Quote:
Originally Posted by duncan_idaho
Thoughts on trade:
I talked to one of my guys last night and did not hear very many positive things about Valencia. Between his poor defense and poor attitude (It sounds like he wore out his welcome here very quickly, just like everywhere else he has played), they were looking to move him regardless.
Apparently Kratz is a Mennonite... but a Mennonite with good power who should be a solid backup catcher. So the Royals probably got better at one bench spot (C) at the expense of another.
Hendriks is probably a AAAA pitcher, but it does provide some rotation depth (better option than some of the guys at Omaha if they need a spot start).
Ultimately, though, I think this move is about the Royals' terrible roster construction. Swapping Colon for Valencia gives KC another guy on the roster who can at least legitimately play SS and gives them a chance to give Escobar a break, which he needs (don't think it's any surprise he's been slipping a bit at the plate and in the field... those are signs of either carelessness or weariness, and I'd place my money on the latter).
Hopefully, the Royals are bright enough to use Colon at 3B against LHP, but it's the Royals, so...
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Do you think the Royals place too much emphasis on clubhouse, chemistry, attitude? Is that one reason we have the cliqueish Hosmer/Moose atmosphere where everybody's supposed to feel good about themselves and live by the power of positive thinking?
Valencia crushes LHP and is a good platoon partner for Moose, who is worthless vs. lefties. Yet we dump him, allegedly because he's a cancer, and keep Ibanez, who brings nothing to the table, because Raul is a good teammate.
Now, maybe Colon will be a good platoon partner with Moose (he WAS mashing lefties in AAA). I HOPE they at least try to platoon him with Moose; I'm skeered that they believe "Moose is fixed" and therefore warrants more ABs vs. LHP, despite zero evidence that he can or has ever hit them worth a crap.
But we basically broke up a decent platoon (while boosting a WC rival's platoon situation) and got virtually nothing in return -- AAA depth and a backup C who might not get 50 ABs the rest of the way. When we could've just cut Ibanez and brought Colon up.
Was Valencia THAT BAD in the clubhouse? A.J. Pierzynski bad? Or do Moore/Yost have a too-low tolerance for different personalities?