Jul/095
Give The Trade a Chance
Posted by: Casey on July 13, 2009.
Look at it from this point of view. We gave up two minor league pitchers, neither of which are proven at the Major League level, for a shortstop that instantly upgrades us at that position. The M’s are paying for most of Betancourt’s remaining deal. He has “limitless potential”. A change in scenery is almost always the turning point for players like this. Who knows if either of the two arms we gave up will be any good. You can’t say that this trade was terrible until you see what happens to the players you gave up. If Yuni hits .250 for 3 years in Kansas City, and Cortes isn’t pitching effective, consistent innings at the big league level, then we win the trade. Even if Cortes ends up pitching 10 years as a middle-reliever, being a consistent performer, I still like this trade. It’s a gamble. Cortes could be the next Jimmy Gobble. Being the pitcher of the year in the Royals farm system isn’t quite a guarantee that the player will be successful in the majors. I think Yuni will be a good player for us, and I know he’ll be an upgrade from TPJ/Hernandez/Bloomquist.
’nuff said.
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11:49 am on July 13th, 2009
I don’t think he is better than Bloomquist offensively or defensively. Most have issue with the trade because this turning out to be Moore’s M.O. Low obp guys who are below average defensively.
4:53 pm on July 13th, 2009
Bloomquist is having a career-year. Betancourt is a career .279 hitter, plus has some pretty good gap-power. Bloomy isn't a natural SS, although defensively I think they're probably pretty close.
5:57 pm on July 13th, 2009
And so giving up your top pitching prospect for an average to below average SS is a good thing ?
It isn't all of Yuni's salary and at 27 the potential train is running out of steam. It's a proven fact to score runs you've got to get on base and a tiny OBP isn't going to help us out.
8:54 pm on July 13th, 2009
I have a hard time considering Cortes our top pitching prospect. He's destined to be a middle-reliever. Those are a dime a dozen, and the likelihood of us keeping him on the major league team for more than a couple years is bogus. You could make a case that he's worth more right now than he probably would be down the road. The odds of him being a solid major league pitcher are less than 50%, in my opinion. This is just my opinion, I haven't seen the kid pitch in person, I never scouted him, it's just off of what I've read.
I don't read the official Royals scouting reports and stuff either. I stick to non-biased information. Calling him our #1 minor league prospect is/was absurd, just my opinion.
I'm giving this trade a chance until Yuni proves me wrong. He's got a clean slate in KC. I'm not going to boo him from day one. If he hits between .240-.280, for the next few years, I'm not going to be unhappy. At the same time, I'm assuming he'll work as hard as he's suppose to, as a professional, because like I said, I'm giving him a clean slate. Hopefully Jose can light a fire under him (and hopefully himself) and we can have a good second-half of baseball.
And you never know, maybe he'll blossom into the kind of player many thought he was going to be.