NewsRoyals' plan didn't pan out this season
Club stays persistent despite speed, defense being lost
By Dick Kaegel / MLB.com
08/04/09 10:00 AM ET
KANSAS CITY -- It's a tough job putting together a Royals ballclub. You get barbecued if you don't do anything, you get barbecued if you do. That's what Kansas City is famous for, you know, barbecue.Take shortstop. Mike Aviles, their superb 2008 rookie find, had to have his right elbow rebuilt. Tony Pena did so well at it that he's being turned into a pitcher. Luis Hernandez is back at Omaha. Willie Bloomquist was a reliable stand-in, but not an everyday shortstop.
An experienced Major League shortstop was needed and the Royals got Yuniesky Betancourt from Seattle for two Minor League pitching prospects. The howl of negative reaction was surprisingly intense.
If there were obvious needs for the Royals as the first four months of the season wound down, they were better defense and more speed. The latter commodity, of course, not only aids defense but peps up the offense which, for the Royals, has been creaking like an old clunker.
So, with center fielder Coco Crisp down and out with two shoulder surgeries, general manager Dayton Moore began casting about for a possible fix there. Mitch Maier could run down flies, but didn't hit. Bloomquist went to center after Betancourt's arrival and did well enough, but again, he's good -- not dazzling. Ryan Freel was obtained and got a look.
When Josh Anderson, who has speed and range and a stolen-base rep, became available Moore made the grab from Detroit. It cost him little more than the $20,000 waiver price and maybe, at 26, he could blossom into a center-field bargain.
Crisp's future with the Royals is uncertain. His contract has a club option for 2010 at $8 million. Given his double surgical fix, they'll be very cautious in assessing if he'd be worth it.
Playing in vast Kauffman Stadium, the Royals know that pitching is always very important. The basis of their rotation is pretty sound although the bullpen has sputtered. But there are those other two essential elements.
"Speed and defense are very important to the success of our team in that ballpark. We understand that, we recognize that," Moore said. "That's why we probably drafted and signed as many speed players as we have through the Minor Leagues over the last two years and three Drafts now. We try to draft and sign speed players, because you can't develop them, and we're always mindful of trying to acquire players with usable speed and players that can play very good defense."
A different team
That's a good philosophy, because the Royals this season have been haunted by giving away runs. Their 77 errors have translated, as the team's publicity department dutifully points out, into an American League-leading 56 unearned runs.
And Moore dutifully points out something else.
"The team we put together in the offseason, the team we left Spring Training with was obviously vastly different," Moore said.
"Our 2008 Player of the Year [in Aviles] was injured early on. Coco Crisp, the player we were counting on to give us that speed and that experience at the top, we miss. And there's a big part of your defense, your shortstop and your center fielder. So to say, we didn't put any emphasis on defense is an incorrect statement," Moore said.
"We're always going to put together the best defensive team we can. We're going to try to do this, obviously, with pitching and defense. Based on the budget, we had to put together a team which we feel was very good -- we used it as effectively as we possibly could. Other players that we tried to acquire through free agency just didn't happen, that's part of it. But we were persistent in trying to get them."
When the season opened, the right side probably didn't promise much comfort for pitchers with Mike Jacobs at first base, Alberto Callaspo at second and Jose Guillen in right. Jacobs was quickly replaced by Billy Butler, who has developed into an acceptable defender. Callaspo still has defensive holes, but he's been the club's top hitter -- so there's a trade-off there. Guillen, whose aching legs offset his cannon arm, went out July 23 and might be finished for the year. Whether or not he can get his leg problems fixed for next season remains a question.
Mark Teahen has done a nice job of adapting to right field after his stint at third base, where both he and Alex Gordon are sharp fielders. It's been a recent merry-go-round behind the plate, where third-string Brayan Pena has been getting a thorough look-see. There are deficiencies in both Miguel Olivo (blocking balls) and John Buck (throwing), but they are essentially sound catchers.
Riding out the storm
But that brouhaha over the new shortstop, Betancourt, oh my. Moore warned there would be criticism, like when he signed that other ex-Seattle player, pitcher Gil Meche -- but he probably wasn't prepared for what bubbled up.
Fans and media commentators fumed. The nay-sayers were many. Notably, influential Kansas City Star columnist Joe Posnanski blogged that the statistics he studied showed that Betancourt was the worst defensive shortstop and the worst everyday offensive player in the game. Ouch.
Manager Trey Hillman, who wholeheartedly endorsed the trade, said the critics have every right to speak out, that he "loves" statistics and uses them all the time, and that he respects the "sabrematicians" who rely on statistics to judge players.
But he added: "They don't take into consideration the human elements, the work ethic provided by different coaches and the atmospheres of those players that have not supposedly risen to the levels that they've been projected to [reach]."
In short, Hillman believes whatever Betancourt's shortcomings might be, that new coaching, a different setting and a fresh start can make the difference.
Moore took the extra step of checking with ex-Seattle players, both with Kansas City and elsewhere, about Betancourt before pulling the trigger on the deal.
"And one thing I always say is you can't fool the players, and the players always know," Moore said. What he got was an overwhelming endorsement from "the Raul Ibanezes of the world and the players on our team," as well as coaches and managers and scouts.
"I respect the heck out of a GM who'll go to a player and ask him, 'What do you know about this guy?' instead of thinking he knows everything and then just goes and does it," said Bloomquist, a Betancourt teammate at Seattle. "But [Moore] decided to take our opinion. Not to say that was the overriding factor, but he asked. My opinion will always stay the same of him -- he's tremendously talented."
For all that talent, there is the underlying feeling that Betancourt can drive himself to be better than he has been.
"That's up to him, if he wants to. I think he can and a change of scenery will do him really good. Not to say the atmosphere in Seattle was bad but hopefully the atmosphere here and people kind of pushing him a little bit to get better," Bloomquist said. "He is good now but he has the potential to be very, very good. It's just a matter if we can get it out of him."
In Betancourt's first two-plus weeks with the Royals, he's shown skills, range and arm at shortstop. But his hitting has been abysmal -- just 8-for-57 (.140) with two RBIs and a homer entering Tuesday.
But results of a trade, even in this can't-wait-for-immediate-gratification age, are often a long time in coming.
"I've said this for 15 years: You're really never going to know the ramification of a trade for 12 to 24 months. In this case, it's going to be 30 months. We've got Yuniesky for the equivalent of 2 1/2 seasons and evaluate then," said Hillman when Betancourt arrived just after the All-Star break.
"The people that jump out there and prejudge it are not looking at the big picture."
Scratching for runs
What will that big picture look like as the Royals move toward the 2010 season?
Moore did not pull off any deals right before the Trade Deadline. It's entirely possible that, given a probable budget of $70 million again, the makeup of the club won't undergo major changes before next season. The object will be to tweak and revive what virtually all experts perceived last preseason as a possible .500 team on the rise.
But without Crisp as the leadoff catalyst and Aviles as a productive hitter, the Royals' offense suffered quite early in the season. Obviously their injuries hampered them even as they played. And Gordon, viewed as being on the cusp of a breakout season, lasted only seven games before hip surgery. Back at the break, he's been slow coming around at the plate.
Guillen, also hurting, wasn't himself at the plate all year and his power bat was largely dormant. Jacobs, brought in to launch home runs, didn't deliver much except a load of strikeouts.
Butler blossomed into the fine hitter that everyone expected, driving in runs with a lot of doubles and a few home runs. DeJesus became his normal productive self after a slow start, collecting RBIs on pace with Butler. Teahen and Bloomquist were pretty consistent and Callaspo not only hit for average, but showed some unexpected home run pop. Olivo displayed some power, too.
Moore puts a lot of hope in Gordon.
"Alex has got to turn into what Billy has become," he said.
What the Royals need to become is a team with bats that can put a scare into somebody sometimes. Being last in runs scored is not going to cause much fear.
Rotation rolling
Defense and pitching are the cornerstones of building a winner for Moore. And the Royals' starters have done well, notably early-season sensation Zack Greinke and the rapidly developing Brian Bannister and Luke Hochevar. Gil Meche is solid, although his cranky back has been a worry this season.
If Kyle Davies, coming back from a Triple-A tuneup to replace Sidney Ponson, can snap back and become a solid No. 4 starter, that would be a big plus. Bruce Chen, the well-traveled left-hander, is trying to prove himself.
The bullpen was weakened at the cost of Ramon Ramirez and Leo Nunez to bring in Crisp and Jacobs, respectively. The refurbishing effort looked promising when Kyle Farnsworth, Juan Cruz, Jamey Wright and Doug Waechter were signed to get to All-Star closer Joakim Soria.
Cruz and Wright have been maddeningly inconsistent. Waechter's been out injured most of the year. Farnsworth, after a horrible start, seemed to be in tune when he, too, was hurt and is still out. Holdovers Robinson Tejeda and John Bale haven't helped very much nor has Roman Colon. And Ron Mahay, with the best bullpen ERA outside of Soria, has been under-used.
Even Soria added to the hazy atmosphere with a sore shoulder that limited his use during the club's successful 18-11 getaway. It's probably no coincidence that, after saving that 18th win, he didn't pitch again for nearly a month while the team went south in a hurry. Now that he's healthy, save opportunities are few and far between.
Betancourt a key piece
But Betancourt's the most immediate concern. Meche, a former teammate, was ecstatic when he heard Betancourt had been obtained.
"When he first got there, [it was impressive] how good his hands were. He was the best shortstop I've ever played with. I had Alex [Rodriguez] behind me at times, but [Betancourt] was one of the best shortstops I've played with -- just his hands, and his arm is great. He made the easy plays look super-easy and the hard ones not-so-hard," Meche said.
Betancourt has the rep as a free swinger who won't walk very much, but he doesn't strike out much either. His on-base percentage needs to improve.
"It's still something that I need to work on, but the reason is I grew up in Cuba and they used to say I just 'swing and swing and swing' and not walk," Betancourt said. "But I know baseball changed, and that's going to help me to get myself a better average and be more productive."
Betancourt knows that he's slumped in the past defensively, but believes he's beyond that.
"I realized that I was kind of sidearmed with my throws and the ball was sinking to the first baseman," he said. "So what I've been doing is stay on top of the ball and make a firm and quick release. That's what I've been doing the last couple of months, and it's been better."
Moore felt he had to move to get an experienced and affordable shortstop, because there's no certainty when Aviles will return. Aviles talks of mid-March; Moore hears it could be as late as mid-June. And who can say how he'll play when he does get back.
"There are no guarantees when Mike will be back. [With] a player that's only had a year of Major League service, although we believe in him, we had to be aggressive in improving our situation," Moore said.
Defensively, Moore has liked what he's seen from Betancourt.
"He's been exceptional -- and he's going to continue to get better," Moore said of Betancourt's defense during a visit to Baltimore last week. "And offensively, he's a career .280 hitter. He'll be fine. Coming to a new team, he's putting a lot of pressure on himself. He's been a big upgrade for us, really."
Hillman had a long discussion with Betancourt the other day to go over his deficiencies.
"Right now, he says he feels real good about going to his right laterally, but he thinks his angles going to his left are not as good as they should be," Hillman said. "It was pretty impressive for him to self-evaluate that, because that's our assessment as well."
Hillman has been looking at the offensive side as well.
"I think he's going to have to continue to make adjustments offensively but he's very open and receptive to making those adjustments. I think he's got tremendous aptitude," he said, adding: "When you've got a guy that's almost a career .280 hitter over three seasons, I got to believe we're going to get that out of him, whether he walks more or not, at some point in time."
The assessments will continue. It might well be that, during the last two months of the season, how Betancourt goes will be a significant clue to how 2010 is going to go for the Royals.
Dick Kaegel is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
