Comments on: Callaspo Traded

By: Craig Burger

Craig Burger — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 16:43:19 +0000

Will Smith was born in 1989. He had an excellent year at Low A last year. Thn Angels should have had him the entire year at Hi-A instead of bouncing him around all year. I like Smith better than O’Sullivan. O’Sullivan is also young and was highly regarded at one time. Give him a shot and who knows. Maybe he will eventually be used in middle relief.

By: Greg

Greg — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 20:36:16 +0000

I don’t think Aviles is in the long range plans but I think he should be.

By: kcrb

kcrb — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 20:19:26 +0000

do any of you really think avilles is in the long range plans for this team……i’m not so sure…but i would like to see him at short some and getz in the game at 2nd

By: Clark Fosler

Clark Fosler — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 19:12:22 +0000

It’s worth noting that Aviles is four for his last nine with a double & triple. The game prior to the last two, he went 0-4 with one of those being a line drive that was smoked and a second at-bat that had he pulled a ball down the line about six inches foul. Also noteworthy that in 61 July plate appearances, Mike has struck out just 4 times and walked 3 times (not that that is a great walk total, but any time your walks and strikeouts are close it’s a good thing).
If you want to shuffle Aviles around between second, short and third, I’m all for it – just keep him in the lineup.

By: Greg

Greg — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 18:58:19 +0000

Even if Aviles is in a slump he’s a better hitter than Bloomquist in a good stretch

By: % (in the UK)

% (in the UK) — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 17:33:15 +0000

Greg-Nothing wrong with Wee Willie getting more time,at least untill Aviles starts hitting more consistently,like Craig says Betemit is just riding a hot streak at the moment!

Again last night…

Bloomquist the only Royals player keeping up the high intensity throughout the nine innings!!

By: Greg

Greg — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:45:26 +0000

It SHOULD allow them a long look at Getz, but I doubt it will. Betemit/Yuni/Aviles/Butler is our most likely lineup from 3B across. Can we please see Betemit/Aviles/Getz/Kila?

Bloomquist will probably see time at 3B/SS as well if either of those two sit–again leaving Getz on the bench.

By: Jason

Jason — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 14:18:40 +0000

Callaspo was a great deal for KC when Moore acquired him from AZ for Buckner. That said he was never a long-term solution nor was he the right fit at the right time. Fast forward to today and Moore essentially flipped Buckner for 2 better pitchers. Not a bad days work. More importantly this should allow the Royals a long look at Getz. A player who still has a future with KC.

By: Ted

Ted — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 14:14:10 +0000

The more I read about Smith, the more I like this trade. He really was a pretty decent prospect (a guy that should be an MLB contributor) until this season. He started out in the Pioneer League two years ago after being drafted and dominated. Last year he represented well in the Midwest League as a teenager. This year he’s been all of the place–geographically speaking–and that has to have hurt his stats. He started 9 games at AAA as a 20 year-old, which is saying something in itself. He had a 5.60 ERA in those games, but that isn’t entirely horrible for the PCL, a hitter’s league. This really should be his Hi-A year, and he posted a 4.58 ERA in the California League. You put him in the Carolina League (which is where he’s going) and that probably drops a run or more.

It looks like his real problem this year is that his walk rate has gone from 0.7 to 1.9 last year and up to 3.5 this year. But I imagine the Angels’ handling of him has something to do with that–and the fact that all three leagues he’s played in are notorious hitter’s leagues.

We may have sold low on Callaspo (although he never seemed to have much trade value) but I think we bought low on Smith too.

By: Clark Fosler

Clark Fosler — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 13:57:25 +0000

I’m not totally down on O’Sullivan (although I liked Trevor Bell much more) – he’s Brian Bannister only four years younger, so there’s hope. At worst, he is a gap filler better than Lerew and probably Davies while we wait for the AA crew of pitchers to mature.
Smith is a decent prospect and got jerked around this year, I think mainly because the Angels’ were juggling pitchers all over the place. He’s more than a ‘fringe prospect’, although as Rany pointed out this morning on 810, he is probably no better than the sixth best lefty in the Royals’ system right now. That may, however, be an indication of how many good young arms we have as an indictment of Smith.