This site is best viewed using Mozilla Firefox browser.

Sports

2013-01-02 14:40:04

Did the Royals make the right choice by trading for Shields?

Off and on for five years until this past October, I wrote a column on the Kansas City Royals for The Topeka Capital-Journal. During that time, I was often bombarded by Royals fans who were frustrated by what they viewed as a lack of effort by management and ownership to win games. Constantly, I fielded complaints from fans who were tired of being told the Royals would be good in a few years when the next crop of prospects arrived. Following a team that hasn¹t made the postseason since 1985 and hasn’t had a winning record since 2003, Kansas City fans have grown impatient. Plenty of the criticism has been justified. Owner David Glass gave former general manager Allard Baird little chance of being successful. The resources at the major league level were few. The resources for the minor leagues were next to nothing. By the time Glass hired Dayton Moore in 2006, the Royals had little of value on the major league roster and even less in terms of prospects. It has been a long, grueling process Royals fans have had to endure since that time. “Just wait, things will change once Alex Gordon and Billy Butler get here.” The losing continued. “Just wait, the Royals will win once Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer reach the big leagues.” The losses kept piling up. As should be expected, many Royals fans were tired of waiting. For better or worse on Dec. 9, the days of waiting for prospects ended. The Royals traded minor league player of the year Wil Myers, top pitching prospect Jake Odorizzi, former top pitching prospect Mike Montgomery and third base prospect Patrick Leonard to the Tampa Bay Rays for starting pitchers James Shields and Wade Davis. There has been much debate since this trade was made. However, there is one thing that shouldn’t be debated. For all of those fans who have criticized the organization for not doing enough to build a winner, at the very least they should respect the Royals for making that commitment. The Royals will never be the Yankees. They will never be able to have a payroll that competes with the top 5 or 10 percent of the teams in the league. But this season, the Royals are dedicating all the resources (a payroll of about $80 million) that should be reasonably expected. The Royals aren’t telling fans to wait for Myers, Odorizzi and Montgomery. Instead, they have made the message clear that they are trying to win now. No matter how they feel about the trade, that message deserves a certain level of respect. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t respect what the Royals are trying to do and still be critical of the trade. It doesn’t have to be black and white. There are plenty of reasons to like the trade, and there are plenty of reasons to be concerned. Here are five reasons to like the trade: - The Royals are dedicated to winning. That commitment not only sends a message to the fans, but it also sends a pretty powerful message to current Royals players, such as Butler, Gordon, Hosmer and Moustakas. It is telling the likes of Butler and Gordon that they made the right decision in signing extensions in Kansas City. It is telling Hosmer and Moustakas that it is something they should consider. And there is no doubt the Royals are a better team today than they were at the end of 2012. - On paper, the Royals starting pitching rotation improved immensely. A year ago, Bruce Chen was Kansas City’s opening-day starter. As of mid-December, it appeared Chen could either be the No. 5 starter or not making the rotation. There is no doubt that on paper a rotation of Shields, Jeremy Guthrie, Ervin Santana, Davis and either Chen, Luke Hochevar, Will Smith or Luis Mendoza would be a marked improvement from 2012. - Shields will be the best opening-day starter the Royals have sent to the mound since Zack Greinke. Psychologically, that means a great deal. - Right or wrong, it never seemed Royals management viewed Myers as highly as they did Hosmer or Moustakas when they were in the minors. - If the Royals felt Odorizzi or Montgomery could be star pitchers in the majors over the next couple of years, they would have never traded them. Here are five reasons to be concerned about the trade: - James Shields’ numbers could be misleading since his best games came at a pitcher-friendly stadium in Tampa Bay. - Guthrie, Santana and Davis are upgrades on paper, but they all have major question marks. Guthrie and Santana were each terrible in the first half of 2012, and Davis was a relief pitcher for the Rays last season. - On paper, the Royals still aren’t as good as the AL Central defending champion Detroit Tigers. The Royals’ first three starters of Shields, Guthrie and Santana are still no match for Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer and Doug Fister. Plus, the Royals don’t have a hitter that is anywhere close to the level of Miguel Cabrera or Prince Fielder. - While Shields is a significant upgrade for the Royals, the reality is that he was the second or third best pitcher on a team that didn’t make the playoffs last year. Kansas City is counting on him to be the ace. - Myers could be a bona fide star. If the Royals don’t win with Shields and Davis in the next two years and Myers emerges as a consistent All-Star, then the embarrassment from this trade will linger for years. The next two years will have more impact on the future direction of the organization than any others in recent history. If it works, the Royals could quickly become a model for small market teams, and free agents could begin to look at Kansas City as a destination. If it fails, Moore and manager Ned Yost will be gone, and the rebuilding efforts will begin yet another chapter.