The Betancourt trade recapped through Instant Messenger
by Top Ramen on Jul 12, 2009 1:18 PM EDT
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PrintThrough the magic of instant messaging, we can bring you the events that led to the trade of Yuniesky Betancourt + cash to the Royals for Daniel Cortes and Derrick Saito. This is the third transcript we've been able to unearth so far -- first was opening day recap, followed by the tweets being made on Twitter during the April 20th game.
/MooreWins has entered the chat room
/JackoZ has entered the chat room
JackoZ: Hi Dayton. Rough season so far...what's up?
MooreWins: Look, Jack I know you're a busy guy.
MooreWins: I don't need a lot of BS from you, you don't need a lot of BS from me. amirite??
MooreWins: So lets get to the point.
JackoZ: O...K?
MooreWins: I'm going to lay it out here.
MooreWins: I need a shortstop. You've got one.
MooreWins: I want him.
JackoZ: Who, you mean Carlos Triunfel?
JackoZ: Sorry Dayton, you and everyone else -- he's off limits.
MooreWins: Pfft...no not him, I need help at the major league level now.
JackoZ: Well, I guess we could let Chris Woodward go.
JackoZ: He's 33, but he's having a good year at AAA and could probably help you ou---
MooreWins: <annoyed> No, not him either.
MooreWins: Look Jack, quit screwing around. I'm talking about Yuniesky.
JackoZ: Yuniesky? srsly?
MooreWins: Serious as a heart attack.
JackoZ: Hold on a minute.
<In private chat> JackoZ: Lee........Lee, get in here!
<In private chat> 
Mariner4Life: Yeah Jack, what is it?
<In private chat> JackoZ: I've got the GM of they Royals on the line..
<In private chat> Mariner4Life: Yeah, so?
<In private chat> JackoZ: He wants to trade for Yuniesky.
<In private chat> Mariner4Life: You're sh*tt*ng me.
<In private chat> Mariner4Life: We were looking at the DFA paperwork just a couple days ago!
<In private chat> JackoZ: iknowrite?
<In private chat> Mariner4Life: Alright, let's get this done.
<In private chat> JackoZ: OK. And Lee, remember, play it cool.
/Mariner4Life has entered the chat room
Mariner4Life: Hi Dayton, JackoZ asked me to come in to help out
MooreWins: No problem - look are we going to do this, or what?
JackoZ: Sure thing. Now what were you willing to offer?
MooreWins: Well, before I begin, just remember this is a good kid.
MooreWins: He might've had some trouble holding his liquor recently, but who hasn't right?
JackoZ: Who're we talking about Dayton, Callaspo?
MooreWins: No, no, no, of course not
JackoZ: Look Dayton, I am NOT taking Ryan Freel...
MooreWins: Freel? What? No, look, I'm talking about Daniel Cortes.
Mariner4Life: wut
Mariner4Life: You mean your #3 prospect, Daniel Cortes?
MooreWins: Yeah. Is there a problem?
/Mariner4Life collapses in a fit of laughter
/Mariner4Life has left the chatroom
<In private chat> Mariner4Life: Pffft.....lol.
<In private chat> JackoZ: Lee, WTF!!1!! Get back in here NOW!
/Mariner4Life has rejoined the chat
Mariner4Life: Sorry about that. I thought of a funny joke Ichiro told me yesterday.
MooreWins: Look, if that's not enough.....let me see here....
MooreWins: I'd also be able to include Derrick Saito. He's doing pretty well in A ball.
/Jacko is on his backo
Mariner4Life: Yeah, Dayton, I think we could probably do that
MooreWins: Hold on a minute, let me run it past my stats guy before we go any further.
MooreWins: BRB
<In private chat> MooreWins: Jim! Jim, get in here!
<In private chat> 
TheWongWay: Jin, sir.
<In private chat> MooreWins: That's what I said - Jim.
<In private chat> TheWongWay: <sigh> what is it sir?
<In private chat> MooreWins Jim, I'm close to wrapping up a deal on Yuniesky Betancourt.
<In private chat> MooreWins: I need you..
<In private chat> TheWongWay: Betancourt?!? Did you read my analysis at all??
<In private chat> MooreWins: Yeah, Jim, I skimmed it. Something about defense.....
<In private chat> MooreWins: Look, I'll be honest, I didn't read it.
<In private chat> MooreWins: Next time put some funny pictures in it or something.
<In private chat> MooreWins: Jim, there's something I need you to do --
<In private chat> TheWongWay: <resigned> what is it?
<In private chat> MooreWins: Look, here's $50 bucks, I need you to run to the liqour store
<In private chat> MooreWins: pick up as many bottles of Champale as you can.
<In private chat> TheWongWay: Champale? You mean champagne?
<In private chat> MooreWins: Sure, whatever....champale.
<In private chat> MooreWins: Now hurry up, we need to get it on ice to celebrate this!
<In private chat> MooreWins: Oh, Jim, one more thing --
<In private chat> TheWongWay: <sighs> Yeah?
<In private chat> MooreWins: While you're there, see if you can find some of those party blowers too.
<In private chat> MooreWins: Something festive.
<In private chat> TheWongWay: 
/TheWongWay has left the private chat
/MasterScouter joins the private chat
<In private chat> 
MasterScouter: Soak it in Dayton
<In private chat> MasterScouter: you'll remember this day for the rest of your life.
MooreWins: Jack, Lee, you guys still there?
JackoZ: Yeah, we're still here, what's up?
MooreWins: Well, there's just one more thing, it's the issue of money
JackoZ: What did you have in mind?
/tH3_Pr0f3550r has entered the chat
tH3_Pr0f3550r: wut's going on guys?
tH3_Pr0f3550r: LOL....dayton, whats up with that bald guy?? why r u talkin to our trainer?
MooreWins: Kyle, I'm trying to conduct business here -- go play with your dogs or something...
tH3_Pr0f3550r: lol...ok....Strike n Rambo r awesome
/tH3_Pr0f3550r has left the chat
MooreWins: Well, my boss is a real hard-ass about money.
MooreWins: I can't really add any more payroll this year.
MooreWins: I'd need you guys to pick up the tab for this year.
JackoZ: Yeah, Dayton, I think we could do that. After all, what are friends for?
MooreWins: Well, there's one more thing -- the big boss man.....
MooreWins: He's not real big on paying buyouts either.
MooreWins: Do you think you could kick in the buyout money for 2012 too?
JackoZ: Hmmm......
<In private chat> Mariner4Life: Jacko, we've got to wrap this up before he comes to his senses
<In private chat>JackoZ: ur right
JackoZ: Yeah, Dayton....I guess.........I guess we could do that. But that's as far as I can go
/Mariner4Life jumping up and down fist to his mouth in the corner
MooreWins: ALRIGHT, WE'VE GOT OURSELVES A DEAL!
JackoZ: Good working with you Dayton, we'll get the papers sent over to Bud.
MooreWins: Thanks guys!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOURS LATER
/Avilanche enters the chatroom littered with champale bottles
Avilanche: You called boss?
MooreWins: How's the arm?
Avilanche: Well, it's still pretty sore, but I'm still set on ----
MooreWins: Great, great, look, I felt bad about how this season went,
MooreWins: I just wanted to give you some reading material while you're recovering
/MooreWins hands pamphlets to Avilanche
Avilanche: <reading the pamphlets> State Farm.....GEICO......Allstate....."Selling Insurance guide for dummies".....what is all of this?
MooreWins: Nothing, nothing, just some light reading material...
MooreWins: u know.....in case this whole baseball experiment doesn't work out.....
MooreWins: Look, I've got a meeting with the boss coming up - keep me updated on the rehab
/Avilanche has left the chatroom
/PainInTheGlass has entered the chatroom
PainInTheGlass: Heckuva job Dayton!
PECOTA: Heckuva job indeed.
60 comments
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Comments
i swear to god i was going to write this, verbatim
great minds (except i had smithers as the stats guy)
I tried for a while to find a better picture of Jin Wong
but couldn’t come up with much — he’s listed on KCRoyals.com, but no picture.
Unless I'm wrong...
Top Ramen
You are hereby required to complete one of these posts at minimum of every month.
+ 6,000
BOOM! ROASTED!
I wish that the Royals wouldn't provide so much material to work with
but, when life gives you lemons……
Unless I'm wrong...
put a fanshot for this over at Lookout Landing
I think they might enjoy just as much as I am
the funniest thing about this particular signature is that by the time you realise it doesn't say anything it's too late to stop reading it!
by ratherfantastic on Jul 12, 2009 2:59 PM EDT reply actions
Just added it over there
and then I started reading through their posts on the trade. Feel even worse about the trade after that — when the other teams’ fans feel sorry for you because they recently knew what it was like….not a good feeling
Unless I'm wrong...
amusing
but their current SS has a .213 OBP so Yunesky would have started every game after the all star break
by GobbleforCyoung on Jul 12, 2009 3:10 PM EDT reply actions
Best thing I have ever read.
Rec’d a billion times.
Loved the Callaspo part.
Seeking inspiration to fill this space...
Had me laughing.
Great post.
If you were thinking, you wouldn't have thought that.
http://sonsofsamhorn.net/index.php?showforum=129
First of all, funny stuff
Second, I get this image of Zap Branigan as Dayton Moore, and Kif as Jin Wong.
“Branigan’s Law is like Branigan’s love, hard and fast.”
by AxDxMx on Jul 12, 2009 5:50 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Yup
I read this on my mobile and the Jin Wong pitcure wasn’t coming through… so I assumed it was Kif…
Really should have been.
I'm not a sabermetrician, but I do play one at Driveline Mechanics.
Can't get enough of me? Check out my Twitter feed.
by Matt Klaassen on Jul 12, 2009 6:14 PM EDT up reply actions
I was
Envisioning GMDM as George W. Bush, especially here
TheWongWay: Betancourt?!? Did you read my analysis at all??MooreWins: Yeah, Jim, I skimmed it. Something about defense…..
MooreWins: Look, I’ll be honest, I didn’t read it.
MooreWins: Next time put some funny pictures in it or something.
BOOM! ROASTED!
by GoBabies!! on Jul 12, 2009 7:10 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Rec'd, natch
I'm not a sabermetrician, but I do play one at Driveline Mechanics.
Can't get enough of me? Check out my Twitter feed.
Come on guys...I hate Moore more than the average fan
But how is Cortes our #3 prospect?
We have 4 minor league pitchers with more upside in Melville/Montgomery/Duffy & Crow
We also have 4/5th’s of our starting rotation locked down for the 2.5 years as well as Davies if he can figure it out
by GobbleforCyoung on Jul 12, 2009 7:26 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
thank you
for staying as positive as possible, its nice to read every now and then
zack greinke for cy young
respect
and if Betancourt is shit, Pena Jr is diarhea
I feel like there are way too many narrow minded people on this board.
Where was Bloomy the last two days? Is he hurt?? He’s 32 in 3 months, was never a SS in the first place and now he’s hurt. Plus, Betancourt started over him for FIVE YEARS in Seattle so lets not just crucify Moore and Hillman for this (Crucify him for the Jacobs/Crisp trades)\
If don’t see the writing on the wall, let me spell it out for you. Betancourt is an improvement over Tony Pena. I don’t care if he’s the 32nd ranked SS in MLB, Pena isn’t even top 50
by GobbleforCyoung on Jul 12, 2009 7:46 PM EDT up reply actions
character issues
I know you think pissing outside the bar is a horrific blight against society so egregious that it is a good reason to get rid of Cortes. But, I wonder how that would have any effect on his on field abilities.
On the other hand, we just picked up a sucky player that refuses to listen to coaches, refuses to practice, doesn’t think he needs any improvement. These kind of character issues directly affect his on field contributions. I’ll gladly take the other player.
Fuck This Team. Period.
The General Theory of Royaltivity
and if he's pissing on fences when he's making like 20k a year...
imagine the hilarity that will ensue next year when he’s making 400k
Fire Everyone
by billybeingbilly on Jul 12, 2009 9:35 PM EDT up reply actions
pissing outside is fun
you feel freer. You’re with nature like a cave man. The air on your junk is nice.
And he supposedly listens to Guillen
by GobbleforCyoung on Jul 12, 2009 10:29 PM EDT up reply actions
now that's interesting.
listens to Guillen
That could be the one redeeming factor in this deal. Guillen supposedly (and even evidently) is a hot-headed and vocal hard-working non-slacker who may be the inspiration that this guy really needs.
Christ, you don't need a quadrophonic Blaupunkt! What you need is a curveball! In the show, everyone can hit heat.
If you missed it, from Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times:
Now, he heads to KC, where the fans are already sharpening their claws. Royals GM Dayton Moore has been getting ripped all day for this deal. But he also has Jose Guillen there. When Guillen was here in 2007, he served as Betancourt’s personal good cop/bad cop. He’d be a friend. But he’d also get all over him — put him up against a wall, so to speak — when Betancourt stepped out of line and was Yuni being Yuni.
by GobbleforCyoung on Jul 13, 2009 10:06 PM EDT up reply actions
those minor league guys are much farther away from the majors than cortes....
and outside of crow….probably less sure things to contribute at the mlb level than crow
Fire Everyone
by billybeingbilly on Jul 12, 2009 9:34 PM EDT up reply actions
Have you seen Duffy and Montgomery
I’ll give you Melville, but those two are what ? 20? 19? and already out pitching the 22 year old
by GobbleforCyoung on Jul 12, 2009 10:30 PM EDT up reply actions
they likely have higher upsides...
but the fact that they’re still in low a and high a ( i think) means that they’ve got a much higher likelihood to flame out….and lets be real here, we’re not talking about top 10 prospects here….we’re talking about maybe back end of the top 100
Fire Everyone
by billybeingbilly on Jul 12, 2009 10:42 PM EDT up reply actions
do you know the success rate of top pitching prospects in A ball?
We’ll be lucky if one of those guys is an above average major league starter
Fire Everyone
by billybeingbilly on Jul 12, 2009 9:37 PM EDT up reply actions
I have a couple of points, but first:
I could’ve replaced “#3 prospect” (as declared preseason by Baseball Prospectus) with “one of your top pitching prospects” and the point in the obviously satirical post would’ve been the same.
Unless I'm wrong...
To the larger question though ---
I hesitate to even post my trade analysis in a joke thread, but I haven’t really done so elsewhere, except for one liners, so here goes:
I’ll start with an analogy. This week, my garage door opener gave out. I had to go buy a new one and replace the old one. (This is a time-consuming, somewhat dirty process, and I don’t recommend it). There’s an unspoken rule in the area that anything sitting out at the curb is there for the trash, so anyone who wants it is free to pick it up if they see a use for it. When I got the new garage door opener up, I took the old one out to the curb. Within hours, someone came and picked it up — why someone wanted a broken 20 year old* garage door opener is beyond me, but I’m sure they found a use for it.
* It came with the houseIn this trade, it’s like Dayton saw the garage door opener on the curb, but instead of just picking it up, went an knocked on my door and offered $50 bucks for it. That’s how bad he wanted it. The Mariners obviously didn’t want the broken garage door opener, as they’re only 3-4 games out and traded away their starting shortstop with their only SS prospect at least a year away.
Sure, the Royals SS position has been pathetic, and they probably needed to do something. However, had this trade been structured similar to the Odalis Perez trade (we’ll take on the salary + prospects in exchange for getting rid of a bad player/contract), I don’t think many would’ve complained.
In the end, it’s possible, maybe even likely, that the Royals will “win” the trade if Cortes and Saito are garbage prospects. However, this is likely to be a hollow victory, much the same way as the TPJ for Cordier and Sisco for Gload trades were. Sure, we got only player to actually log any innings at the major league, but we didn’t exactly get any good play out of it.
Having said all of that though, I don’t think anyone here actually wants Betancourt to fail (save maybe Rob Neyer). I think we’d all be ecstatic if Betancourt went on to live up to what Berroa was supposed to be. The difference is that many (probably most) don’t expect that to happen.
I’d love for my kids to grow up to be MLB all-stars, yet recognize that they’ll likely fall well short of that. That doesn’t mean won’t cheer them on at every opportunity.
Unless I'm wrong...
by Top Ramen on Jul 12, 2009 10:44 PM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
Even if Cortes and Saito fail
Betancourt needs to net them at least 1.5 WAR over the life of the contract. Then it’s even.
And that’s assuming neither Cortes nor Saito ever contribute positively in the big leagues.
1.5 WAR seems to be pushing it at this point.
I'm not a sabermetrician, but I do play one at Driveline Mechanics.
Can't get enough of me? Check out my Twitter feed.
by Matt Klaassen on Jul 12, 2009 11:51 PM EDT up reply actions
that's not true
we would have to overpay for anyone with a + WAR at SS. Aviles just had major elbow surgery. And you can tell last year was a fluke anyway. His plate discipline sucked.
.359 BABIP is a fluke. Pujols never had a number that high. Arod had one season higher than that and his batting average was .358. Between them they have 25 major league seasons. 1 of their seasons was as lucky as Aviles’ one year
by GobbleforCyoung on Jul 13, 2009 7:50 AM EDT up reply actions
Maybe Aviles was the "The One" that could sustain that high BABIP
he hit a lot of line drives and ground balls back up the middle. You are giving the biggest benefit of the doubt here to a player that has no statistics to back it up. At least Aviles’s MLB track record shows something other than that he sucks.
Betancourt didn't suck in 2006 or 2007
in 2006 he was an above average defensive SS with a positive UZR on fangraphs
in 2007 he was also and above average defensive SS but with a slightly negative UZR
He was ranked top 12 each year.
Is it wishfull thinking to assume he can get back to that level. Yeah, probably. But it’s not outside the realm of possibility. If he can get close back to that level, we won this trade
by GobbleforCyoung on Jul 13, 2009 10:15 PM EDT up reply actions
And his WAR for 2006 and 2007 was 1.7
He USED to be ok. Then in 2008 he went down to .3, and now he’s actually negative with -.8. Why do we keep acquiring players that are trending down?
Barry Bonds hit 70+ homers not that long ago. Maybe we should sign him. I’m sure he could still do it.
he'd be our best hitter
Fire Everyone
by billybeingbilly on Jul 14, 2009 1:24 AM EDT up reply actions
I'm sure he would be
The point was that he’s not going to repeat his record breaking homerun performance. Downtrends don’t normally just reverse themselves unless something changes. Yuni has shown zero willingness to work at the game, and until he is done with baseball or he starts working hard, he’ll keep backsliding on his original talent level.
KURT STILLWELL NOW!
Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com
by RoyalsRetro on Jul 14, 2009 11:53 AM EDT up reply actions
exactly
and while betancourt may not have been any good in Seattle, im gonna wait and see how he does here before i rip the trade.
zack greinke for cy young
even if he turns it around (highly unlikely)
it doesnt make the trade good still….cortes at this point is FAR more valuable than betancourt
Fire Everyone
by billybeingbilly on Jul 12, 2009 9:36 PM EDT up reply actions
I'm gonna wait and see if the roulette wheel comes up 00
before I decide if betting all my savings on it was a bad idea…
by PopeSoria on Jul 12, 2009 11:36 PM EDT up reply actions 5 recs
I have essentially resigned as a Royals fan for the time being
But posts like this just keep me coming back to this website. I wish I could quit you, RR.
"Now…put that in your [BLEEP]ing pipe and smoke it." -Hal McRae
"I was doing this when BJ was in his father's nutsack." -Renzo Gracie
Awesome
This should easily shatter the record for “recs”
Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com
Not *the worst
Or do the Nationals still count as a team?
the funniest thing about this particular signature is that by the time you realise it doesn't say anything it's too late to stop reading it!
by ratherfantastic on Jul 13, 2009 2:45 PM EDT up reply actions
In my mind this trade is a win if we see acceptable play offensively and defensively
out of our SS. We’ll wait and see Friday, but I’m praying for average, mene level, mediocrity; kind of like looking for a date in Westport at 3:00am. Hopefully I won’t be chewng my arm off Saturday morning to get away from Betancourt.
by Your_Moms_Boyfriend on Jul 13, 2009 3:56 PM EDT reply actions
Rec'd Rec'd Rec'd
Funniest thing on RR in awhile, thanks for the effort, classic!!!
soon to change name to, "The Not So Curious Case of Benjamin Bratt"
by MarioVanPeebles Republic of China on Jul 14, 2009 12:42 AM EDT reply actions
This is great stuff.
I joined here just so I could rec this…great job!!! Let me tell you from the Mariners side, we’ve had to deal with years of this same stupidity from Bill Bavasi. Just know that sooner than later, your time will come, even when you don’t expect it.
2009 Safeco Field Record: 5-0 ; Overall Safeco Field Record: 9-4
25 recs
This is Arrowhead Pride output right here.
the funniest thing about this particular signature is that by the time you realise it doesn't say anything it's too late to stop reading it!
by ratherfantastic on Jul 14, 2009 1:11 AM EDT reply actions
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