The Royals have designated outfielder Billy Burns, per a club announcement. His roster spot will go to first baseman Lucas Duda, whose signing is now official.
Burns, 28, has received only limited MLB opportunities since landing in Kansas City in a 2016 trade from the A’s. He had turned in a highly productive 2015 season, with a .294/.334/.392 slash and 26 steals to go with quality glovework in center, but fell off badly in the ensuing campaign.
Last year, Burns primarily suited up for Triple-A Omaha. Despite an ongoing lack of power, the switch-hitter got on base at a .369 clip by drawing 44 walks against just sixty strikeouts over 413 plate appearances. On the bases, though, Burns was cut down in 11 of his 35 steal attempts.
Wow, well there is our first baseman….I guess.
Don´t go away,.. is more to come…
Burns got … burned on that deal.
HA! Funny man!
Get a room you two!
I would be surprised if Burns was not claimed. I bet it will be by the Reds or Marlins or someone like that
I think he would be a good fit to come back to oakland. They need a right handed hitter who can play centerfiled
Maybe even Seattle who is in need of a first baseman.
Except ryon Healy will be back by at the latest, the second week of the season.
Smolinski is a doing good in spring so far but I wish Boog was a righty. I think Boog is a better over player than Burns and Smolinski
Would love to see Burns back with the A’s, but I like what we have in Fowler and Smolinski and Boog, we have plenty of options
isn’t this kinda what the giants were looking for……
Can’t be any worse than Gorkys
I first saw Gorkys in his first stint in the majors, with the Pirates. If Gorkys was a cat, he’d be on about 8 and a half lives gone. He’s so mediocre, I give him credit for surviving in the majors this long with as little discernible value as he has.
The whole post about a Duda signing and no info about him statistically? Really?
the stats aren’t worth mentioning…Duda is the epitome of average
The Duda post is a few hours old and further down.
Burns would be a nice pick up for a team in need of a fourth outfielder, not arb eligible till 2019. Could there be a match between the Pirates and Burns with Nava busted?
He’d also provide something The Pirates don’t really have much of, some speed off the bench.
I was thinking the same thing. They also don’t really have a backup CF. Polanco can play it but it’s not recommended.
The Marlins are calling on line one Mr. Burns!
Pros: he’s a switch hitter with a lot of speed, past ML success
Cons: Posted a .671 OPS in the PCL last season, out of options
I think he gets claimed but barring a strong showing, I don’t believe he sticks for very long.
Fits
Pittsburgh- Seems ideal after losing Nava
Seattle- Conceivable if Heredia is out for longer than anticipated and they are not sold on Perkins as a viable replacement
Oakland- homecoming, good depth, might not be interested in adding an additional out of options player with Renato Nuñez already on the bubble
Tampa- Kind of a blank slate at this point, couldnt hurt to take a flier
Detroit- See Tampa, but they do have Victor Reyes so that could theoretically dissuade them.
I think the giants could be a landing spot.
They could use a backup that can handle CF, he’s cheap, & he would displace Gorkys whom should never take another MLB AB
The Giants are a landing spot for every centerfielder. Don’t be surprised if they start the season with 25 CF’s on the roster.
i’m sure there will be a lot of competition for him in the al west. you listed the athletics and mariners above, the angels could use a 4th outfielder with upside, he is an upgrade over delino deshields, in texas, and the astros could use him as a cheap depth option protecting against, god forbid, injury to springer, or underperformance from fisher, marisnick or reddick
Time to trade Salvy to the Nationals for a ton of prospects. Time to kick the rebuild into high gear.
Yes, this. Get everything you can for him while his knees are still whole.
Yo, Rick Hahn — go get Billy Burns to lead-off and play CF while Luis Robert continues to make his way through the system. White Sox have nothing to lose with that move!
Cubs still need one more effective reliever
Could the braves add him as the 4th OF? He has speed.
Cubs rarely ever get speed guys. This guy could be a hero in Chicago as a late pinch runner with their versatility.