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No later than Monday night at 11:00 Central, Dayton Moore will either make a few painful cuts of long-time favorites or continue on the same path he has traveled for the past seven years.
The soon to depart Bob Dutton ran down the players and Dayton Moore's thoughts (public ones at least) earlier on Sunday that are subject to the non-tender deadline. Two chilling Moore quotes from the article:
- "I don't look for us to do anything too surprising."
- "We might not tender everybody, but we might."
Oh Dayton.
We all have become keenly aware that what Dayton says publicly often is not what he is really planning to do - that is simply General Manger 101 - but we are also fearfully certain that sometimes the Royals' GM is simply a clumsy PR nightmare. Let's hope the above two quotes are more GM101.
For reference, the list of Royals who Moore must make decisions is Eric Hosmer, Greg Holland, Aaron Crow, Justin Maxwell, Tim Collins, Emilio Bonifacio, Luke Hochever, Brett Hayes and Chris Getz. Certainly Hosmer and Holland are no-brainers on one end of the spectrum and one might logically assume that Getz is a no-brainer on the other end.
Not so fast my friends.
With there being some apparent trade interest in Bonifacio, there are rumblings that Getz might be tendered as insurance against a Bonifacio trade. Fifty dollars to the guy who had Bonifacio as the 'big trade' of the the off-season. Rumors swirl around just about any player this time of year, but they don't normally bubble up in the Kansas City Star as coming from team sources as they have in regard to Bonifacio.
Come 11:00 P.M. on Monday, a tender to Chris Getz may just signal an impending deal of some variety or, sadly, it could just be Dayton not being able to quit yet another marginal player. Would Bonifacio be just a minor deal or is he part of something bigger (for better or worse)?
The variables surrounding Getz make the situation interesting, the question to tender another long-time Royal is far more difficult. After years of frustrating us as a starter, Luke Hochevar seemingly blossomed as a reliever and, eventually, a late inning reliever. However, at $5 million per year, how much money can a small market team spend on bullpen depth?
Is there hope of moving Hochevar? Is there hope that he would possibly be non-tendered if Moore is unable to trade him? Is it wrong to hope that?
Getz at $1.3 million backing up one infield spot is annoying. Hochever at $5 million pitching the seventh is money the Royals cannot afford to spend in that slot.