and they only lost 16 times. In baseball you lose every day and that losing must really wear on people, especially a guy like Dayton who came from an organization that routinely won (at least in the regular season). I can understand his desperation to sign guys like Guillen and Jacobs. But this is the root of the Royals problem and has been for well over a decade — the organization has no patience.
They lost the game because Jon Lester is a machine. How do you think those facing Grienke feel?
In the Keystone Light commercial, physics is defied because if the shelf is going to fall at all it is going to fall backwards on top of the guy. A serious force would be necessary to cause the fall the other way which is not present. And I agree with above. If it does fall just play it off. Don’t just sit there.
Which brings to mind the quote “Are you going to just sit there and bleed.”
The Royals need a shortstop. Unfortunately it looks like they got the late model of TPJ.
I would think for what we gave up Christian Guzman could have been had.
If the Royales feel like they needed a familiar major league name at SS, I’m sure the Red Sox would’ve handed them Julio Lugo and paid most of his contract for this year and next. At least Lugo gets on base once in a while, and when healthy isn’t as poor defensively as Betancourt. A Lugo type for free would be the short term placeholder.
So with a stopgap in place, then they could use Mimbo Cortese and the Other Saito along with a couple other guys to acquire a shortstop of the future. There has to be a solid AAA shortstop available who is blocked by a big league player. Since KC seems to have no use for Kila, put him in the trade and they could pick up someone young with a bright future.
Trading for Betancourt is just indefensible.
Rev is right (in part). The Royals are not patient. They feel the need to ‘reach’ for a player because the owner (worst owner in professional sports) will not allow his GM’s to go after just 1 player that might be a game changer regardless the price. By price I don’t mean the Royals’ real currency which are prospects. No I mean money. Glass’s money. So Moore goes after Jacobs, Farnsworth, AND NOW Betancourt and ignores their shortcomings which happen to be HUGE. There’s always a reasonable excuse (Jacobs – power, Farny – setup/fastball, Betancourt – need a shortstop). But in the end they represent a divergence from the plan (pitching/rebuild farm system). In the end though, it doesn’t matter. Allard did the same things. After Moore gets fired, the next GM will be forced to do the same things. As long as Glass owns this team, the organization is DOOMED. Someone please convince Mark Cuban to by the Royals. As a second option. Since the City owns the Stadium, perhaps KC can buy the name & all the past achievements (like Cleveland did with the Browns) and tell MLB to have Glass move this organization to another city stupid enough to take them under the condition we get a new team & owner. We keep the name & our history. Glass can take his sideshow on the road. Win – win.
No, David Glass isn’t the worst owner in professional sports — that would be Donald Sterling of the Clippers. Glass might be the worst in the non-Clipper division, but even there I think he’d have to fall in behind Al Davis, at the very least.
pretty sure you have to have bill bidwell in there.
The Mariner’s traded Betancourt despite having no middle infield depth in the organization, and are playing a shortstop who’s OPS was lower then Ichiro’s batting average through June. Kinda says something there.
Mariners fan here.
I really have nothing against the Royals. Really. But I cannot believe we got pitching prospects and only had to pay $3mil to get rid of Bettencourt.
He started with so much promise with us a few years ago, but the last 2 years looked sometimes like he just wasn’t in the game at all. His fielding has fallen as his waistline grew, and fans hold their breath every time he threw to first, wondering if he would make it.
And his hacking at the plate would make Paul Bunyan jealous. He now swings at anything! Our Manager, Don Wakumatsu tried to get across disapline, but it was painful to watch.
Sorry, guys. You’ve been taken. At least it wasn’t a front line guy, although the top 2008 Royals pitching prospect is a nice haul for the M’s.
Maybe this is a new promotion the Royals are trying out. Everyone loves T-Shirt Tuesday, so why not Terrible Trade Thursday?
Fine. Betancourt inhales deeply. There were better trade options out there.
At the end of the day though, isn’t he better than Pena? I mean really, opposing team announcers are openly mocking Pena (and indirectly the Royals) during game broadcasts.
At this point it’s sort of “Yea, the team got a little bettter. Yea, for small victories.”
Excellent read! Got a few laughs out of me.
What makes it even worse is that Moore tried to trade Billy Butler for him a few years ago. This guy won’t be happy til KC scores just 1 run a game. Now this clears the way for Trey to bench Callaspo for Bloomquist twice a week. So that will make a bad offense even worse.
Could it be that Moore just liked the name “Yunieski Betancourt”?
It IS a cool name, and no other logic supports this trade. Are there other MLB players with exotic or interesting names who might rouse the interest of the “Royales with Cheese”?
How ’bout Seth Smith. Seriously, Colorado, if you don’t want his near 50% OnBase Avg, then send him to the hinterlands of baseball where he’ll play everyday.*
*Except when the right honorable Trey Hillman elects to play the future amputee, Jose Guillen, in the field.
If the Royals knew how to draft, we wouldn’t have this problem! The best college player in the 2008 draft was Georgia shortstop Gordon Beckham, yet we always seem to feel the need to draft a high school kid instead. Beckham already is contributing with the White Sox and our No. 1 picks from the high school ranks are still miles away from the majors. I really have lost all confidence in Dayton Moore, Trey Hillman, our draft people and “third-base coach” Dave Owen, among others. And this trade is every bit as bad as Dye for Perez, Cone for Hearn, Saberhagen for McReynolds et al and Piniella for McDaniel. HELP!
I feel compelled to comment, cuz joe is awesome for one, and because i needed to share the amazement i felt upon noticing that tony pena jr has a OBP of 140 this season…this is absolutely batshit insane…. i have no ability to further describe it
To add to an already hackneyed meme:
Does the Pena family possess incriminating photographs of a high-ranking member of the baseball aristocracy?
Find another explanation for TJ’s ability to stay on a MLB roster. He’s not even within a whiff, of a whisper, of a chance, of being deserving of AB’s in MLB games.
Joe, I can only say that I’m sorry. As a Braves fan, I’m perfectly happy with yesterday’s activity. I liked Francoeur when he was hitting home runs every day, but he’s just been excruciating to watch. At least we get a major-leaguer.
As for Tony Pena, do you think the Royals could use the DH spot for him, and let their pitchers hit? They can’t be worse, right?
Does anyone else get the feeling the Royals are playing a joke on us? Not a fan, but from the outside looking in it seems they are actively attempting to do anything to fail. Is this gonna be one big joke? Is this gonna be Howie Mendel’s third show next year on NBC?
>>Now, years later, the Royals once again do not have a shortstop. I mean they don’t have a shortstop ANYWHERE in the system.>>
Jeff Bianchi is hitting .361 at AA
Don’t let that get in the way of a good whine, though
why pena is still on the roster
http://thesedatedapepics.wordpress.com/2009/04/26/how-trey-hillman-decides-who-to-bring-in-from-the-bullpen/
>>Now, years later, the Royals once again do not have a shortstop. I mean they don’t have a shortstop ANYWHERE in the system.>>
Jeff Bianchi is hitting .361 at AA
Don’t let that get in the way of a good whine, though
You actually believe the front office believes this is true when they just traded for three years of betancourt?
is it true, that we have NO ONE with shortstop experience at any level who is capable of putting up tonypena numbers…how hard can it be, playing every day, to get 1 hit per week, 1 rbi per month, and 1 error per game? i am over 60, and i think i could pull that one off…this is a sad sad commentary on the shortstop skills of our countries, nay, the whole worlds youth.
>>Jeff Bianchi is hitting .361 at AA
Don’t let that get in the way of a good whine, though
You actually believe the front office believes this is true when they just traded for three years of betancourt?>>
I do think they see him as the shortstop of the future, but he’s a year or maybe two away. Betancourt is the lesser of the evils that could bridge that gap at the moment
Also – When you sign someone like Betancourt to a three year deal it doesn’t necessarily mean that he’s the everyday starting shortstop for the next three years. Or ever for that matter. Since the Royals are so injury prone, he probably will get a lot of at bats. But when Alex gets back it gives you more options about what to do with the rest middle infield.
Hell, maybe Teahen will be back in the mix
Bianchi’s hitting .361– in all of 72 at-bats in AA. He moved up after putting up a 787 OPS in A ball. Not bad, but that’s still A ball.
Last year, he played second base in A ball, and had a .290 OBP.
At this point, he’s not someone you bank on as a shortstop of the future, and he’s not someone that stops you from trying to find a good young shortstop.
Will he even be able to handle SS defensively at the major league level? If so, why did he play second base last season?
I am betting in the minds of the Royals FO staff, this is merely a stopgap to get us through the season. The tell will be what they do with Aviles. If they feel strongly that Aviles’ performance problems were related to his injury and expect him to return to his rookie season form, then maybe they felt that Betancourt was the best option readily available to patch the hole for the rest of the season.
On the other hand, if they have written Aviles off then I can’t fathom why they would make a deal like this.
JoeP,
You’re a great writer and I agree with 95 % of your observations. But on YB, I think you, Rany, and several other folks at Royals Review need to step away from the computer for a few days. Of course you can’t do that; it’s your job to supply immediate reaction and analysis. But I agree with comment #29, and am not surprised that GMDM traded for a shortstop with salvage potential in light of our organizational deficit at the position. Yes, YB is expensive, wore out his welcome in Seattle, and his recent numbers aren’t great shakes. But at his worst he’s still better than TPJr. And we won’t have Aviles for sure next year. We needed someone with salvage-ability.
- Tim
Not that they are 100% right about everything, but Baseball Prospectus doesn’t rank Bianchi in the Royals top 14 prospects. Cortes, for all the talk about him not playing to his potential, was ranked third.
Anyone watch the game last night? I think that Olivo getting forced out at the plate on a single to right has to make the Royals’ “highlight reel”.
What kind of imbecile goes back to tag on a short liner to right (with the bases loaded)? If it’s caught, there’s no way he’d tag and be able to score. I wonder if Owens was telling him to tag up?
The Royals suck, but at least they manage to come up with new ways to humor the fans.
Poster #65 gave me chills. Callaspo is the new German. Poor defending, light hitting 2b who can get on base a little (German relied a lot more on the walk). A valuable commodity that the Royals will clearly not recognize the value of, taking PT away and moving him around the diamond to embarrass himself.
The Royals just traded for arguably the worst defensive SS in baseball, a player who has no base running skills, a player who has no plate discipline, and is declining in his performance. They took on salary to do this and they gave up pitching prospects. There’s no way to sugar coat this as a reasonable deal – if the bar for a reasonable deal for a major league organization is ‘hey, he’s better than Tony Pena’, then that in itself is a condemnation on just how bad the state of affairs have become. For long-time Royals fans, this is yet another deal in a long torturous series in which the Royals, in an attempt to improve the major league product, demonstrate their ineptitude and inability to understand 21st century baseball analysis. Jose Guillen, Mike Jacobs, Betancourt, and that’s just in the past couple of years. I used to watch the Royals fairly regularly at the beginning of the year on my mlb package, so that I could see the young players and particularly to watch Greinke. Watching Greinke pitch now is a bit maddening because of the horrendous run and defensive support he receives, but at least they make up for this with terrible base running and a complete inability to execute baseball situation fundamentals. A few outings of this sort (it would be interesting to see what Greinke’s record and ERA would be if you put him on any decent organization) and the realization that the Royals aren’t going to be getting any better and that in fact, we’ll likely make more irrational transactions, bypass or misjudge the best talent available in the draft (imagine for a moment had we taken Lincecum #1 instead of Hochevar – it’d be nice if we pulled something like this off just once – ok, the Soria rule 5 pick was a great pick but relief pitchers don’t turn perennial losers into champions and organizations that truly are able to change their fortunes do this repeatedly – see the Tampa Rays), our best players will leave us or get traded and the cycle continues…well, after letting that sink in for a few minutes I had to cancel my mlb package. Following the team with any level of committment is just all too futile and such a waste of time…I’ll rely on this blog and Rany to give me all of the Royals fix I need…at least with them I get some sense of reward for my efforts
My biggest fear is that I will get cancer and never see a KC Royals winning season. This is a nightmare turned into a bad horror flick. We are all F^&%ed.
Joe
I CAN’T believe you never sent me a thank you note!!! Or visit the office to inspire some of the young wannabees. Next time you’re in NYC, or I’ll get Bush on you.
Barry
Huh, and I always thought Nick Punto (and Gardy’s man love for him) was the most irrational SS situation in baseball. (yes, now that Casilla is back up, Gardy will be having Punto – the man that slides into first at every opportunity, and hits .200 with no power, share time with Brendan Harris, who while no Jeter, can actually hit the baseball).
It would really suck to be a Royals fan right now I think.
OK, I know that the pain of being a Royals fan must be pretty bad, that you guys have been so laughable for so long that I can’t really comprehend it….
….but at least you didn’t trade Ryan Church for Jeff Francouer. Just sayin’….
Might I recommend, Joe, switching your iPhone to the T-Mobile G1 (aka, the “Google phone”)? It ties everything into your Google/Gmail/G-etc account, and gives you lots of great apps (the app store isn’t up to par with the iPhone’s – no MLB@Bat or anything – but it’s still plenty great). Plus, it has a slide-out keyboard. Just a thought.
I see that Andres Blanco has resurfaced as a backup second baseman with the Cubs. On the Chicago roster his weight is listed as 35 pounds heavier than the Royals had him down for when he was the replacement SS brought up to replace Berroa. The extra poundage will doubtless have added to his power and I bet he’s available. I was hoping they would go after him and reconvert him to SS. It’s his native position and at least he was fun to watch. When he was up with KC, their erstwhile GM felt it necessary to report to the KC STAR that Berroa was the real SS lest fans should get attached to Blanco.
Hey Joe,
This might the gmail app you’re looking for:
http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2009/07/set-up-push-gmail-on-your-iphone/
A very good column that points out that Dayton Moore is a horrible GM and is never going to make the Royals a contending team.
In the minor leagues today are dozens of shortstops who could not win a spot in the majors. Some of them can field but cannot hit enough. Some of them can hit but not field enough. Some of them could outperform everybody on the Royals but are stuck behind somebody good in the majors and will be valued too highly as an injury or free agency replacement. But those other guys, who can’t hit or can’t field well enough, could be had.
The guy who suggested Chin-Lung Hu had the right idea. In brief major league action, he has a SS fielding percentage of .994 and above average range. Sure, his batting has regressed some, but maybe that’s partly because he has nothing left to prove in the minors, and partly because putting a rookie at shortstop in a pennant race in the second biggest city in baseball can cause loads of pressure. But he’s 25, meaning that he probably won’t be considered a top rank prospect by the Dodgers. Now I’m not saying he’s *the* solution, although he’s a better gamble than Yuni. But he’s young enough to maybe get better, he’s had lots of minor league seasons batting .300 or so so maybe this year is the aberration instead of last year, he’s a reasonably good base stealer (86/33 career minors), and he’s a damned good fielder. And there are probably at least half a dozen such players in the minors, some with less promise (because they’re older), some with more.
The thing is, I look at the Royals and I see a team with some obvious strengths, most notably starting pitching and closer. And I’m thinking, “If that pitching had really good defense behind them, they might save enough runs so that even behind that offense they could win some games.” I mean, Koufax and Drysdale and a gold glove shortstop who really couldn’t hit (great speed, though) and a gold glove caliber center fielder (nobody was taking that GG from Mays, though) won two World Series titles, played in a third, and were in a playoff for a fourth, in a five year period. There *is* a synergy between great pitching and great defense, especially in short playoff series. I’m not comparing Greinke to Koufax, but you could compare him to Drysdale, easy. Just as hitting is contagious, so are slumps, so beefing up the defense could cause some teams handcuffed by Greinke + good defense to remain handcuffed by the rest of the decent rotation. So if the Royals really are just giving up (and this last trade seems to indicate that; they’re paying a couple of contracts they don’t believe in to get a shortstop who won’t help but provides the illusion of help and might sell some tickets and save some jobs) they might as well give up constructively, give the team a defensive identity.
I’ve said it on Royals Corner and I’ll say it here, Yuni has warts. However, he’s got 4 years of ML experience (regressing or not) that still makes him a better bet than anybody in the minors… You know his problems, I’ll take that experience and the known issues over the unknown. I think DM did the best he could do given the lay of the land.
Several people have brought up other SS the could be had, but don’t realize get that many of these guys contractually have some control over their trade directions and KC is not seen as a great career move.
Yuni with all his warts, is still going to give you some hope of competing… and not looking silly with no SS as JP put it or a wet cardboard box as one M’s fan put it.
Bianchi is at least two years away and Aviles is a minimum a year and maybe never on the time line. Much as I like Willie, he’s got more value as the UT guy.
So sit back wonder how you accelerate the minor league progress as that’s the only practical way out of this paper bag unless the ownership has another $40-50M/year to invest in player payroll (if you can interest the FA’s to begin with).
I am so glad that we got rid of that bum!! We have Mike Hargrove and our EX-general manager to thank for that mess. I coach little league and have told my kids never, ever play like him. He had no hussle, no base running skills his defense was terrible and his hitting was worse.
I am sorry for the Royals, sounds like they need to get rid of their GM.
[...] by UtesFan89 From Dejan. –> With Seattle’s trade of Yuniesky Betancourt yesterday (a great take on the trade from the Royals side), they could now be in need of both a SS and a 2nd baseman. And the M’s [...]
[...] The worst player in the game, Yuniesky Betancourt, is up, as the Royals have batted around. Betancourt pops out to Pedroia to finally end the inning. KC has scored as many runs in the first inning as they scored in all of July. 5-0 Royals after 1. [...]
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