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The story broke late Thursday from Yahoo’s Tim Brown that the Royals signed Rick Ankiel to a one-year deal valued at $3.25 million.
Ankiel? Really?
My first thought, where does he fit given that Dayton has already splashed the cash on Brian Anderson and Scott Podsednik? Of course, this has always been Dayton’s off season M.O.: An accumulation of “talent” at one position with no rhyme or reason. This just fits everything he’s done in the past.
Then there’s always the possibility Dayton signed Ankiel to pitch. How sad is it that I say this as a joke, but wouldn’t be surprised if it somehow came up that Bob McClure thinks he can fix a flaw in his delievery.
My second thought: There has to be another move forthcoming. Podsednik didn’t come here to pinch run. David DeJesus is a fixture. Jose Guillen still harbors the illusion he can play the outfield. And don’t forget about Anderson. And Josh Fields who somehow figures into this mix. Oh, Alberto Callaspo is here if we’re talking about designated hitter types.
(Doesn’t that previous paragraph neatly summarize the last 20 years of Royals baseball? Plenty of players competing for spots creates the illusion there’s quality or the potential for a breakout. Look at those names again. Role players, fourth outfielders and an oft-injured malcontent. Only DeJesus is any kind of quality. More on him in a moment. Callaspo is too, but he’s on the periphery here since he’s not an outfielder and he would clearly be the number one choice to be the DH if the Royals are serious about using him there.)
At $3.25 million, that’s a lot of jack, so we can safely assume Ankiel plays every day.
Is Guillen on his way out? Greg Schaum tweeted that Guillen isn’t healthy. That runs counter to Dayton Moore’s statement last week that Guillen is in good shape. (Did anyone see Guillen at FanFest? Was he there?) The Royals could just decide to part ways and give him his unconditional release. At this point, that’s the only way to unload him.
Or maybe the Royals are close to trading DeJesus? At $4.6 million this year and a club option for $6 million in 2011, he’s extremely affordable given his production. The flip side is that makes him the Royals best trading chip (not named Greinke.) I realize he’s not a star, but I’m a huge DeJesus fan. He’s a steady, quality player. Besides, dealing DeJesus goes against Moore’s stated off season goal of improving the defense. If you’re looking to do that, do you trade your best defender?
Or maybe the Royals are close to shifting Callaspo. That would solve the defense issue and clear the way for newcomer Chris Getz. But Callaspo is still under club control for one more year. Remember Moore talking about all those 0-3 year guys the Royals need to be stockpiling?
So if the Royals are going to make a move to clear room for Ankiel, the release of Guillen makes the most sense. The Royals are in a better position than anyone to assess his health and fitness heading into the year. If he’s fat and out of shape (again) then it’s time to just let him go. Normally, I scoff at those who justify a deal by saying, "This has to be the first of a two-part move." But this time, I really believe that this has to be the case.
Now we have to ask the question, does Ankiel improve the Royals? I think he does. Not by much, but he does. The consensus projection for Ankiel seems to be .250/.310/.445 with 18 home runs and average defense. That beats the offensive production the Royals got out of center field or right field last year. And it's far better than they got out of their DH. Don't forget the tricky thing about comparing projections to past performance. But even though the Royals have added plenty of outfielders, to this point they haven't gotten anyone appreciably better than what they had last year. They finally found one in Ankiel.
I’d prefer Ankiel to Podsednik. I’d prefer Mitch Maier to Podsednik. That’s where my frustration comes from. Why the hell would you sign Podsednik if you are going to go after Ankiel. I understand they’re different players, but you’re throwing more logs into a logjam. Identify a player you like - a player you think will improve the team - and go for it. I don’t understand this method of stockpiling mediocrity. This does nothing to allay my fears that Moore can't assemble a 25 man roster.
(And of course this blows my theory I floated yesterday that the Royals were done. They were supposed to be between $66 and $67 million in total payroll. With this contract, they'll be close to $70 million.)
So in this group Ankiel is probably the second best outfielder to DeJesus. It’s not great. It’s not ideal. But it’s better than what we had yesterday.
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Comments
Gullien starts the year inactive.
Callaspo starts as DH. DM will trade him during the year if a 'great' opportunity comes available.
Royal stadium requires a good defensive club. The royals defense is vastly improved...
RF Pods better than gullien
CF Ankeil better than anyone we had played last year. Ankeil plays good defense and has a rifle arm
IF Dejesus plays good defense
2b Getz huge improvement over Callaspo
3b Gordon better than tee-hand
ss same
1b another year of experience
c kendell better than olivo
At this point, however, you have to wonder just how many outfielders Moore thinks a team can reasonably play at one time.
If we end up with a guy like Gardner out of all of this then it is positive. I agree that Guillen should probably just be released, although if he is injured that is to the Royals benefit, because then insurance pays for him instead of being part of the payroll.
I still think DeJesus and Callaspo will be moved. I only hope there is some kind of quality in return. There is never enough pitching.
Call me an optimist, but Greinke, Meche, Tejeda (the September form) Bannister and Davies could come together and really shut people down. Release Farnsworth. Get Cruz back to form. Out pitching could be fairly formiddable. Our offense is only going to score one run a game so they are going to have to be, but it's all we can hope for I guess.
The offense at this point seems to gel only if we have Gordon play to his potential. If Butler does his thing, and others play their roles, if Aviles is healthy, we really need Gordon to arrive in a big way. Hate to put everything on his shoulders, because he seems to not do well with that type of pressure, but for things to go well at all, and that means .500, we need Gordon to arrive.
If I was Guillen, I would be on my best behavior (and show up in shape) so the Royals will be forced to pay the entire remaining portion of the contract.
I was initially against this signing, however the more I think about it the more I like the idea of a Fields/Ankiel platoon. That would provide at least some pop in a lineup that is seriously lacking in that department.
knowing the Royals they convert him to pitcher
The signing of both Pods and Anderson, in addition to Ankiel, really doesn't make sense. We have too many OFs, and it's not like any of them are going to accept an invite to Omaha.
There were two main goals going into this offseason, according to Moore - get faster and improve the defense. Weeeeellll....Going from the corpses we had playing center last year and Guillen in right to Pods and Ankiel is a HUGE upgrade in both areas. And with Guillen mainly playing DH, we're free to deal Callaspo at some point. And that's before we talk about Getz and 2nd and Kendall at catcher - both upgrades.
Even after Pods, we needed another outfielder. Neither Fields or Anderson (nor Maier) should be an injury away from every day. And Guillen is likely going to start the season injured anyway.
This was a good signing, and it's consistent with what Moore has been preaching. Deal with it.
And, the Mets trading for Gary Matthews, Jr. may have eliminated our only trading partner for Guillen. I say cut him like the punk he is. It'll be an addition by subtraction.
I think if you take a step back and look at the roster, we've improved dramatically this offseason. Teahen (who was a great teammate and Royal, but way overrated as a player) was well worth Getz, who will provide an upgrade in the field and steal bases. Kendall is a defensive upgrade from Olivo and an offensive upgrade from Buck. As much as I'd like to cut Guillen, it's not going to happen. But the next best thing will - we've managed to get Guillen off the field, which is a huge upgrade defensively. Going from Maier to Pods upgrades every possible aspect of the position. I agree - I don't know why Fields and Anderson are here. But we've now got depth and we've improved defensively at CF, RF, 2B, C, and SS if Aviles is healthy. And going from Jacobs at DH to Ankiel or Guillen is a big upgrade at the plate.
The changes we've made will be worth 5+ slots in the team fielding rankings and it's very possible we double (or better) our steals from a year ago.
Once Spring Training weeds out an outfielder or two, we're going to end up with a very competitive 25. The only thing I'd really like to see is Callaspo dealt for a middle reliever.