KC's new bullpen

I figured Dayton Moore would come over from Atlanta with a strong desire to build his new team around pitching, and it looks like that's exactly what he's planning to do. For the first time in a long time, the Royals actually have a handful of really promising pitching prospects (Hochevar, Lumsden, etc) and have added some major league ready talent as well.

A major weakness last season was our bullpen - we had no true closer (Burgos was NOT ready), and we paid for it. Out of 65 save opportunities in 2006, the Royals only managed to convert a total of 34...meaning we blew 31 save opportunities. Granted, a bullpen cannot save every game, but a good bullpen doesn't blow 31 leads. The Detroit Tigers - our 2006 American League champs - only blew 16 saves last season, basically half the amount of games blown by KC.

With the addition of Octavio Dotel as our closer, this could turn around in 2007. Dotel has great stuff and was a dominant setup man and later became the closer in Oakland. After getting off to a rough start with Oakland in 2005, he had Tommy John surgery and was shut down for the year on June 1. He finally returned from surgery late last season with the Yankees and pitched fairly well. Dayton Moore is gambling a bit here - hoping Dotel is now 100% recovered - but it's a gamble worth taking. If he has returned to his former self, he should be the first dominant closer we've had in KC for a long time.

In another recent move, the Royals picked up David Riske, a longtime reliever for Cleveland who spent 2006 with the Red Sox and White Sox. Riske is a solid righty who should become our main setup man in KC. Hopefully he can come into late inning situations and hold the games for Dotel. He's been one of the better setup men in the AL for the last few seasons and is a welcome addition to our revamped pitching staff.

How the rest of the pen will shake out remains to be seen - with all the recent acquisitions Moore has made, we have a crowded group of big league pitchers. I'm guessing Moore isn't done dealing, and at least a couple of these guys could be traded away, while others may start the year with AAA Omaha.

Whatever the outcome, it's nice to be excited about the Royals again, and I'm looking forward to seeing what Moore's next move will be.

Another move

Trade: Sisco for Gload

This was kind of a wierd deal I guess. At first glance, it seems like we may have given up a promising, young, lefty for ANOTHER 1B/OF/DH guy.

However - I like the move. I think Dayton Moore has acquired enough pitching that we can let a guy like Sisco leave town. I've seen some complaints on various message boards (my favorite board - by the way - is RoyalsCorner - lots of VERY intelligent fans over there), but what did we really lose in this deal? Let's take a look:

Andrew Sisco - A big (6'10") power pitching lefty, drafted by the Cubs, then picked up by KC in the 2004 Rule 5 draft. He did show some flashes of actually being good during the 2005 season, however, I tend to think that his low ERA that year may have been deceiving. While he did post a 3.11 ERA coming out of the pen that year, he walked a lot of guys (42 in 75 innings), showing that he may have some control issues. In addition, he gave up 68 hits (not too shabby), but overall, the combo of walks/hits gave him a WHIP of 1.46 for the season - for those who aren't geeks - WHIP is walks+hits per inning pitched. Basically, the guy allowed an average of about 1.5 baserunners per inning pitched. Not exactly a shutdown reliever.

Sisco's control problems (and apparent lack of work ethic) showed even more in 2006. He only pitched 58 innings that season, while giving up 66 hits and 40 walks - only 2 less of each in about 20 less innings....NOT GOOD. His ERA ballooned to 7.10 and his WHIP was 1.82, I think at this point, all signs were pointing to Sisco not panning out as a consistent relief pitcher at the MLB level.

On the other hand...I like what we gain in the deal. I kind of look at Gload as a younger version of Matt Stairs - a very solid bat who can play 1B and OF. A guy who has a career batting average of .289, OBP of .343, and Slugging % of .437....all solid numbers.

Maybe Moore is just a little more willing to cut bait with some guys who might have a ton of potential, but no desire to win (Sisco, Runelvys Hernandez, etc). Maybe he's cleaning house, ridding the organization of former GM Allard Baird's "project" players....I'm not 100% sure yet, but so far, he's given me no real reason to doubt any of his decisions.

Should be interesting to see what other moves lie ahead.....