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If we are in the hunt come July....


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Upgrading at catcher sure would be nice, but think about it, how many good major league catchers can you name? I mean, guys that can hack (somewhat). There just aren't that many.

 

 

However I'd be willing to bet that Olivo is in the bottom 5 in BA or BB.

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Upgrading at catcher sure would be nice, but think about it, how many good major league catchers can you name? I mean, guys that can hack (somewhat). There just aren't that many.

 

 

However I'd be willing to bet that Olivo is in the bottom 5 in BA or BB.

 

Thing is, it takes less than good to be an upgrade over Olivo.

 

It's not as if we need Joe Mauer (as much as we'd love it) but a catcher needs to do one of two things, hit or play defense, if you're good at one, you can be passable at the other. Problem is, Olivo's among the worst in both aspects that he's living solely on the strength of his throwing arm. He can't be counted on to catch, he can't be counted on to hit, he is almost completely worthless as an everyday major leaguer.

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Why would the Royals move Buck?

 

1) They have Jason LaRue to play backstop for this year. His currently ont he DL but started his rehab assignments yesterday. He was also in a platoon with Buck before he went down with injury and a career .732 OPS, although obviously he isn't as good as he used to be. He gives veteran leadership to a pretty young staff.

 

2) Although Buck is young...he's also 26, and the Royals aren't exactly going to be in contention. I think the Royals are a LOT better then people make them out to be, but fact remains they play in the toughest division in baseball. They simply won't be able to compete for several more years.

 

3) Within their system...

-After sucking it up his first few years, Adam Donachie (23, AA) has turned it around offensively the past couple of years, and is the best deffensive catcher in their system. Sucking so far this year though.

-Kiel Thibault (23, high A, .773 OPS), Matt Morizio (23, .755 OPS, A...no power, but good OBP, and good defense), and Brady Everett (23, .786 OPS, A) are all doing pretty good, for catchers. All are also out of college and could move up quickly.

 

4) It's not like Buck is amazing. He has great power, but is a David Ross-type low OBP, high SLG guy.

 

Probable? No. I don't see us going after him, like you I think there's a better chance of Baker getting called up then us going for a different catcher.

 

But possible? I'd say yeah, considering the Royals won't be in contention for several more years, and would probably put more value in a very young pitcher. My main thing with that post was just trying to name catchers we could go after...because as much as people post "OMG WE NEED TO GET A NEW CATCHER", they fail to actually name names that 1) Are actually tradeable 2) aren't too high of an asking price 3) has major league experience/proven 4) is affordable. There's not many catchers that actually fill that criteria, just trying to name the ones that are.

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CF! ROCCO BALDELLI!

Isn't he like 0 for his last 45 and on the DL?

 

Why would the Royals move Buck?

 

1) They have Jason LaRue to play backstop for this year. His currently ont he DL but started his rehab assignments yesterday. He was also in a platoon with Buck before he went down with injury and a career .732 OPS, although obviously he isn't as good as he used to be. He gives veteran leadership to a pretty young staff.

 

2) Although Buck is young...he's also 26, and the Royals aren't exactly going to be in contention. I think the Royals are a LOT better then people make them out to be, but fact remains they play in the toughest division in baseball. They simply won't be able to compete for several more years.

 

3) Within their system...

-After sucking it up his first few years, Adam Donachie (23, AA) has turned it around offensively the past couple of years, and is the best deffensive catcher in their system. Sucking so far this year though.

-Kiel Thibault (23, high A, .773 OPS), Matt Morizio (23, .755 OPS, A...no power, but good OBP, and good defense), and Brady Everett (23, .786 OPS, A) are all doing pretty good, for catchers. All are also out of college and could move up quickly.

 

4) It's not like Buck is amazing. He has great power, but is a David Ross-type low OBP, high SLG guy.

 

Probable? No. I don't see us going after him, like you I think there's a better chance of Baker getting called up then us going for a different catcher.

 

But possible? I'd say yeah, considering the Royals won't be in contention for several more years, and would probably put more value in a very young pitcher. My main thing with that post was just trying to name catchers we could go after...because as much as people post "OMG WE NEED TO GET A NEW CATCHER", they fail to actually name names that 1) Are actually tradeable 2) aren't too high of an asking price 3) has major league experience/proven 4) is affordable. There's not many catchers that actually fill that criteria, just trying to name the ones that are.

I stopped at Jason LaRue being a reason why Buck could be traded.

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Fact remains they platooned him with Buck at the begining of the year, even though Buck had been lighting it up all year, and only stopped because LaRue got injured. Say what you will about LaRue, and you likely wouldn't be wrong, but fact reamins their FO has shown faith in him.

 

I also haven't seen anything saying that they won't go back to a platoon situation once LaRue comes back off the DL (He should be back in a few days...would be foolish to go back to it considering how bad LaRue had been and how good Buck has been). Admittidly I don't pay much attention to the Royals though.

 

Also if you seriously stopped reading my post at LaRue, I wasn't saying they should trade Buck or that it's even probable, my main point was to point out catchers that we could go after. Because for as much as people post "OMG WE NEED TO GET A NEW CATCHER", nobody ever says anybody who we could even go after. Getting a catcher isn't exactly easy, just look at the Yankees quest of getting a backup, so all I was trying to do was come up with possibilities (And I'm not saying we should go after a catcher).

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Fact remains they platooned him with Buck at the begining of the year, even though Buck had been lighting it up all year, and only stopped because LaRue got injured. Say what you will about LaRue, and you likely wouldn't be wrong, but fact reamins their FO has shown faith in him.

 

I also haven't seen anything saying that they won't go back to a platoon situation once LaRue comes back off the DL (He should be back in a few days...would be foolish to go back to it considering how bad LaRue had been and how good Buck has been). Admittidly I don't pay much attention to the Royals though.

 

Also if you seriously stopped reading my post at LaRue, I wasn't saying they should trade Buck or that it's even probable, my main point was to point out catchers that we could go after. Because for as much as people post "OMG WE NEED TO GET A NEW CATCHER", nobody ever says anybody who we could even go after. Getting a catcher isn't exactly easy, just look at the Yankees quest of getting a backup, so all I was trying to do was come up with possibilities (And I'm not saying we should go after a catcher).

Going after Buck right now would cost a bloody fortune. Most catchers seem to mature in the bigs in their 3-4 year (unless they are Mauer or Piazza). Guys like Lo Duca and Varitek needed those extra years (even though it may not have been the at bats).

 

But yea, we agree that Baker has a better chance of getting a look than does trading for a catcher.

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So do people think Lofton could be a realistic option?

Probably not.

 

I don't see us taking on any of that salary ($6mil), even though it would obviously be prorated

How high would we pay for someone like kenny for less than a year? How high do you think they'd go? What if Texas ate half ot it?

 

I just cant see Lofton being a Ranger for that much longer... it seems like it would be in their best interest to eat some salary and try to get a decent pitching prospect...

 

...and if we're content on Hanley batting 3rd, i could think of worse options than Kenny leading off.

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imo, if he gets that average up to .280ish (which is like 2 more hits) when we would go after him, and if they ate most of that salary, i would expect him to cost a Ryan Tucker probably... maybe a Jesus Delgado or Harvey Garcia as well

 

certainly top 15-20 talent

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For Kenny Lofton?

 

That seems a bit high

Just look at past trades. You gotta give up very good talent at the deadline to make moves

 

I'll give you 3 examples within this organization:

 

Jeff Conine for Denny Bautista and Donald Levinski

Ugueth Urbina for Adrian Gonzalez, Ryan Snare, Will Smith

Ron Villone for Yorman Bazardo

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I guess I just dont see Kenny Lofton as that big of a difference maker at this stage in his career to warrant giving up a young SP prospect with potential.

 

If the Marlins could/would take on salary, it's a different animal.

 

Remember, you have to figure in a team paying a player not on their roster, or, by extension, paying for a prospect.

 

If you're going to shell out $3-$5 million to cover a contract, you'd ask for a decent prospect back.

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