This is where September gets tricky. We can add some game changing speed pretty easily, and we can add a couple more power bats as well. The nice thing about any of those moves is that Gore, Peguero and Fields are not exactly prospects in the system, so starting their service clock really doesn't have any affect on the future of the organization. For all we know, their contributions to a September push may be the peak value of what they can bring to the organization.
Small market teams have to maximize every resource, so there is no real harm in utilizing non-prospects as specialists during a late season playoff chase. Swinging even a game or two could be the difference between a division title and a wild card spot, or even another October at home. It could also mean the difference between opening the division series at home or traveling to Baltimore. But we will let those things fall where they may.
Before I dive into this though, I have to post 3 pitching lines from Wilmington this season that I came across while researching some other information for these posts:
|
K% |
BB% |
IP |
Hits |
ERA |
WHIP |
HR9 |
Player A |
27.5% |
11.3% |
102.1 |
89 |
3.25 |
1.358 |
0.4 |
Player B |
27.9% |
3.3% |
82.2 |
72 |
2.40 |
1.004 |
0.2 |
Player C |
25.6% |
4.9% |
105.0 |
77 |
1.37 |
0.924 |
0.1 |
Player A has been a little wild and given up a few more hits, but has been very tough with the strikeouts. Player B doesn't walk anybody and strikes out more than Player A. And Player C must be allergic to base runners because a sub 1 WHIP this far into the season is amazing.
Obviously, Player B is Christian Binford. The walk % gives it away. Player A is Sean Manaea. And mysterious Player C is Glenn Sparkman. I haven't been following Sparkman, but he's almost a Christian Binford clone. It may be time to hone in on him a little more closely because that type of control is hard to come by. If Binford or Sparkman can become a back of the rotation starter for the Royals on the cheap, that can help allocate resources elsewhere.
On to the topic at hand.
I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you're looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money but what I do have are a very particular set of skills. Skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. - Bryan Mills, Taken.
We have some players with a very particular set of skills that could be useful to the Royals during September. Unfortunately, these players are high draft picks or prospects and, as such, factor into what the Royals plan to do not just this year, but well into the future.
We could use a lefty arm out of the pen to really light things up. We have plenty of power arms from the right side, but can't show the same for southpaws. Newly promoted Omaha Storm Chaser Sam Selman fits that bill. His FB sits in the low to mid 90s and he can pile up the strikeouts. He also might walk the world, although his control has improved this season. Out of the pen, his stuff might play up, and as a LOOGY he could definitely have some significant value in tiny bursts. My gut feeling is that his promotion may mean the Royals are thinking the same thing that I am, and that he may be a nice addition down the stretch.
There's also the advantage that basically no one at the major league level has really had a chance to look at Selman's stuff. The question is whether he can harness that stuff in very brief outings.
The downside is that you would have to add him to the roster and, as a 2012 draftee, he doesn't have to be added yet. He's too good a pitcher to try to sneak through waivers if you take him off the 40 man next year, so adding him for a September push also means that you believe he will be ready for some sort of role on the major league club in 2015 because he will have a 40 man spot.
The next name on the list may surprise you - Bubba Starling. But not Bubba Starling, power hitter - Bubba Starling base runner and defensive replacement. As a CF Bubba Starling is an elite level defender. The scouting reports list him as being a potential gold glove caliber CF with both elite range and an elite throwing arm. I'm just dreaming here, but a defensive OF of Gordon-Starling-Cain may not allow anything hit in the air to find green grass.
Of course, the problem is whether you really want to bring a former #1 pick that (at least from an organizational standpoint) you view as a potential superstar and tell him that he will not hit or even play in any role other than as a late inning defensive replacement and pinch runner. Does that hurt Starling's development? And more important than that, since he won't be ready to contribute next year, what do you do about him being on the 40 man?
My instincts say that although Bubba could probably help in a limited role this September, sending him back to AA next year for seasoning is probably a waste of a 40 man spot, which likely makes this move impractical.