Monday, March 21, 2005

3rd Base Discussion

With Chris Truby on the shelf for the immediate future, the Royals have a dilemma at third base. Up until Truby's injury, the team had been steadfast in its commitment to start Mark Teahen in Omaha and bring him up to the big clubsometime in June or July. Since Truby's injury, though, the Royals have been non-committal about their plans.

Seems to me the Royals have three options:

1) Start the season with Teahen at third base
2) Use a utility player in camp (Hocking, Clapinski) at third base for a few months before bringing Teahen up
3) Trade for another Chris Truby-like fill-in

I don't like option #2, because neither Clapinski or Hocking are everyday players. Hocking isn't even a part-time player; he doesn't really belong in the major leagues at this point. The whole point of bringing in Clapinski was to serve the utility role, so it defeats the purpose of having him on the roster if he's not a utility player.

So, in my mind, it comes down to either #1 or #3. I'd rather the Royals stick with their original plan and start Teahen in Omaha. So who's on third? Bryan Smith of Baseball Analysts suggests the Royals have good candidate in Justin Leone of Seattle (check the player notes under A's-Mariners). Leone, who just turned 28, is stuck behind Beltre for the foreseeable future, so his future is almost certainly elsewhere. He seems like a good candidate for the 3rd base job; but what will it cost the Royals?

Question: should the Royals start the season with Teahen or trade for another player to fill that role?

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home