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The Royals have made their moves to prepare for the Rule 5 draft. Tell us what wise moves Dayton has made, Bob Dutton.
#Royals select contracts of LHPs Dwyer, Joseph, Lamb, Marks & Montgomery & RHP Gutierrez.
— Bob Dutton (@Royals_Report) November 20, 2012
#Royals designate RHPs Mazzaro & Volstad, LHP Verdugo, C’s Moore and Pena, 1B C. Robinson & OF D. Robinson. 40-man roster at 40.
— Bob Dutton (@Royals_Report) November 20, 2012
So there. Pretty much no-brainer moves on who to add. Justin Marks, who we acquired in the David DeJesus deal, is maybe a bit questionable, but he fared well in the Arizona Fall League for whatever that is worth and may be decent depth in Omaha. Juan Gutierrez is the former closer for the Arizona Diamondbacks who signed with the Royals as a minor league free agent last winter, but only pitched 20 innings in the minors due to injury. Donny Joseph is the lefty we acquired from Cincinnati in the Jonathan Broxton deal. Chris Dwyer and Mike Montgomery are both former top prospects that had terrible 2012 seasons. John Lamb is another well received prospect that missed last year due to Tommy John surgery.
The Royals put the brakes on the Chris Volstad experiment for now although I imagine they may try to negotiate a lower base salary for him if he clears waivers. I think the Brayan Pena era in Kansas City is probably over as the organization has never seemed that enamored with him, although he really has stayed a lot longer than I thought he would. Mazzaro seemed pretty expendable as a AAAA starter. Verdugo is a minor surprise although he's not really much of a starter and we seem rather stocked on good lefty relievers. Adam Moore, Clint Robinson, and Derrick Robinson are organizational filler at this point.
With the Guthrie signing, the Royals have reached the 40 man roster limit, although you can make changes if there is a trade or free agent signing.