Old News
The Royals claimed Joel Peralta from the Angels last Friday (damn, wrong J. Peralta). He's probably better than any other Royal middle reliever over 21.
Some may want to give credit to Baird for this acquisition, but not I. The fact that the Royals need to pick through other teams' leftovers (garbage to the Angels, treasure to the Royals) to fill out the end of their roster is a damnation of Baird, not an accomplishment. It says a lot more about the Angels' embarrassment of pitching riches than Baird's acumen. Baird will get no credit from me for doing what any semi-conscious GM would do in his position - replace cheap bad players with cheap decent players, risk-free. Besides, you don't get to be first in line on the waiver wire in perpetuity for doing things right.
No one congratulates the kid who gets a free hot lunch card.
If there is a silver lining, maybe adding pitchers like Peralta will force the Royals to discontinue using their precious few talented young pitchers as middle relievers.
posted by DL @ 10:28 AM
9 comments
9 Comments:
Can't hurt the Royals to add some more pitching depth. But, it just underscores your point. I'm trying to think of an organization with less overall talent than the Royals. I used to point at the Devil Rays, but their young core is much better than the Royals. The Royals have bad depth and bad players at the major league level. That's a lethal combination that leads to futility. The Baird era hasn't done anything to change that. So, it would be in the best interest of the Royals to end the Baird era.
Grabbing Peralta off the waiver wire is a small, insignificant step in the right direction. Signing a couple of above-average starters would be a good step in the right direction. The Royals have some pitching talent, but it's being wasted in the middle relief and setup roles. Perhaps the reason why the Royals' rotation is so bad is because they convert pitchers with frontline starter potential into relievers (Affeldt, Burgos, Sisco).
If Allard's good at anything, it's finding free talent like Peralta.
Is it that he's good at it, or that the Royals are just in the unenviable position of having to find all of this free talent more than other teams? Either way, it's a secondary skill of minimal importance. I'd much rather be in the Angels' or Cubs' position of having to lose good prospects/players because they have too many to protect.
I didn't have any problem with Sisco and Burgos in the 'pen this season. I don't have any problem with them being shuttled back and forth between starting and relieving. I just don't understand why the Brass has to make a decision about what these guys are NOW. But I guess it doesn't matter, because if Affeldt, Gobble and Wood are any guide, the Royals will change their mind about Sisco's and Burgos' "permanent" roles plenty of times.
I'm not sure how good Allard has been at finding free talent though. To find Emil Brown, we had an outfield of Ruben Mateo and Abraham Nunez. I think if you look through the trash long enough, you might get lucky and find a nice 4th outfielder like Emil Brown. In the process, you might trade Rudy Seanez for Abraham Nunez. Seanez was one of the best setup men in the NL this year (2.69 ERA 84 K in 60 IP). He would have been a lot better than Camp, Field, or Cerda at least.
Can't say I'd ever expect Rudy Seanez to pitch like that, esp. at age 37.
But what about Jorge Vasquez, the "other guy" in the legendary Eli Marrero trade? He was one of the few Royal minor league pitchers who had the ability to miss bats (10.25K/9 in the minors) and avoid the HR (just 27 in 461 IP) -- AND he was only 23 at the time of the trade. He put up a 0.82 WHIP in AA this year (tho he struggled in AAA and during his Cup o' Cof-fay). Somehow I trust the Braves will know how to handle this kid.
So, we get 1/3 of a craptacular season of Eli Marrero, while the Braves get a young, live arm that has a decent shot at rounding into an effective major league reliever. Swell.
I think you're pretty much always a fair critic, but I must ask you a question...
If you don't like to see any young guys moved to the bullpen, AND you get mad at Baird because he "needs to" go to the waiver wire to find decent relievers, then precisely whom do you want to see pitch in the bullpen? Mid to high-priced free agents? Organizational guys like Shawn Camp and Nate Field? From where do you want the relievers to come?
I'm not saying you have to give Baird any credit for the pickup, especially before Peralta does anything for us, but it just seems silly to be so negative about it.
The move just seems to underscore the Royals' lack of talent and depth. But, if it improves the team, some credit is due to Allard. However, the bigger moves (free agent signings, trades, drafts) are what make or break a GM. So far, Allard hasn't done so well in those areas.
Bulldog - The original post wasn't being harsh on Peralta, it was being harsh on Baird. Peralta was part of the Angles' garbage, in that he was waived by them; sometimes folks throw away things that are worth keeping and no-one has said otherwise about Peralta. In fact, your post only serves to reinforce the notion of Baird as a dolt -- why didn't he grab Jenks or Turnbow last off-season?
Right, no stain on Peralta - he's probably a pretty good pitcher who's just not good enough to justify a slot on a very pitching-rich 40-man Angels' roster.
Dave, my global frustration is just the general lack of pitching coming in the pipeline. So when I see the Royals pick up pitchers like Peralta - who is probably better than many pitchers on the roster right now - it just reminds me of that fact. I'm not really negative about the pick-up, but just frustrated that Sisco and Burgos are practically the only pitching hopes. I wouldn't worry too much about their future roles if I felt like there was plenty of pitching to go around, but that's not the case.
Having the #1 amateur draft pick next season and the #1 rule 5 pick will help.
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