On December 9, the Royals made one of the biggest trades they have made in recent years. They shipped prospects Wil Myers, Jake Odorizzi, Mike Montgomery, and Patrick Leonard to the Tampa Bay Rays for James Shields and Wade Davis.
When I first heard about the trade, I didn't like it. Wil Myers was the Minor League Player of the Year and was the heir apparent to Jeff Francoeur in right field for the Royals. With Frenchy's less than stellar year in 2012, I was looking forward to seeing Myers taking over. But then I stopped to think about it. Last year our starting pitching stunk. Our top two starters at the beginning of the season were Luke Hochevar and Bruce Chen. Both guys can give you good games from time to time, but those are not guys you want to the forefront of your staff. Shields is a legitimate ace. Take a look at the stats of these 4 pitchers from the last 2 years:
IP ERA SO QS WHIP Wins
435 3.04 423 46 1.12 32
477 3.15 448 45 1.10 31
384 3.63 401 39 1.20 32
465 3.27 445 43 1.18 31
Which one do you want? The top two pitchers look to be a cut above the bottom two and there appears to be little difference between them. In order these stats belong to David Price, James Shields, Zack Greinke, and Felix Hernandez. Like I said, we got a legitimate ace. We also got Wade Davis. Two years ago, Davis finished 4th in the Rookie of the Year voting. Because the Rays had starters coming out their ears, he went to the bullpen in 2012 and was terrific. He moves right into our rotation and gives us another quality starter.
Myers is a great prospect, but some of the reaction seems to be equivalent to the Red Sox trading Babe Ruth to the Yankees. Myers also struck out 140 times in the minor leagues. As Royals fans, we get a little tired of hearing that we have these great prospects and in another 2 years, we'll be really good. It is a little like your financial analyst telling you that you will be able to retire in 2 years, and then you wait and discover you don't have as much money as you thought you would have. But in another 2 years..... It's time to win now and kudos to Dayton Moore and David Glass for pulling the trigger.
After my Twins got the worse end of their trade for Delmon Young, I've added trading with Tampa Bay to the old quote:
ReplyDelete“Never play cards with a man called Doc. Never eat at a place called Mom’s. Never sleep with a woman whose troubles are greater than your own.” Nelson Algren, A Walk on the Wild Side (1956).