Apparently the Royals could not work out a trade for Bonifacio. They have placed him on release waivers. If anyone claims him, they will have to pay his entire $3.5MM salary.

They meaning the team that signs him or the Royals?

Dayton says that Yordano Ventura will be allowed to throw 200 IP this year.

Well, obviously if someone claims him, that team would pay him.

If not, his contract is not guaranteed yet. If he clears waivers and is released, we'll only owe him about 600k.

Am I the only one that doesn’t really understand this move? Some radio guy says he requested the trade/release because he wanted to be a starter, but seems more likely it is a cost-cutting move, no? Up until the was DFA, people were under the impression he would play a pretty significant role for us this year, even if coming off the bench.

probably a little of both.

Correct. I don't see any more moves until MAYBE the trade deadline.

Seems about right. He was right at 150 IP last season and has had a steady progression of work for years.

64 to 84 to 110 to 150 last season.

I thought he was insurance in case Moose sucked again?

Also - I think not re-signing Santana will come back to take a big fat chunk right outta Dayton's ass.

Apparently, they have more confidence in Danny Valencia in that role than Bonifacio.

I think moving Bonifacio is short-sighted. If they made him the primary backup in CF behind Cain, they'd get plenty of utility out of him in a super-sub role. But KC is stuck

It's a cheap move that doesn't make much sense by itself. If they had completed a trade and gotten anything useful out of him, it at least makes a little more sense.

At this point, it's just a salary dump.

I'm not as worried about Santana himself - I actually think we'll see Jason Vargas out-perform Santana this year - but if Ventura, Duffy and Zimmer are not as good as Moore and co. expect - at least 2/3 of them - this rotation starts entering the danger zone.

Let's give DM some props here - he did the smart thing by using Santana during his final year prior to FA and then cut him loose. That's what smart small market teams do. The dumb ones try to re-sign these guys in an open market.

Sure. I could understand a mild critique if Santana ends up signing for 3 years, $33 million or something like that...

But I'm honestly not convinced those three years for Santana go better than 3 years of Vargas.

Apparently Dayton blamed Kauffman Stadium for our inability to draw walks again today. That's a discouraging sign considering our lineup for next year.