Ten more days of the non-waiver trade deadline, and the price on the Royals' most tradeable player has been roughly set.
The Brewers got Ray Durham for two eh prospects. Durham, besides being two years younger, is a lot like Mark Grudzielanek in many ways: same position, set for free agency after this season, no long-term future with the club, but still getting it done for the moment.
The Brewers sent Steve Hammond and Darren Ford to the Giants, and it's hard to see either guy making a huge impact. Hammond, 26, is 0-4 with a 7.41 ERA in four starts at Class AAA this year (though 20 Ks in 17 IP).
Ford, 22, is a right-handed hitting outfielder who's at .230/.322/.303 in 91 games at High-A Brevard County (though 48 steals in 59 attempts). Ford's Baseball Prospectus PECOTA comparables include Mike Cameron, which is terrific, but also include 19 other players you've probably never heard of, which is not as terrific.
Hammond's PECOTA comparables are even less impressive, led by Paul Ahyat and Rich Pratt, neither of which ever pitched in the majors.
In addition to receiving blah talent, the Giants get to cover half of the $3 million remaining on Durham's contract this year.
So, to review: for a player hitting .293 with a .385 on-base percentage, a good clubhouse reputation, and a switch-hitter, the Giants get two mediocre prospects and still have to pay $1.5 million.
Keep this in mind when you think about what the Royals could get for Grud, a player hitting .303 with a .353 on-base percentage, a good clubhouse reputation, and making $4 million this year.
This is one of the most interesting times of year to be a fan, the trade deadline, thinking about all the possibilities. One of the problems is that fans often overrate (sometimes underrate) the value of players on their favorite team.
The best Royals example of this that comes to mind is last year, when the consensus among fans seemed to be the Royals didn't get enough for Octavio Dotel.
Well, they tried to get Franklin Gutierrez for Dotel. The Indians wouldn't do it, and that should tell you something, considering that Joe Borowski was their closer.
The Royals ended up with Kyle Davies, who might actually end up more valuable considering he's currently in the rotation and Gutierrez is hitting .220.
It feels like the Royals might end up not doing anything at the deadline. A contender would like Ron Mahay, but his value is increased to the Royals because he's under contract next year.
Miguel Olivo would be attractive somewhere, but the Royals don't have the catching depth to cover themselves.
David DeJesus would be a good fit for a lot of teams. He can play all three OF spots, hit anywhere in the lineup, and he's playing under a club-friendly contract. But would you really want to trade the guy when he finally looks like he's figuring it out? It's intriguing, but don't bet on it.
Another thing that hurts the chances of the Royals making a deal is the increased value all teams hold now of young players, prospects or pre-arbitration big leaguers.
As the Durham deal shows, teams aren't always willing to give up much of value in trades, even for a proven big league commodity like a solid veteran 2B.
I am so not one to jump on a "cut 'em" bandwagon when a player goes through a slump. All the brouhaha over Guillen early in the season made a lot of fans look like fools in the long run.
That being said, I absolutely can't figure out what the heck Jimmy Gobble is still doing on a major league roster. I know he seemed to emerge as a reasonably good situational lefty last year, but right now he can't get anybody out, anytime. Even if you take out last night's game where they simply made him take a shelling so-as not to burn the bullpen during a beating, his stats are still terrible and to the naked eye he just looks like he's going to creamed every time he throws a pitch. He doesn't seem to be in a slump. He seems to be done. Am I wrong here? Why is this guy still around?