Sources: Royals, RHP Cruz near deal
Free-agent pitcher Juan Cruz, caught in an unusual vise of rules and economy this offseason, is moving closer toward a deal with the Kansas City Royals, according to three sources.
Arizona would get two 2009 compensatory draft picks -- a sandwich pick between the first and second rounds and the Royals' second-round pick at around No. 55 overall -- if the deal is completed.
I like this. I think it's a risk worth taking as far as this year is concerned. Definitely decreases the dependence on Farnsworth.
about 1 year ago
Royal from Queens
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It sucks that the Royals would lose a draft pick, but Cruz is a dominant reliever
Cruz is an absolute strikeout machine and his projections look very good. At least the Royals have a sandwich pick if Grudz ever gets signed.
Also, Carlos Rosa, welcome to Omaha.
The immoderate moderator
Olney says that the Royals and D-Backs might work around the compensation
It was not immediately clear on Saturday afternoon whether Cruz would just sign with the Royals, or if a sign-and-trade with the Diamondbacks would be part of the process.
The D-backs might be afraid no one will sign Cruz and they’ll get nothing. So they might be willing to sign Cruz and then trade him to the Royals for lesser compensation. That would make getting Cruz a considerably bigger positive.
The immoderate moderator
it's a done deal
we signed Cruz—one year deal with team option 2nd year—(nice on the team option) of course, if he’s a type A again—we could get 2 picks down the road. I haven’t heard if we straight up signed him or did a trade with D-backs.
is that the new standard for relievers on the Royals?
An option for the parade year, I guess
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by Matt Klaassen on Feb 28, 2009 4:42 PM EST up reply actions
I guess your snark meter goes up to 11
And you bury the needle when the Royals actually make a good signing? He’s no Ramon Ramirez, I guess. They are already chiseling RamRam’s plaque in the HOF.
The immoderate moderator
sorry I forgot to okay a minor joke with you first
Also, salary differences don’t matter.
In this case, PECOTA doesn’t, either.
Let me know when we have enough data points on Moore’s position player acquistion skill.
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by Matt Klaassen on Feb 28, 2009 5:05 PM EST up reply actions
They need to be submitted in writing....in triplicate
Sure salary differences and PECOTA matter. Did I respond to a comment where you were talking about salary differences and PECOTA?
We have many data points on Moore’s position player acquisition skills. How is that relevant to him signing Juan Cruz? Is there a rumor that they are converting him to a 1B/2B? Damn that stupid Dayton Moore…we already have logjams there!
The immoderate moderator
Just checking out what I'm allowed to snark about and what not
I thought it was a free for all after the Farnsworth fiasco, but apparently the Code is back in place
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by Matt Klaassen on Feb 28, 2009 5:19 PM EST up reply actions
We're all allowed to snark about anything we want
And we are free to criticize said snark as well. I’m willing to give credit where credit is due. It appears that when credit to GM is due, you’d rather bring up mistakes he’s made instead. In reality he deserves credit for the good moves and blame for the bad moves, no? I certainly didn’t hold back my criticism of Farnsworth’s signing at any point. Same with Bloomquist and the rest of this almost entirely shitty offseason. But a good signing is a good signing, even though the GM that did it has also made his share of mistakes (perhaps more than his share).
The immoderate moderator
and that's why I said Cruz is a good reliever
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by Matt Klaassen on Feb 28, 2009 5:46 PM EST up reply actions
I'm glad you think that
I just responded to the above comment up this thread which didn’t say anything about how good Cruz was.
The immoderate moderator
I guess I'm just more frustrated that Moore could have just held on
until now and the team would be as good or better than it was after his early splurge
I still have my doubts about Ramirez-Crisp, but let’s leave that there. If he holds on to Nunez, then he doesn’ t feel the urge to go nuts on Farnsworth. Farns+ Jacobs salaries = more than enough to beat the Dodgers out for Hudson, and he can still sign Cruz if he needs to.
This feels like a “good player” version this is like signing Tug Huglett to a minor league deal…. not a bad move to add some depth, and he might have some stopgap upside, except that it totally shows up the Bloomquist signing (as if it needed it).
That’s what has me frustrated this offseason — it’s one thing to watch other teams make smarter signings than the Royals, but it’s another thing to watch the Royals spend a bunch of money on crappy guys, then get better guys for the same position for a lot less money later on. I’m not sure how to describe the feeling…
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by Matt Klaassen on Feb 28, 2009 6:03 PM EST up reply actions
There's no question that it was an horrendous offseason
And as I said elsewhere, this positive move doesn’t make the awful bad season into a merely bad one. It’s still awful, just a little less awful than it was yesterday. Moore followed an exceedingly poor strategy, moved too soon, moved in the wrong directions and spent too much money in the wrong places. Signing Cruz doesn’t fix that. It just mitigates it a little bit.
This was a good move as far as talent and money goes. It hurts that it requires giving up a second round pick. But going by both stuff and stats, Cruz looks to me like a genuinely good 8th inning setup man. The bullpen just got significantly better. And Moore’s track record just got a wee little bit better.
The immoderate moderator
the corresponding move:
German DFA’d to make roster room for Cruz
The 8th inning is secure
In my opinion. This certainly helps.
The problem with Cruz however is that sometimes his control loses him. So he could lose you the game. Still good stuff and good news for Greinke and Meche with Cruz-Soria in the backend there.
by Royal from Queens on Feb 28, 2009 3:16 PM EST reply actions
7 Inning Games
Mahay in the 7th, Cruz in the 8th, and Soria to close it.
And Farnsy
the $4.5m spare part elephant in the pen.
Oh well. I like this move.
The Allard Baird of incisive internet discourse.
Good reliever
CHONE has him a bit better than Ramirez in 2009, PECOTA has him a bit worse.
On the downside, he isn’t quite as cheap as Ramirez, and he does cost a draft pick (but someone’s totally going to sign Grudz any day now!). On the other hand, it does mean that the Royals don’t have to try Rosa out right away, and he’s older than Ramirez, and that’s how teams win — slowly getting older and more expensive.
All things considered, if the team is really trying to win now, it’s nice to see a move that actually does help them win now.
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Very Interesting
Apparently GMDM really is tired of losing. They designated German, which will save them around a million. This takes them roughly a million higher this year. He has to be working the phones to move German for PTBNL and for moving someone from his logjam at 1st.
Would have preferred a second baseman or a left handed starter better than Ho Ram, but it certainly seems the Royals are hungrier than they have been in the past.
(insert R. Hernandez/C. Pickering joke here)
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by Matt Klaassen on Feb 28, 2009 4:43 PM EST up reply actions
(Some of) the 2009 Bullpen, according to CHONE and PECOTA
All numbers are FIP, although the FIP “3.2” number for PECOTA will probably need to be adjusted later — I did that myself. Maybe later I’ll give win% and stuff once I get a lgERA/FIP I’m happy with for 2009.
Player: PECOTA FIP/CHONE FIP
Joakim Soria 3.44/3.04
Juan Cruz 4.19/3.20
Kyle Farnsworth 4.42/4.50
Doug Waechter 4.83/4.41
John Bale 4.37/3.45
Ron Mahay 4.47/4.36
Robinson Tejeda 4.63/3.71
Carlos Rosa (?) 4.76/4.72
The dearly departed:
Leo Nunez: 3.93/3.57
Ramon Ramirez: 3.72/3.40
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