And all that could have been… (or, how I learned to start crying over Wladimir Balentien)

Last season, as the trade deadline loomed ever closer, a sure-fire trade candidate was Octavio Dotel. Dotel was signed by the Royals on December 8, 2006, by Dayton Moore. While Dayton almost certainly had the ‘flip-a-player’ idea rolling in the back of his head, Dotel was officially handed the closer role.

Watch that lip, Octavio!

via mlb.mlb.com

"The back end of our bullpen has been a major focus," general manager Dayton Moore said . "It was a problem in '06. We feel we've made big strides in bringing it an identity."

Dotel had a rough start with the Royals, straining his oblique in spring training. Also newly acquired reliever David Riske was handed the closer job while Dotel was away, but performed very poorly in the role. Desperate to cover his ass, Buddy Bell turned to Rule 5 Draft Pick Joakim Soria. Soria stepped in, and started slamming the doors.

Mexi-tough

via i.a.cnn.net 

...Soria was so dominant in the eighth inning that Buddy Bell sent him out to pitch the ninth with a 6-3 lead; Soria retired the side in order again, striking out the last two hitters. Soria was the de facto closer from that point until Octavio Dotel’s return from the DL, and then returned to the role after Dotel was traded. (Rany)
 

Dotel returned on May 23, 2007, versus the Cleveland Indians. He looked very hittable in that game, giving up 3 hits, including a HR to Travis Hafner, his 9th of the year. He improved greatly over his next

few outings, however, and eventually converted 11/14 opportunities, going 2-1 with a 3.91 ERA and 120 ERA+, and a WHIP of 1.522.  Speculation on his impending trade really started in the June timeframe, with the Mariners, Braves, Red Sox, Dodgers, Indians, and Mets  leading the parade to try and pick him up.

Of considerable interest to the community of royalsreview.com was the young Mariners (Tacoma Rainers AAA) outfielder, Wladimir Balentien . Eventually, the Balentien offer was ignored, and Moore elected to trade Dotel to the Braves for a familiar product (to Moore), Kyle Davies. 

 

Davies likes to eat children when not on the mound.

via mlb.mlb.com

Kyle has had his share of problems in the minors and bigs, most frequently with Homeruns and walks. Now, giving up homeruns and walks with the consistency that Davies does is a very bad thing. No one doubts that he has ‘electric’ stuff, and that he could mature into a starting pitcher that fits well in the #2-#4 positions.

Davies did not impress in his starts with the Royals, or with the Braves, consistently. Currently he resides in the minor leagues, at Omaha, with a lifetime major league line including a 17-28 record over 287 innings, 1.725 WHIP, ERA+ of 70, and an ERA of 6.24.

This is what it looks like when Davies serves up your 500th homer of your career.

via blog.nj.com

There may be hope for Davies, yet. At Omaha in 2008, he currently holds a 4-2 record in 7 starts, going 37 innings. He is still walking too many batters, at a little under .5 /IP, and his K:BB rate is 3:2. His ERA is only 2.43 at the moment, but he has allowed 19 runs, only 10 of which are earned.  With the jury still out on Davies, let’s all just hope for the best, shall we?

On to Wladimir Balentien. Balentien (24) was born July 2, 1984, in Willemstad, Curacao, in the Netherlands Antilles .  On July 9, 2000, at 16 years and 1 week old, Balentien signed with the Mariners to play professional baseball. Balentien reported to the Mariners AZL Rookie team in 2003 for his first taste of professional baseball. He came hungry.

 

'C' is for cookie and that's good enough for me

via seattletimes.nwsource.com

In 2003, in 187 AB’s, Balentien had an OBP of .359, with an OPS of 1.017. In his 6 full seasons in the minors, he has never OPS’d below .772 (San Antonio AA), and only below .832 once. Lifetime OBP/SLG in the minors you ask? .342/.522. In addition he is stealing bases at a 75% clip over that time span, and is capable of playing all 3 OF positions.

Great! So he has had a successful MiLB career! Good job Wladimir! So what? Who cares? Well, even though it is a small sample size (in the MLB), it appears so far that the Mariners were right to trade Adam Jones for Bedard, and keep Balentien from the Royals AND the Orioles.

A quick line on Jones and Balentien, this year:

Name	BA	H	2B	3B	HR	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
Jones, A	.223	29	8	2	2	.271	.362	.633	73
Balentien, W	.239	11	2	0	4	.271	.543	.814	123

Neither’s OBP is even close to stellar, but look at the OPS. Balentien is right on target with his MiLB numbers so far. I have really enjoyed watching him in AAA over the past 2 years and then on TV so far this year. Last night he hit a monster homer off of Joaquin Benoit in Arlington, putting the Mariners back in the contest (They lost 13-12 in 10 innings).

The question is, in retrospect, do you feel we still maximized off of Dotel? Would you rather have Balentien than Davies? If Davies turns the corner, and becomes a dependable starting pitcher, and Balentien becomes a legitimate power threat (25-35 HR’s), which one would you rather have at this point?

Poll

How would you rate Dayton Moore's trade of Dotel to the Braves in return for Kyle Davies, by your own perception, on a scale of 1-10?

0%

10

0 votes

4%

9

2 votes

8%

8

4 votes

15%

7

7 votes

17%

6

8 votes

15%

5

7 votes

13%

4

6 votes

10%

3

5 votes

13%

2

6 votes

2%

1

1 votes

46 votes | Poll has closed