Royals GM Dayton Moore tells ESPN.com's Buster Olney that Alcides Escobar is different from some other players he has acquired in trades. Here are the details on Escobar and others in the Kansas City organization…
- "Very rarely do you feel as good or better about a move after you get the player," Moore told Olney. But the Royals are happy with Escobar so far because he has been throwing well and making consistent contact at the plate. The Royals believe the shortstop has the potential to become a No. 2 hitter.
- Melky Cabrera arrived to camp in good shape, but he isn’t guaranteed playing time. He, Jeff Francoeur, Kila Ka'aihue and Alex Gordon will all be competing for at bats.
- As Olney reported yesterday, teams are expressing interest in Gordon, but Kansas City isn’t inclined to deal the former second overall pick because they think he could still flourish.
- Though rival executives are in awe of Kansas City’s developing talent, the Royals want to see Mike Moustakas, Eric Hosmer and others thrive in the big leagues before they get too excited.
- Yahoo's Jeff Passan points out that Baseball Prospectus' PECOTA projection likes Ka'aihue and projects a 25 homer, .860 OPS output from him in 2011. Ka'aihue says he doesn't really buy into the projections, but says he thinks the forecasted stats are plausible.
I think Kila, if given the chance, is going to post some good numbers in 2011.
Lol @ Moore finally being happy with a player he’s traded for. The “being a #2 hitter” part we have to see. Usually you want a good contact hitter who can take a walk but that team is sort of thin when it comes to OBP so I guess he might be the best candidate if you wan’t to keep Butler and Kila in run producing slots.
Escobar will hit. His line drive rate should have produced more like a .270 BA last year but he hit in a lot of bad luck. Much of that was hitting ahead of the pitcher which isn’t an issue in the AL.
Don’t kid yourself, the Brewers didn’t want to give up Escobar.
he might hit, but he won’t walk
Even if he doesn’t walk, his contact rate suggests he could be a .280/.310/.400 type of hitter. That, plus his defensive skills, mean he’d be a 2+ WAR player and the Royals would be thrilled to have one at SS.
behold the devastation to a fanbase’s expectations the mighty yuniesky hath wrought
hahaha….is that like the woman who says her new boyfriend might cheat on her but at least he doesn’t beat her like the last boyfriend did? smh
“”Very rarely do you feel as good or better about a move after you get the player,” Moore told Olney.”
Oh…my…GOD. This guy is priceless. He’s obviously using the singular “you” and not the collective version.
yet Rany places his trades to date slightly in the black…and I agree
There’s no way that Kila should have to compete (compete in the real sense of the word) with Melky, Fanky or Gordon for at bats. He might not be younger in terms of his birth date but he’s had far less opps to show his skills and will probably serve them better for the future than any of those three. Even if he doesn’t figure in their long term plans, why not use 2011 to allow him to build his value and then trade him as a 1st year player? If he has a good year then how many teams wouldn’t want a power/obp bat with 5 years of control left?
I imagine given the amount of 1B types in the organization the Royals will start fielding calls on either Kila or Gordon by april. Just speculation but Arizona and Tampa would be good fits.
Ok cool. Sell high on Butler but trading Kila now is selling early. Yes he has prospect potential but his value sky rockets if he can produce at the major league level. At least wait until the deadline. If he’s hitting somewhere around .260/.360w/ 15 hrs by the deadline he will be attractive to some teams, especially the Rays if they are competing and Dan Johnson shows to be replaceable.
Kila, Gordon, Escobar, Brayan Pena and L. Cain should be playing every inning of every game. Giving guys like Francouer, Melky Cabrera, Jason Kendall, and the Royals’ other numerous scrubs ABs over them is disgusting and stupid.