 06/21/2004 10:16 PM ET
Royals send Grimsley to O's
Baltimore deals minor league pitcher Bautista
KANSAS CITY -- The shredding of the 2004 Royals picked up steam Monday night.
Reliever Jason Grimsley was traded to the Baltimore Orioles for minor-league pitcher Denny Bautista, a right-hander that general manager Allard Baird believes could be a candidate for the starting rotation next season.
Bautista, who was with the Orioles' Double-A Bowie club, will be assigned to the Royals' Wichita club in the Texas League. He was 3-5 with a 4.74 ERA with 72 strikeouts and just 33 walks in 62 2/3 innings.
| Scouting Report: Denny Bautista |
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Sorry so late with this, but if you want to add it to the trade coverage, here's a rundown on RHP Denny Bautista, recently acquired by the Royals in the Jason Grimsley trade:
This is now Bautista's third organization in less than a year, but that takes nothing away from how good his arm is. The hard-throwing right-hander was the Orioles' key acquisition in the Jeff Conine trade with the Marlins last August. Now he's joining an organization that likes young power arms.
Bautista isn't as young as he was when he first joined the Orioles. A visa problem kept him from reporting to Spring Training on time, and it also aged him by two years. Still, he's only 23 and has one of the best live arms in the minors, as evidenced by his No. 31 ranking in MLB.com's Top 50 Prospects rankings this spring. Bautista's fastball sits in the 95-97 mph range. His secondary pitch, a power curve, pales in comparison to the fastball, though it could be an above-average pitch over time. He also throws a changeup. A starter throughout his career since signing with the Marlins in 2000, the Orioles thought enough of him to promote him from Double-A Bowie as a reliever briefly in late May.
His 72 strikeouts in 62.2 IP with Bowie was third in the Eastern League and shows that Bautista clearly has lost nothing off his fastball. His 33 walks show he's still in the process of getting his 6-foot-5 body and mechanics on the same page consistently. He could be ready to compete for a rotation spot in 2005.
-- Jonathan Mayo
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"All we need from him is to repeat his delivery and gain some strength," Baird said. "Because stuff-wise, he's got a 93 to 94 working fastball, up to 97. He's got a power curveball, a feel for a changeup. He's very aggressive.
"If we can get him to repeat his delivery and gain some consistency to his mechanics, I see this guy competing for a starting job in 2005."
Bautista, from Sanchez in the Dominican Republic, is 23 and stands 6-5 at 170 pounds.
Grimsley, 36, said he got a heads-up from Baird that a deal was in the works.
"It was pretty much common knowledge when things didn't go the way they wanted to go," Grimsley said. "There were a couple of teams that he was talking to and he told me Baltimore wanted me and he ended up making the deal."
Grimsley, 36, was a workhorse for the Royals, appearing in 73, 70, 76 and 32 games in his three-plus seasons with them. This season he was 3-3 with a 3.38 ERA and his 32 appearances were a team high.
"I can't say one bad thing about that ballpark or that ballclub. I had a great time, made some great friends," he said.
Grimsley leads American League relievers since 2001 with 262 appearances.
"I can't say enough good things about Jason. What he did on the field obviously speaks for itself. But it's also what he did off the field," Baird said.
"In Spring Training, I asked him to do something with the younger pitchers and he took a leadership role. That doesn't go into the statistical column."
The Royals, stuck in last place in the American League Central, last week released Grimsley's close friend and bullpen buddy Curtis Leskanic.
Grimsley's spot on the roster will be taken by right-hander Shawn Camp, who is being recalled from Triple-A Omaha. Camp had a 2-0 record and a 3.80 in 13 games earlier this season for the Royals.
Bautista was signed by the Florida Marlins in 2000 and was traded to the Orioles on Aug. 31, 2003, for first baseman Jeff Conine and pitcher Don Levinski. He has a 31-25 record and a 3.71 ERA in the minors. He pitched in last year's Futures Game at Comiskey Park.
He pitched in two games for the Orioles this season, giving up eight earned runs in two innings.
"He's a strikeout, power guy with a really good upside," Baird said.
Grimsley was re-signed this year to a one-year $1 million contract. He made $2 million in 2003 and, he said, the Orioles agreed to pay him that in 2005.
"Basically, they extended me through next year at the money I was making last year and they gave me some incentives, and if next year's going to be it, it wouldn't be a bad place because they're going to make a push (for the playoffs)," Grimsley said.
Grimsley, 36, said he might retire after next season.
Baird said he had no deals working on center fielder Carlos Beltran or first baseman Mike Sweeney.
"No, no, you don't have to worry about that at all," he said.
As of Monday night, that is.
The breakup of the Royals is in full gear in Grimsley's view.
"It's just begun," he said. Dick Kaegel is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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