Royals Trade for Yuniesky Betancourt

Wow, what a weird trade. The Royals have acquired shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt from the Mariners for pitching prospects Dan Cortes and Derrick Saito. Cortes, who originally came to the Royals in the Mike MacDougal deal, looked like a pretty good starting prospect until this year and still is young enough to get it together. Saito is a lottery-ticket lefty reliever from the low minors who has posted good numbers so far. Betancourt is a terrible defensive player and he's almost as bad as a hitter; he's an awful imitation of a starting shortstop. Acquiring him is just about the only way to try and fail to improve the Willie Bloomquist / Tony Pena / Luis Hernandez mess the Royals have played at short recently. Terrible trade for Kansas City.

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Now we could see something with Seattle and Jack Wilson?

by Gorkys n' Beans on Jul 10, 2009 9:46 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Ohhh, I hope so.

But knowing this, I wish we could have traded with KC.

by ryebr3ad on Jul 10, 2009 9:55 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ka’aihue, Cortes, and another grade B arm for Jack wouldn’t have been too bad for us (unless KK is too old at 25 for our rebuilding).

by Gorkys n' Beans on Jul 10, 2009 10:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

…and all this makes me wonder that much more why in the world we were ever “interested” in Betancourt earlier this year. Terrible SS.

by mspirate on Jul 10, 2009 10:00 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I thought it was revealed that we were never interested

"Everybody panic! If you have a small child, use it as a shield! They love tender meat."

by BattlinBucs on Jul 10, 2009 10:16 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

we weren't

by dtoddwin on Jul 11, 2009 11:38 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Betancourt is not terrible.

His glove is comparable to Jack Wilson’s. Can he hit? Well, not so much. But either can Jack.

To me a terrible SS is someone who can’t hit OR field. A mediocre SS would do one or the other well.

by Johnny Nez on Jul 11, 2009 4:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

UZR absolutely despises his defense (and has him ranked worst in the league by far), Baseball Prospectus see him as near-average. The reality is probably closer to average than league worst, but he’s just not close to Jack defensively or even offensively.

by Gorkys n' Beans on Jul 11, 2009 4:44 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Betancourt is not terrible

And the Royals have no options at shortstop. Aviles had TJ surgery and there’s no one behind him. No one.

Betancourt won’t, can’t take a walk. He’s determined to swing the bat, and until this year he did so reasonably well. In 2006 and 2007 he batted 0.279 with OBPs of 0.306 and 0.308!! Yikes!! As a fielder he appears to miss routine plays from time to time and make tough ones. He’s the sort of player you go for when you are desperate. And the Royals are at shortstop. Of course I won’t argue with people who say that the Royal’s overall approach does not make much sense. I agree. They’ve got pretty good pitching surrounded by dreadful defense.

Viva Clemente!

by Roberto on Jul 11, 2009 5:22 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

He's worse....

than terrible. UZR, Dewan’s +/- or Fielding Percentage he is absolutely awful. But, he doesn’t hustle, take coaching very well, run the bases well or draw walks. So he has that going for him.

by dtoddwin on Jul 11, 2009 7:04 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

This record is whatever

but we at least have hope. There are pieces in place that we can picture being part of a winner.

Reading this made me feel awful for the Royals fans. Is this what it was like during the Littlefield era? I kind of blocked those years out of my life.
link

"Everybody panic! If you have a small child, use it as a shield! They love tender meat."

by BattlinBucs on Jul 11, 2009 12:16 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Mariners are paying half of remaining Betancourt contract...

…paying ALL of it might have made this trade at least look only half-bad instead of downright Littlefieldian.

by phil79 on Jul 11, 2009 2:00 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Maybe The Royals Are Trying To Win The Bryce Harper Baseball Tournament

And they’re trying to save a couple bucks in the process.

by Androgen Jar Jimmy on Jul 11, 2009 12:43 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Jack

If we do trade Jack to the M’s (maybe Freddie with him) I fear that the ML ready ss we get in return is Ronnie Cedeno…

by God Loves on Jul 11, 2009 9:32 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Wow

The Royals must definitely see themselves as buyers in this years’ deadline… in the Bryce Harper Sweepstakes. I know he kid is good, but these guys want him BAD.

by glass0941 on Jul 11, 2009 12:23 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Have You Seen His Batspeed?

I want him bad too.

Except he’s a Yankee-lover. He wants to sign with the Yankees, and I bet Boras is gonna help make it happen.

by Androgen Jar Jimmy on Jul 11, 2009 12:45 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Would you be suprised if he did?

I know I wouldn’t. I am all for agents fighting for everyone of their clients desires because that is their job, but he is flat out bad for baseball. Hey, finishing second in the race this year maybe good enough, assuming the Nats are the winners. They may pass on Harper because of how much it’ll take to sign Strasburg. That is pure speculation on my part though

by glass0941 on Jul 11, 2009 3:09 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Just cause I haven't see it here

Braves and Mets swap Francoeuer for Church.

by bucdaddy on Jul 11, 2009 2:05 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

A pitcher-friendly park...

…should do wonders for Francoeur’s .634 OPS

by phil79 on Jul 11, 2009 2:18 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I wonder

if two everyday players as bad as Betancout and Francoeur have ever been traded on the same day before. According to Fangraphs, Francoeur is worth -$2.6M and Yuni is worth -$3.6M. Truly amazing.

by maguro on Jul 11, 2009 2:50 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Quick, somebody call the Royals GM’s office to make sure that Dave Littlefield isn’t really the acting GM of the Royals. The Royals gave up their best pitching prospect and another good arm to get Betancourt?!? That’s a Littlefield move all the way.

by mspirate on Jul 11, 2009 2:51 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Article slamming the Pirates. What else is new.

http://www.heralddeparis.com/perplexing-pirates-keep-trading-and-losing-more/43866

“The Pirates have developed good young players, but they have developed them for other teams.”

I’d like to know what good players the Pirates have DEVELOPED in the past, except maybe Bonds and Ramirez.

by phil79 on Jul 11, 2009 3:04 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I got into an argument with a guy who claimed McLouth was “no doubt” one of the top three outfielders in baseball.

Hey MAY have said “top three centerfielders,” which in his defense moves the claim from insanity to just regular stupidity.

Now, I think saying Bonds and Ramirez are the only two “good” players the Pirates developed is really unfair. I’d say that the Pirates developed McLouth and that McLouth is good. The reason I mention the argument about “top 3 OF” is this: People usually severely inflate what “good” means.

by CptnAwesome on Jul 11, 2009 3:38 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

At least tell me you tore him a new asshole?

Of course, that just gives him another hole in which to speak.

by ryebr3ad on Jul 11, 2009 4:33 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I did. Well, I tried. He wasn’t cognizant of reality, so he didn’t really grasp anything I said. To my disappointment, the guy did say Nate was a top 3 CF, not top 3 OF.

For fun, here are some actual honest-to-God arguments made from this guy regarding Nate. This was on a Steelers forum, by the way, so hilariously it starts off with an admission that the guy doesn’t follow baseball and had no idea who Nate McLouth even was. It really was a tour de force.

Actually, I had never heard of him before today – that is how much I am following BB. When I looked him up he had like 26HR’s, 96 RBI’s and 23 steals last year. He is on pace for 31 HR’s this year and leads MLB in steal % of the past 3 seasons – something like 63-69. So, he is not a 30-30 guy yet, but has the power and the speed if he WANTED to be.

He could have been the centerpiece to this team for 10 more years.

He looks like Grady Sizemore to me. And Grady was everyones preseason MVP pick.

A little factoid for ya:

Of all CF’ers in MLB, Nate is:

5th in HR’s and 3 rd in RBI’s.

Carlos Beltran has 7 HR and 32 RBI.

Tori Hunter has 12 HR and 43 RBI

A case can be made that he is he best CF in BB given his age. No worse than top 3.

Wow, I’m going to develop a baseball webinar for you guys. Gold Glove CFers who are on pace for 30 hrs and 110+ RBI’s while leading all of BB in steal % are RARE.

Spin it how you want, but thems the facts.

Number of RFers who hit more than 31 HR’s last year: – 2

Number of RFers who had over 113 RBI’s: 0

You guys are just dumb. Period.

BONUS FUN! The same guy claimed the trade was stupid for the following reason:

“So….they are playing better and building momentum to get within 6.5 games of 1st and give up on June 2nd? That makes it even worse.”

That’s right. The Pirates should have been buyers.

In a last gasp effort, I calmly asked him why, if Nate was truly top 3, he and his agent would be so willing to take such a paltry deal in light of contracts given to other guys. He suggested that Grady Sizemore was again the appropriate measuring stick. Because “he signed a 6 year contract for 23 million.” But yeah, ignore the fact his contract expires at his option in Grady’s age 27 season. Also ignore every other contract out there, too.

by CptnAwesome on Jul 11, 2009 5:40 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

So, you explained OPS to him, right?

And then promptly schooled him with that, right? I’m glad these idiots aren’t running the team.

by ryebr3ad on Jul 11, 2009 6:27 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yes, and OPS+. I really did try to keep it pretty simple…OPS isn’t all that hard to understand. That told me we weren’t going to get anywhere with EqA or VORP.

It didn’t matter. He went back to home runs, RBI, and a Gold Glove.

He claimed to look at OPS. Then he asked me what stats my prototypical CF would among a variety of stats. Among other stats I was supposed to fill out, he listed OPS. He also listed SLG and OBP. I told him this suggests he doesn’t know what OPS means.

by CptnAwesome on Jul 11, 2009 7:20 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

“That told me we weren’t going to get anywhere with EqA or VORP” should be appended to the end of the second paragraph. Oops!

by CptnAwesome on Jul 11, 2009 7:21 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It's a Murray Chass article

If you want to enjoy some good ol’ Murray Chass slammin’, go over to firejoemorgan.com and do a search. He makes Smizik sound rational.

by MDBuc on Jul 11, 2009 4:05 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Nobody really....

Jason Kendall was home grown and good, but his better years were in Pittsburgh. Esteban Loaiza was also out of our farm system and won 21 games for the White Sox in 2003. Jury is still out on Nate McLouth.
Brian Giles and Jason Bay were allowed to develop in Pittsburgh even though neither played on any of our farm teams.

"Baseball is better than football. Think about it, eighty degrees, a cold beer and a short-sleeve shirt is better than 30 degrees, a hip flask and six layers of clothes under a lap blanket. Take your pick: suntan or frostbite. " - Thomas Boswell

by Ketcham Bruce on Jul 11, 2009 4:17 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Joe Posnanski has his take on the Betancourt trade here: http://joeposnanski.com/JoeBlog/2009/07/11/gimme-a-u-a-knee-an-s-a-key/

It really is worth your time reading it. My favorite line: “…in three hundred years kids will be sitting around a campfire and singing songs about how bad a shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt was.”

by wickethewok on Jul 11, 2009 5:59 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs