Royals Sign Former Brave Bruce Chen

by royalsreview on Mar 1, 2009 6:40 PM EST in News Comment 37 comments

Not sure anyone saw this one coming.

Dick Kaegel reports:

TEMPE, Ariz. -- The Royals didn't stop when they signed Juan Cruz. On Sunday, they announced they signed veteran left-hander Bruce Chen to a Minor League contract.

[...]

The 31-year-old Chen did not pitch last season after undergoing elbow surgery.

[...]

Chen will not report to the Royals' Minor League camp immediately because he is pitching in the World Baseball Classic for his native Panama.

I've got nothing. Minor league depth I guess? Jamey Wright is like Nolan Ryan compared to Chen at this point. He was decent, in a Brett Tomko kind of way in 2005 with the Orioles. Then he was horrible in 2006 (66 ERA+) losing his job as a starter and he was bad very early in 2007 (63 ERA+). Then he got injured.

It's been a longtime since Chen was a hot prospect with the Braves, back in the heady days of the late nineties when everyone thought that they were the masters of developing pitchers. He's had his moments, but on the whole he's been ineffective and injured. Who knows? Maybe he can have his second or third comeback this season with the Royals.

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Nothing wrong with adding possible depth in the minors.

I don't know how to put this but I'm kind of a big deal.

by kcscoliny on Mar 1, 2009 8:10 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

gotta replace Musser with something

Fourth to First

by kabrink on Mar 1, 2009 9:05 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

he will be a reliever? right?

I wanna know what love is, I want you to show me

by LeoBloom on Mar 1, 2009 8:16 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

i know this is a dumb question

but what is the normal protocol regarding minor league contracts? are they all the same amount?

by royalsreview on Mar 1, 2009 8:24 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Hi Will,

A normal amount for a AAA minor league free agent to earn is $50-75K. I read that minor league free agents who are playing at AA level normally make around $20K. Minor leaguers who are “owned” by the team earn very little. In the low minors it is something like $800/month. Obviously signing bonus money is a bid deal for a guy who thinks he will be kicking around the minors for four or five years.

I know of at least one KU player who left minor league baseball simply because he was sick of being dirt poor. He could have come back and he was long-shot-prospecty, but after a year of living at that level, and playing in crap ball parks and sleeping in crap hotels he put the dream to rest and got a job.

www.rockchalktalk.com for pretty good KU baseball coverage

by James Quinn on Mar 1, 2009 8:50 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

so there's some minor salary battles possible

like 90K versus 60 K or whatever

by royalsreview on Mar 1, 2009 9:50 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I am sure there are "bidding wars," of a sort, for minor league free agents.

But I expect a much bigger factor for AAA level minor league free agents are their chances of getting called up. Every day on a major league roster gives them a pro-rated share of league minumum, over $2,000 a day.

I can’t imagine there is much of a market for minor league free agents under the AAA level. At that point I imagine the players are simply looking for an organization that still has some faith in their ability to make the step up.

www.rockchalktalk.com for pretty good KU baseball coverage

by James Quinn on Mar 1, 2009 10:10 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

and how much is deferred

this Manny thing is annoying, but increasingly hilarilous. I don’t even “hate” Boras, at least not like some people seem to, but even I am wondering if he’s just trying to save face at this point. Manny isn’t worth what the offered him… and who else is bidding?

Bringing you more-or-less replacement level analysis and commentary since sometime in 2008.

by devil_fingers on Mar 1, 2009 10:13 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I am

I offered him $20 to shovel my driveway, with $10 of that defrerred over the next three years.

Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com

by RoyalsRetro on Mar 1, 2009 10:29 PM EST up reply actions 3 recs

They are bidding against retirement at this point

I don't know how to put this but I'm kind of a big deal.

by kcscoliny on Mar 1, 2009 11:45 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

what is retirement offering?

seriously, what would Manny do with retirement. Somehow, he strikes me as a guy who loves the game so much, or more accurately, it’s been his life for so long, that he wouldn’t know what to do with himself. That may not make sense given the impression that is given of him sometimes, but I really think baseball is it for him. Even more than for a totally driven guy like A-Rod, who will always find silly crap to do (especially now that he’s joined Madonna’s weird cult)l

Bringing you more-or-less replacement level analysis and commentary since sometime in 2008.

by devil_fingers on Mar 2, 2009 12:22 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

i've read from multiple sources that he's a dedicated student of the game

hits BP, the cages and the film room hard and studies his craft

of course, he’s also a national innocence destroyer, so….

by royalsreview on Mar 2, 2009 12:43 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

how did Manny destroy our national innocence?

(Well, other than being the Dominican Kenny Rogers with that travellling secretary… still waiting for your furious write up and play-by-play on that matter, btw)

Bill Simmons says Manny is the one guy from that era who is definitely clean, so I have to reason to doubt him.

Bringing you more-or-less replacement level analysis and commentary since sometime in 2008.

by devil_fingers on Mar 2, 2009 12:57 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

"no reason"

Bringing you more-or-less replacement level analysis and commentary since sometime in 2008.

by devil_fingers on Mar 2, 2009 1:02 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

he doesn't HUSTLE

he quit on his team!!!!

by royalsreview on Mar 2, 2009 1:40 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

good point

although, unlike wih Rogers, we don’t really know what happened

by royalsreview on Mar 2, 2009 1:41 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I guess we don't know

exactly what happened, but has anyone disputed the general details, or who attacked whom?? Neither Boras nor Manny made an excuse or gave an explanation, they just apologized.

Not as if it’s the end of the world or anything, but just because we don’t have video footage doesn’t mean we can’t make a call on what happened based on the testimony of those involved.

Bringing you more-or-less replacement level analysis and commentary since sometime in 2008.

by devil_fingers on Mar 2, 2009 10:02 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

but we still don't know how brutal/hardcore the attack was

Rogers pushed over a guy with a gigantic metal heavy thing resting against his neck

legitimately, that could have really effed dude up…

by royalsreview on Mar 2, 2009 2:21 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

yes, it could have ended worse

Manny pushed over a senior citizen while having a fit, too, so anything’s possible.

I’m not defending Rogers, but the idea that Manny is just as sweet, misunderstood gut unfairly attacked by “the media” (those same people who went after some of the great presidents of recent times Reagen, Bush, etc.) is wrong. Well, actually, it’s right — they focus on him not playing a couple games, but hardly mention the attacked some old dude over some tickets, which is much worse. I figured you’d be all over that.

Bringing you more-or-less replacement level analysis and commentary since sometime in 2008.

by devil_fingers on Mar 2, 2009 2:27 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Now that I think about it

When Manny retires, I’m guessing he’ll wonder the earth like Ricky Williiams for a while, and then gain about 150 pounds in a year.

Yeah, seriously though his defensive problems, like Dunn’s or Ibanez’s, have little or nothing to do with effort. They just aren’t good at it. And by “not good” I mean truly horrible. I wonder how good Manny was in Cleveland. He’d have to be better, given his age…. Who is going to blink first? Are the Dodgers really stupid enough to add money to the proposal?

I’ve always liked Manny… but he’s overrated every bit as much as Jeter or Ortiz. And Jeter hasn’t ever had as shitty a year as Manny did in 2007 (1.0 WAR, buyer beware… 37 year old cliffs aren’t just for Raul Ibanez anymore).

Bringing you more-or-less replacement level analysis and commentary since sometime in 2008.

by devil_fingers on Mar 2, 2009 1:02 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

All right, which one of you guys updated his Wikipedia page...

His numbers are actually slightly better than I remembered.

by happydrifter on Mar 1, 2009 8:35 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

looks like someone known as OaklandAthleticsFan did it

Chen’s lifestory iskinda fascinating

by royalsreview on Mar 1, 2009 8:38 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Makes HoRam look like Randy Johnson: Below replacement level 4 of his last 6 seasons in the majors

Whatever, it’s just minor league filler. It’s not like he’s going come up to KC, get lucky, then get resigned for more than the minimum in 2010, right?