The Kansas City Royals began preparations in earnest last week toward their goal of another 90 loss season in 2010. On November 6th, the team acquired youngsters 2B Chris Getz and 3B Josh Fields in a trade for Moneyballer 3B/OF Mark Teahen. Yesterday, the Royals sign six-year veteran 3B Wilson Betemit. These players are expected to play key roles for the Royals as they fight their way to the bottom of the Central Division standings.
Interestingly, all three players come from division rival Chicago White Sox who seem to be interested only in players who can help them win.
Team officials say they are hopeful that recent acquisitions will build on last year’s failures. With the contract of Jose Guillen coming to an end in 2010, experts are speculating that Fields will assume his role as the team’s oft-injured under-producing power hitter.
Betemit, who has been listed at SS by ESPN and both 1B and 3B by MLB.com in the last 24 hours, will give depth at a key position for the Royals: a weak hitting infielder with no real position. With a fielding percentage of .940 at the position he has the most experience (3B), it’s concerning that he could be a defensive upgrade over starting 3B Alex Gordon (.920). Thankfully, Betemit’s .940 would be next to last in the league in 2009 among qualified players at third.
Getz may be the one hiccup in the process. After a respectable rookie season some are concerned that he will continue to perform well. The Royals hope that Getz will get with the program and leave most of his potential unfulfilled. However, should Getz prove to be more than a .250 hitter with a bad glove, the club won’t be afraid to trade Getz for less promising talent.
And the team doesn’t seem ready to stop bringing in mediocre talent. In addition to trading Teahan, the Royals declined to exercise a $3,000,000 option on the team’s 2009 home run leader Miguel Olivo. The catcher’s power surge in last season clearly didn’t fit in with the direction of the team.
There are still a number of issues to address such as how to get low trade value for the teams remaining quality players, Zack Greinke, Billy Butler, and Joakim Soria. But as past trades for Jermaine Dye, Carlos Beltran, and Johnny Damon have shown, the Royals have the ability to get the job done.
