December 9, 2006 What a Meche! Directionless Royals don't see the big picture. By John Miller
Schuerholz, after all, is one of the greatest GMs ever. He made KC the
model expansion team and helped build its 1985 World Series winner. In
1991, he became Atlanta’s GM and guided it to 14 straight division
titles and a world championship. When Moore was hired, he immediately shook things up. (Let’s face
it, when you lose 100 games every year, it’s necessary.) Most of
his moves, I was fine with. But then came the Joey Gathright trade. Sure,
KC desperately needed speed on the base paths and in the outfield, but
why give up one of the organization’s few solid pitching prospects
(hard-throwing lefty J.P Howell) for a guy who’s known mostly for
his
ability to leap over small cars? In 229 at-bats with KC, Gathright
had 10 steals in 16 attempts and a .332 on-base percentage. Still, the Gathright trade was at least defensible. Gathright is 25,
and all he arguably needed was a chance to play every day and show his
talent. But signing Gil Meche to a 5-year, $55 million deal? There’s no
defending that move, not when you’re a small-market club that is
years away from possible contention. For years, the Royals have lacked direction. One year, they’d stand
pat in the offseason, content to patiently build through their farm system.
The next, they’d blow what little money they had on over-the-hill
veterans like Juan Gonzalez. More than anything, Moore’s hiring was supposed to signal that
the Royals finally had a plan. But signing Meche is proof the Royals have
no conception of what rebuilding means. Instead of building through the
minor leagues and acquiring promising young players with the few veteran
assets they have, the Royals are spending $11 million per year –
about 23% of 2006’s payroll – on a 28-year-old with a 4.48
career ERA. Granted, this offseason has been insane. Even journeymen like Gary Matthews
Jr. are getting $50 million, but that doesn’t mean the Royals should
join the party. Notice Minnesota and Florida – two teams the Royals
should emulate – have stayed away from the free-agent market. Look at what the Marlins did with Josh Beckett. They developed him into
a potential stud pitcher, and once his price tag was out of the Marlins’
range, they swapped him for shortstop Hanley Ramirez and other youngsters.
(Ramirez, 22, won the 2006 NL Rookie of the Year, hitting .292 with 17
homers and 51 steals. Beckett, meanwhile, made a career-high 33 starts
but had a career-worst 5.01 ERA.) Bottom line: Until the Royals until formulate a plan, they will continue being baseball’s punch line. They would have been much better off spending the Meche’s $55 million on scouting and player development. Unfortunately for Royals fans, no matter who’s in charge, their team won’t commit to rebuilding. |