Tag: Jorge De La Rosa

The Most Mediocre Players in Royals History

Royals catcher Brent Mayne.
Credit: Barry Taylor Photography

As the Kansas City Royals enter the 50th year of their existence, it’s commonplace to take a deeper look into the franchise’s history and the gold and glory that comes with it. It’s easy to look at all the accomplishments and the positives that come with it. But it also can lead you down a dark tunnel, one that many refuse to even glance at.

When I saw this tweet, my brain started churning:

Now, this is obviously a bracket for the Pittsburgh Pirates, but it tossed a question into my brain: who is the most mediocre player in Royals history? Has anyone really delved into that? Or has anyone even been brave enough to jaunt down that rabbit hole?

Closeup Of George Brett

We could do a list of the best Royals of all-time, but we can answer that without even looking up any stats: George Brett is the greatest hitter and Kevin Appier is the best pitcher. See, simple enough?

Astros v Royals X
Credit: Getty Images

We could even do a worst of all-time, but we all know that is Neifi Perez. Hey, the numbers might not back this up but I find it hard to believe that much of anyone will argue with Neifi being the choice. Sure, Dee Brown has less fWAR (-4.1 to Neifi’s -3.2) but Neifi was like that family member that just shows up on your doorstep and invites themselves to stay for a month. Then they just crash on your couch, watching reruns of ‘Family Guy’ the entire time. Sorry about the tangent but you get the point. When the only Royals player Sung Woo Lee has ever disliked is you, you are officially the worst. So Neifi, you officially get that honor. Congrats, I guess.

But what about mediocre? That doesn’t mean you are good or bad. It means you are…just there. Ordinary, average, middle of the road, run of the mill, pedestrian and probably forgettable. There have been a number of forgettable names that have put on a Royals jersey over the years, but it takes a special kind to be mediocre.

So when I decided to take this challenge, I needed to decide on my criteria. Initially I thought of making a bracket, if for no reason then so I could toss in a Jeff Reboulet here or a Dave Wickersham there (I’m not joking when I say that is not a made up name. Totally real).

Instead I decided to go with players who have a career 0.0 fWAR during their entire tenure in Kansas City. Nothing says ‘mediocre’ like a middle of the road number like 0.0. I thought about using wRC+ for batters and ERA+ for pitchers, but that wouldn’t deliver the true scope of mediocrity that I am looking for.

Since there was a decent amount of players who actually achieved this wearing the royal blue, I then went ahead and broke it down according to those batters with the most plate appearances and pitchers with the most innings while accomplishing 0.0 WAR. So let’s start first with the pitchers:

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#3- Don Hood

Hood comes in third place for this ‘race of the mediocre’ as he pitched 114.1 innings as a Royal, with a respectable 2.99 ERA, 4.31 FIP, 3.78 K’s per 9, 2.83 BB’s per 9 in 57 games for Kansas City. Honestly, the only reason I even remember Hood is because I have his baseball card. He pitched for the Royals during his last two big league seasons, 1982 and 1983, while primarily pitching out of the pen.

Not only was Hood’s ERA pretty good, but he also posted an ERA+ of 137. So he actually was a decent contributor for the team but alas had a 0.0 fWAR, which left him on this list.  Just for posterity’s sake, he did put up 1.2 bWAR, so Baseball Reference does rate him a bit higher.

Hood might actually be a decent representation of forgettable, as I would bet it would be hard to conjure up many Kansas City fans who remember Hood’s time with the team.

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Credit: Stephen Dunn

#2- Blake Wood

Wood is a more recent contributor to the ‘House of Mediocre’, as he pitched for the Royals during the 2010-2011 campaigns, his first two seasons in the majors. Wood compiled an ERA of 4.30, 4.15 FIP, 7.01 K’s per 9 and an ERA+ of 97 over 119.1 innings.

Amazingly, Wood appeared in 106 games during that two year span and while Fangraphs has his WAR at 0.0, Baseball Reference once again has it a tad higher, at 0.9. Maybe the funniest part about this entire test is that Wood continues to be pretty pedestrian, putting up a career ERA+ of 95 (slightly below average) and an fWAR & bWAR of 1.0 over seven seasons. It’s easy to see now that Wood is a great fit as a mediocre former Royal.

Detroit Tigers vs Kansas City Royals
Credit: Barry Taylor Photography

#1- Jorge De La Rosa

The most mediocre Royals pitcher of all-time is someone who has been around forever and I’m sure a few of you don’t even remember his time in Kansas City. De La Rosa spent a part of the 2006 season in Kansas City after being acquired from Milwaukee (for Tony Graffanino) and would also spend 2007 in a Royals uniform. Over 178.2 innings, he would compile a 5.64 ERA, 5.57 FIP, 5.94 K’s per 9, and an ERA+ of 82.

Like the other two, his Baseball Reference WAR skews a bit higher (0.2) and it does feel important to remember that De La Rosa spent his first full season in the big leagues with the Royals in 2007. Since then, he has gone on to pitch 11 more seasons in the majors (15 overall) and is currently pitching for the Diamondbacks.

Maybe the best part of this project is seeing how these players have turned out and De La Rosa has continued down a path of mediocrity. De La Rosa’s career ERA+ is 99 and has accumulated 14.6 fWAR over 14 seasons, or a shade over 1.0 wins above replacement per season. De La Rosa proves that while being average could appear bad to some, it can also lead to stability in Major League Baseball.

Alright, so there are the mediocre pitchers, so now we shift over to the hitters.

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#3- Butch Davis

I’m just going to be honest: I don’t remember Butch Davis. Davis was an outfielder that played in Kansas City from 1983 to 1984. In those two years, Davis made it to the plate 258 times, posting a line of .248/.285/.370  with 4 home runs and 30 RBI’s.

The weird part is that Davis actually had a really solid rookie year in 1983, as he hit .344/.359/.508 with a wRC+ of 135 over 130 plate appearances. Davis would plummet in ’84 though, hitting just .147/.211/.224 in 128 plate appearances.

Combined, this led to a wRC+ of 79, a fWAR of 0.0 and a bWAR of 0.2. Pretty average numbers for a player who ends up as the third most mediocre hitter in Royals history.

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#2- Rudy Law

I do remember Rudy Law, as he was signed by Kansas City after the 1985 season to play in the outfield. In fact, Law was actually a pretty good player for the White Sox during the 1982 and 1983 seasons, almost even posting a 3 win season in ’83.

Law would appear in 86 games for the Royals in 1986, with 341 plate appearances. He would hit .261/.327/.388 with one home run and 36 RBI’s. He would also post a wRC+ of 95 (pretty average), which was actually on par with his 1983 season.

The biggest difference for Law appeared to be on defense in Kansas City, as his dWAR fell to -0.9 after being around average the previous few seasons. This led to the 0.0 fWAR and a 0.5 bWAR. While I do remember Rudy’s time in Kansas City, it’s easy to see how you could forget his short stay there as well.

Royals catcher Brent Mayne.
Credit: Barry Taylor Photography

#1- Brent Mayne

All of this middle of the road talent has led us to this, the guy who not only is the #1 most mediocre position player in Royals history, but the overall #1…and it isn’t even close. It only makes sense that the most run of the mill Royals player would be a guy that the team drafted in the 1st round back in 1989.

Brent Mayne would pull multiple tours of duty for Kansas City (1990-1995 and 2001-2003) and just looking at the numbers show how pedestrian he really was. Mayne would hit .244/.305/.322 with 20 home runs and 205 RBI’s in a Royals uniform. The honest truth was that Mayne was more wildly known for his defense than his offense, which also explains the career wRC+ of 74 and a 63 for his tenure in Kansas City.

So why does Mayne stack above everyone else? Most of the other players on this list had very brief careers as a Royal whereas Mayne would play nine seasons for our boys in blue. He would rack up 2200 plate appearances over 664 career games for Kansas City and no player on this list can even come close to those numbers while also posting pure mediocrity.

In those nine seasons, Mayne would have only four seasons with a fWAR above 0.0 and in 2002 he actually finished the season at 0.0! You’ve probably also noticed that throughout this experiment most of the players would put up a better WAR according to Baseball Reference than Fangraphs.

So in an ironic twist, it appears that Mayne’s fWAR (0.0) is actually higher than it is on Baseball Reference (-1.2). This obviously is because of how each site factors their wins above replacement, but it does show how Mayne’s value can shift according to what you are looking for.

If you watched the Royals during what I like to refer to as ‘The Lean Years”, you probably saw Brent Mayne play and you are probably completely agreeing with him ending up at the top of this list. The funny part is that while I am poking a bit of fun toward a list of mediocrity, Mayne is more proof that being average can actually be a strength. Mayne ended up with a 15 year career, got to appear in the playoffs in 2004 and racked up over $13 million dollars in his career. All in all, that speaks of a very blessed career for Mr. Mayne.

Mayne homers in the eighth inning.
Barry Taylor Photography

So there you go, the most mediocre players in Royals history. Now it’s your turn: who do you think should be the most mediocre? Who was your favorite mediocre player? Would you go by a different point of reference to determine an average player? Maybe break it down to decades? Let us know who you feel is an all-time mediocre Royal.

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Royalty’s Notebook: February Royals Thoughts

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Spring Training is so close that we can practically smell the freshly cut grass and see the perfectly drawn baselines. It’s that time of year when the phrase ‘Pitchers and catchers report’ is music to any baseball fans ears. Over the last few weeks, I have had a number of thoughts littering my head and figured rather than writing four separate articles, I would shoot out a few short notes on some Kansas City Royals related activities that have been going on. What better way to start than with the pitcher we call ‘Duffman’…

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There are so many reasons to love Danny Duffy right now. Duffy showed himself to be a true front of the rotation starter last year and was rewarded with a nice new contract, which means he will be around for at least the next five years. There is his return to twitter where he is trying to do some good. Speaking of Duffy the good samaritan, if you weren’t already ‘Team Duffy’, than him meeting and talking to fans at Kauffman Stadium after Yordano Ventura’s death should have swayed you. But the story that made me really proud to know that Duffy is on ‘my team’ is the one where he bought a Yordano bobblehead. This story must be read, so click here. In short, a Royals fan in the Kansas City area sold his Ventura bobblehead on ebay and right before he mailed it off, he saw it was addressed to Duffy. He canceled the payment and sent Duffy a message, telling him he wasn’t going to charge him for the bobble. Duffy told the guy he was trying to buy up as much Yordano merchandise as possible and then mail it to his mom at the end of the season. When I first read that, a legit huge smile broke out on my face. I have long rooted for Duffy to succeed, if anything because the guy has shown again and again that he is an awesome human being. The fact that he was accumulating as much Yo’ memorabilia as possible because it would help her “remember the good times” was just phenomenal. Talk about being proud that he is in Kansas City; I have never seen an athlete who is so open about his feelings AND in such a positive way, to boot (Yes, that was slightly directed at Zack Greinke). We might love our Salvy, our A1 and our Moose, but dammit if I’m not a Duffy fan for life because of what he represents as a player and a person.

Royals Preview Spring Baseball

Speaking of Ventura, there has been a call amongst many Royals fans for the team to retire his number 30 this season. I understand that for most of us there is an emotional attachment to the group of players who guided this team to their first championship in 30 years. I was just as broken up about Ventura’s passing as most other Royals fans and I figure the home opener on April 10th will probably cause a few lumps in throats. That being said, it feels like the push to retire his number is an emotional thought and not a logical one. Over the team’s 47 year history, they have retired three former Royals: George Brett (5), Frank White (20) and Dick Howser (10). That’s it. In my eyes there have been a few worthy numbers that could have been retired by Kansas City over the years, but I do like that they aren’t just retiring numbers left and right. To me, if you are going to go that route, it better be a player who really marked their spot in franchise history. While Ventura had a number of big moments in his short career, he did only have three full seasons under his belt, and was just slightly above league average overall during that time. I have heard a number of great ideas in honoring Ventura this year, like leaving the ball on the mound opening day and letting manager Ned Yost make a “pitching change”, or naming a baseball academy down in the Dominican Republic after him. Those are just two great examples of honoring his passing and I wouldn’t even have a big issue with putting him in the Royals Hall of Fame in the future, even if it would feel like it was being done because he passed away while still with the team. But retiring his number feels like an emotional reaction to his death and I just don’t agree with it. I’m sure the Royals will honor his time in Kansas City this year and they should; but lets not overreact. Honoring Ventura is fine, but retiring his number is unnecessary and to be brutally honest, not really earned.

MLB: Minnesota Twins at Kansas City Royals

With the Royals signing of Jason Hammel this week, Kansas City has marked off almost every need that they were searching for this winter…that is, except for another bullpen arm. The thought has been that the Royals would possibly sign one more reliever and with Spring Training looming in just a few days, there could be a last-minute signing, especially if they bring Luke Hochevar back into the fold. Hochevar is coming off of Thoracic Outlet Surgery but it’s been thought all along that as long as he is healthy, the team would look to bring him back to Kansas City. If not Hochevar, there are a few options still available on the market. Guys like Travis Wood, Jonathan Niese and former Royals Joe Blanton and Jorge De La Rosa are still available. The Royals also checked in on Seth Maness last week, the former Cardinals reliever who bypassed Tommy John Surgery and elected an experimental surgery that would have him back on the field in 7 months. While I tend to think Hoch will be back fairly soon, Kansas City has many choices and with a group of young arms also in the running ( Josh Staumont, Kevin McCarthy and Eric Skoglund among them) there will be some definite competition in the bullpen this spring for the Royals.

Boston Red Sox v Kansas City Royals-Game Two

The Hammel signing also meant that room would have to be made for him on the Royals 40 man roster, and Alec Mills was the unfortunate person to be sent packing. Mills was dealt to the Cubs for outfielder Donnie Deewees. Mills was a solid arm for Kansas City’s system but at best was probably someone who would have success out of the bullpen rather than in the rotation. Deewees is an interesting acquisition, as he is a speedy outfielder type that Dayton Moore continually covets. The scouts evaluation of Deewees seems to be on par with current Royals outfielder Billy Burns:

ESPN’s Keith Law recently rated Dewees 15th among Cubs farmhands, noting that he’s a 70-grade runner that can handle center field from a range standpoint but has a 20-grade arm that limits him to left field. Longenhagen ranked him 19th among Cubs prospects offering a similar take (albeit a 30-grade arm instead of 20), writing that without the power to profile as a left field regular, his best scenario is a Ben Revere type. B-Pro’s Steve Givarz was a bit more optimistic about his glovework but still pegs him as more of a fourth outfielder than a potential starter.

Deewees is still only 23 years old and more than likely will start the year in Kansas City’s High A Ball team in Wilmington. This could be a trade to monitor over the next couple years and see how Deewees has (or has not) developed. When all else fails, Moore will always lean towards speed.

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Finally, Kansas City went out and signed Brayan Pena to a minor league deal this past week. Pena is a former Royal who played for Kansas City from 2009-2012 and spent most of his time as a backup catcher. Pena is a serviceable receiver who has a bit of pop in his bat and is well liked in the clubhouse. The honesty is that this is a depth signing and much like Tony Cruz last year, Pena will most likely be spending his time in Omaha this year unless something goes wrong for Salvador Perez or Drew Butera. It’s good to see Brayan back in blue, but I wouldn’t expect to see much of him once the season starts.

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In just a few days pitchers and catcher will be reporting to Spring Training and we can actually start digesting some news on our ‘Boys in Blue’ and start getting a feel for what the major league roster will look like come April. I can say with all honesty that I feel better about the feel of this roster now than I did even a few weeks ago. For all intent and purposes, the Royals are looking to gain back what they lost last year, which would be the top of the Central Division. Next week, step one begins on a long road to their (hopeful) final destination, October baseball.As always, hope springs eternal.

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Dealer’s Choice

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The second half of the Major League Baseball season is now underway, and with that comes the looming trade deadline, scheduled for August 1st this year. Teams can trade players throughout August, but a player has to pass through waivers first before a deal can be done. So for the next few weeks, teams will be trading players at a greater rate, since there are no restrictions to any deal they would like to procure. With that being said, the Kansas City Royals have a few needs they would like to fill before the deadline. The Royals probably won’t be making the splash they made before last year’s deadline, as the farm system was gutted last summer and with a number of injuries to the team this year, there isn’t as much depth as in years past. So don’t look for a Ben Zobrist or Johnny Cueto to end up in their lap this year. With that being said, the two I will be looking at today is starting pitching (which needs an immediate upgrade) and right field. Now, before anyone asks, yes Paulo Orlando is having a great season for Kansas City, playing mostly right field. While Paulo has been getting on base, he hasn’t been producing as many runs as maybe the team would like and there is possibly even a worry that he won’t be able to sustain his current pace. Now…let’s look at some trade possibilities for the Royals, beginning with starting pitchers.

MLB: MAR 20 Spring Training - Astros at Phillies
20 MAR 2016

Jeremy Hellickson

I’ve long been a supporter of Hellickson since his Tampa years, and secretly hoped the Royals would swing a deal for him. Hellickson has had a bounce back year for Philadelphia this year, throwing 105 innings with a 107 ERA+,  lower FIP and WHIP and a higher SO/W ratio(3.44). Hellickson is still only 29 and will be a free agent after the season, so the Royals wouldn’t have to keep him once the season was over. Hellickson is a ground ball pitcher, which would seem to be a good fit with the Royals infield defense. With Hellickson on the upswing, this would be a good time to pick him up and toss him into the rotation.

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Rich Hill

Hill is inevitably on everyone’s list and not surprisingly so. Hill is coveted because A) He is signed only through the 2016 season B) He is only(only!!) making $6 million this year C) He’s left-handed and D) Billy Beane likes to deal his players at the deadline. Hill has dealt with a groin injury this year but that most likely won’t affect his value on the market. Hill has had a good season when healthy, posting 76 innings with an ERA+ of 184, 2.57 FIP, 3.21 SO/W ratio and 3.0 WAR. Hill resurrected his career last year but shouldn’t cost much if Kansas City decided to part with a prospect. Hill would be a good addition to the Royals rotation, but there is a long list of teams who have been scouting him over the last couple of months.

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Matt Moore

Moore is another lefty that the Royals have been linked to as an interested party. Moore was once considered a top of the rotation type pitcher but has had control and health issues during his time in Tampa. Moore has thrown 109 innings this year, compiling an ERA+ of 93, 4.59 FIP and a 2.94 SO/W ratio. Moore still has electric stuff and is signed through this year, but has team options through 2019. If the Royals wanted, they could acquire Moore and possibly keep him with the team for three more seasons. He is still only 27 years old and would be an intriguing possibility if Kansas City decided to go this route. Tampa Bay appears to be in trading mode, so I would think there is a good chance Moore is dealt before the end of July.

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(STAFF PHOTO / DENNIS MAFFEZZOLI)

Jake Odorizzi

Odorizzi is possibly the most intriguing name on this list, as he came up through the minors in the Kansas City farm system after being acquired from Milwaukee in the Zack Greinke trade. For the longest time Odorizzi was considered a future mainstay of the Royals staff, only to be dealt to Tampa in the Wade Davis deal(which is what we will refer to it moving forward). Odorizzi has seen Amodest success with the Rays the last few years, racking up 104 innings so far this year, with an ERA+ of 93, 4.39 FIP and a WAR of 1.3. There is some familiarity for Kansas City with Odorizzi and much like Moore, if Jake was acquired the Royals would have him under contract through the 2019 season. It might cost Kansas City a bit more to pick up Odorizzi because of the contract, but he also has a better recent track record than Moore and Kansas City would already have an idea of what they would be getting with Odorizzi. If I have a favorite on this list, it’s this guy.

Other names to keep an eye on: Erasmo Ramirez, Ervin Santana, Andrew Cashner, Dan Straily and Jorge De La Rosa

Now, let’s move on to the outfielders…

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Jay Bruce

Bruce might be the most coveted position player available this trade season and is a good bet to be out of Cincinnati by the end of the month. Bruce is signed through the season but has a $13 million team option for 2017. He could be someone the Royals could acquire to keep through this current contending window and then allow to leave at the end of next year. But…I tend to think Bruce is a long shot to end up in Kansas City for a few reasons. One, it will probably take a decent size haul to trade for him in the first place, possibly more than the Royals currently have to offer. Two, while Bruce has put up good power numbers this year(18 home runs, .538 slugging percentage and 171 total bases), he strikes out quite a bit(69 times so far this year, 145 last year) and defensively he is a below average defender. Throw in the fact that he is tops on a number of teams trade list, and you have the likelihood of Bruce ending up in another contenders pocket when the dust finally settles on August 1st.

MLB: JUL 12 Athletics at Indians
12 July 2015

Josh Reddick

Reddick is most contending team’s wet dream; free agent at the end of the season, reasonable salary and is putting up good numbers this season. It’s been reported that the Royals have scouted both Reddick and his teammate Rich Hill, so there is interest from Kansas City in the Oakland slugger. I would normally be gung-ho about this move, especially since Reddick is hitting .295/.369/.426 with an OPS+ of 117 and 1.4 WAR. But Reddick has been dealing with a thumb injury and it seems to have sapped his power; so far this year he has only 5 home runs and 14 total extra base hits. I think this still might be a good acquisition for Kansas City, as the numbers show no major change in his hard hit rate and is also a plus defender in the outfield. If the team was looking to upgrade in right field, they could do a lot worse than Josh Reddick.

MLB: Arizona Diamondbacks at San Diego Padres
(Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY)

Melvin Upton, Jr.

I’m going to be honest: I’ve never been a big fan of Upton. I would even go so far as to say I have long felt he is overrated. This goes back to his early years in Tampa Bay, where I felt he was living off his potential and occasional bursts of solid production. He seemed to me to be an athletic guy with the “5 tools” executives and scouts covet but only really making use of one or two of them. In my eyes, he seemed to strike out too much and focus his attention on the longball, turning himself into a one-dimensional hitter. All this being said, I am thoroughly shocked at his production this year and even more shocked that he is out-hitting his brother(106 OPS+ compared to Justin’s 80). Upton is putting up numbers we haven’t seen from him since 2012, posting a line of .262/.311/.454 with 16 home runs, 44 RBI’s and 2.2 WAR. These are all really good numbers and you can see why he has been mentioned in many a trade rumor. But here is the elephant in the room-Upton’s contract. Upton is in year 4 of a 5 year deal that is paying him $15.45 million this year and $16.45 million next year. That is waaaaaaay too much money for a guy who has racked up only 1.2 WAR in 3.5 years.  The only way Kansas City would acquire him is if San Diego was willing to eat a large chunk of that contract, and even then they would be hesitant. If the Padres are willing to eat most of the money, there is a chance this could happen. If not, barely a discussion will happen between the two sides.

Other names to keep an eye on:  Ender Inciarte, Nick Markakis, Matt Joyce and Odubel Herrera

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The one thing to remember before the trade deadline is that there is probably at least a 1,000 to 1 ratio of ‘rumors’ to ‘rumors with actual legs on them’, so take many of them with a grain of salt. With that being said, it appears something will happen on the Royals front and possibly even before August 1st. Kansas City can still make a move after that, but that will require the players involved in the deal to pass through waivers unclaimed first, which is hard to do. Last year Cueto and Zobrist were the big prizes and GM Dayton Moore was able  to reel them in. This year, Dayton might have to be more creative when it comes to piecing together another team that can make a deep playoff run.

 

 

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