Looking Internally

According to GM Dayton Moore’s comments  regarding the team's offseason needs, “We’re going to look internally first. Then we’re going to look for trades, and then we’ll focus on the free-agent market.”

This seems like a sensible priority of sources for a small-market franchise, and to his credit, GMDM has made a few impressive offseason moves during his seven-year tenure, though this December's GM meetings will be unlike any the Royals have had in some time. Next season the playoffs are the goal, which means that this offseason GMDM is on an extremely tight rope.

The Royals have 2 glaring holes:  a 2B with enough pop to prevent Chris Getz from finding 237 PA, and a #2 SP who isn’t pale in comparison to Ervin Santana. Using GMDM's order of priorities, we will examine the internal candidates. 

The internal candidates at 2B are as follows:

• Emilio Bonifacio – Career .285/.352/.348 hitter in 2,999 PA. However, the strong majority of his career was spent in the NL. Boasts a serviceable glove with 1.0 dWAR. Also, the first 60% of ’13 hit .218/.258./321 in Toronto. If Bonifacio starts ’14 the same way he did this season, it could cost the Royals the postseason.
• Chris Getz – .220/.288/.273 in 237 PA in ’13. Notice his OBP is astoundingly 15 points higher than his SLG. He had all of 8 XBH, which is on par with the chubby high school athletes who are featured on Average Joes. He had a meh .275/.312/.360 in ’12, which seems heroic for him.
• Johnny Giavotella – .220/.333./.293 in 48 PA in ’13. Since his debut, he has been .240/.378./.335 in 424 PA with -0.4 dWAR. He may or may not have some incriminating video footage of Dayton Moore based on the brevity of his ML stays.
• Pedro Ciriaco – Had 11 PA with the Royals after being a mid-season waiver claim. 171 PA in Omaha rendered .310/.363/.672. He actually hit .293/.315/.390 in 272 PA with Boston in ‘12, though that came with 47 Ks. It’s even money whether or not Ciriaco’s closest fans could tell him apart from Yamaico Navarro.
• Christian Colon – After being drafted 4^th overall, ahead of such no-names as Matt Harvey and Chris Sale in the ’10 MLB Draft, Colon completed the Omaha season with .273/.335/.379 in 577 PA. By way of comparison, Getz crushed .310/.318/.429 line in 88 PA in ‘13. FWIW, Colon will only be 25 by May next season.
• Irving Falu – A .256/.320/.329 line in Omaha didn’t do him any favors after he turned a head in ’12. Possible PTBNL in exchange for Jamey Carroll or Emilio Bonifacio. (For the Bonifacio transaction it was either a PTBNL or $.) 

Coincidentally, Emilio’s brother, Jorge, performed well at 2B, but he did it split among Rookie Ball/High-A/Double-A (where he closed out .301/.371/.441 in 105 PA). He will turn 21 in early June next season, and it’s a mistake to rely on him for ’14, despite the promising projections.

Granted, Colon could suddenly blossom, or Emilio Bonifacio could be just serviceable enough so that he doesn’t cost the Royals big. With postseason expectations, do you feel confident in a Bonifacio/Getz tandem?

The lack of quality is indicative of the struggles the Royals have had at 2B. They’ve truly reached a chronic level. The output has become so dreadful that the Royals have a legitimate claim that they are under the curse of Frank White^TM. Since ex-2B Frank White’s resignation in January 2011 (a poorly-handled affair that led to the farewell of one of Kansas City’s finest players) the Royals’ second basemen have accomplished this:

2013: .243/.296/.304

2012: .256/.289/.359

2011: .254/.301/.355

Prior to White’s resignation, the Royals’ second basemen accomplished this:

2010: .282/.325/.387

2009: .293/.352/.445

2008: .303/.347/.409

2007: .296/.349/.409

2006: .293/.340/.403

(The noticeable disparity in offense says nothing about Grudzielanek’s incredible Gold Glove defense.)

Of course, labeling the last 3 seasons at 2B as a curse is an overreaction. To put it more accurately, it’s the natural result of starting Grudzielanek, Mike Aviles, and Alberto Callaspo over Getz and Yuniesky Betancourt. Then again, there’s no stronger evidence in my mind that a franchise is cursed than re-signing Betancourt. Come back to us, Frank. End our pain.

On the pitching side, the Royals have several SP in-house options, but they all come with enough question marks that none of them project to be a #2 SP. Granted, Danny Duffy might harness his curveball or changeup into a real weapon, or Felipe Paulino might return from the DL with a vengeance, but can they duplicate what Santana did last season? The Royals can’t count on it.

These are the internal candidates at 2B and the #2 slot in the rotation. With the internal options examined, we can now turn an eye toward GMDM’s second method of acquisition. So, onto the trade market...