I have been extremely irritated over the last couple of days while reading numerous posts on various sites raking Dayton Moore over the coals for his not trading Melky Cabrera or Jeff Francoeur. Dayton Moore provides plenty of fodder for which we can voice our frustration and disappointment (I will address this later) but this should not be one of those things.
We do not have any idea how hard Dayton Moore tried to trade any of his chips. From I couple of things I read, Moore seemed frustrated with the process over this past week. I have read that another GM for a small market team didn’t feel like there was any true negotiating for his players. Basically, teams called him about his players and made offers without any give or take. If this is true, it is not hard to believe Moore was put in the same position with his tradable players. I have read that the Royals may have valued their players too much, especially based on their past and not their present.
This may all be true. The Royals did not have a prime player to trade, other than maybe Joakim Soria. What did we truly expect from what Kansas City was offering? Did it matter if we received another Sean O’Sullivan or Vin Mazarro? Just how many lower level non-prospects do the Royals need to fill out their minor league rosters?
What is getting under my skin is that everyone is jumping on Moore’s back because he did not trade one of his outfielders, probably for nothing of value in return, and this is unreasonable.
The three main starters for the Royals in the outfield have put up terrific numbers. Gordon, Cabrera, and Francoeur have 373 hits in 1272 at bats for a .293 average. They have combined for 88 doubles, 10 triples, and 41 home runs. They have 184 runs scored and have 181 rbi. On top of all of this, they are up to, what, 37 outfield assists? THIS IS A PRODUCTIVE MAJOR LEAGUE OUTFIELD! How long have we as Royals fans been begging for an outfield this productive? Not since the days of Damon, Beltran, and Dye have I felt so good about the everyday players Kansas City has ran out to patrol the outfield. How many major league outfields have been more productive this season? Are there any? If there are any out there, they can not have outpaced the Royals by much.
I understand the argument about Lorenzo Cain being ready and wasted in AAA, and that’s probably true. It is not like Cain is a 21-year old prospect, though. He is only a year younger than Melky and only 2 younger than Frenchy. The two guys on the major league roster are in the beginning of their prime years and they have massive experience. While Melky is having a breakout year, I keep reading that Jeff Francoeur is just the same old player. This just isn’t true. He has already more than doubled his career stolen base high. He has a good chance to set his career high in walks as well. Frenchy started off his career with a pretty good first two plus years, followed by three very pedestrian seasons with no plate discipline. His numbers this year may reflect his career as a whole but his numbers are better than the last three in nearly every aspect. I watch him play nearly every day and I do not see a guy just up there hacking away. No, he is never going to a disciplined guy who takes a ton of walks but why can’t people see he isn’t the same player. At 27, he certainly is young enough to improve his approach and I think Kevin Seitzer is having a positive effect on Frenchy.
Sorry, but I am fired up about this. While there is always room for improvement there is certainly no guarantee Lorenzo Cain is going to out produce either of these two guys. The Royals have three productive outfielders who are playing hard and appear to want to be here. Let’s get off Moore’s back and enjoy the production we are getting from our present outfield instead hoping others could do better.
I am more disappointed about Jeff Francis and Bruce Chen not being moved but I doubt either had even replacement level value on the market. The Royals don’t appear to have any major league ready starting pitchers ready in the minors so again I can’t blame Moore for not making irrelevant trades just for the sake of making trades.
This all being said, I am very ticked off about a move made yesterday. Kyle Davies was placed on the DL (yippee!) but instead of promoting Johnny Giavotella, the Royals recalled Everett Teaford. While I have nothing against Teaford, who has pitched well when called upon this far, do the Royals really need yet another reliever on the active roster? Does KC need eight relievers and 13 total pitchers on the roster? Unlike Cain, Giavotella does not have a productive player in front of him. There is absolutely no reason for Chris Getz to be starting every day. Zero. Nada. Getz offers speed and grittiness. Period. Let him pinch run late in games and get his lackluster bat and overrated glove out of the line-up. Moore did not hesitate to bring up Hosmer and Moustakus. Why is he waiting with Giavotella? Every game I see Chris Getz in the line-up just makes me mad as heck. Talk about an absolutely worthless waste of time. Nothing would please me more than if Getz and Davies never played another inning for the Royals. Dayton Moore continues to hurt this ball club as long as these two dead weights remain on the roster.
I can only hope we see Johnny Giavotello soon. I hope Moore and the Royals learned their lesson with the Kila fiasco by not giving the big guy a true shot to show what he could do earlier. It is still early enough in the season for everyone to get a sense of what Giavotella can do but not if they wait until September. Moore needs to get over his crushes on Davies and Getz and very, very soon. I, for one, am quickly losing patience.
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