The Royals say they want to build on pitching. They want to take calculated risks, acquire guys with big potential, and if they don't work out, fine, move on to the next chance.
Trading for Rich Hill fits perfectly.
I say this knowing there are no indications that the Royals are actually, you know, going to do this. Nothing credible has been reported along those lines, and someone in the front office told me recently that Hill's name hasn't come up in conversations in months.
But it should. Especially with the Cubs apparently willing to accept just about anything, including the legendary player-to-be-named-later based on Hill's performance in 2009.
He is left-handed, with a huge curveball, and just about unhittable when he's right. This is the guy who won 11 games, pitched 195 innings with a 3.92 ERA and 119 ERA+ --- and who started in game three of the NLCS two years ago.
Of course, there's a reason he's available, and it's not just because he did got shelled in that one playoff start.
Hill is in the organization's doghouse and out of minor league options. He walked 18 in his first five starts and 19 2/3 innings last year, then was demoted to Class AAA, demoted again, all the way down to rookie ball.
That's fine. And maybe Hill will go down as a tease, another pitcher just talented enough to be a let down over and over and over again.
But he's also cheap --- made $445,000 last year --- and virtually no trade risk.
And two years ago, he struck out 183 and walked just 63 in 32 starts. This is not a Colt Griffin situation, where the Royals would have to hope for someone to perform at some new level.
It's obvious Hill can be a very good big league starter. He was the year before last. That's not ancient history. He turns 29 in March.
If Hill flops, the conditional player shipped to the Cubs is a nobody.
If he figures it out, the conditional player is a legit prospect you look at as the cost of acquiring a third young staple of the rotation to fit behind Gil Meche and Zack Greinke.
This is the risk teams like the Royals should be taking. If Hideo Nomo was worth the risk, or Brett Tomko worth a $4 million bet, then how can Rich Hill not be worth a bottom-level salary and bottom-level minor leaguer?
Bob McClure has a reputation as the best coach on the Royals' staff. Meche gives him a lot of the credit for his emergence in Kansas City.
Let McClure work with Hill. See what happens. McClure lasted 19 years in the big leagues as a left-handed pitcher. Maybe he sees something in Hill, maybe he finds the trick, unlocks the potential and the Royals deepen their rotation.
Dayton Moore is talking a lot this offseason of the depth he's created, the competition that will exist in camp, and what he says some are telling him is the best top-to-bottom Royals roster since before the strike.
They're entering camp with Kyle Davies, Horacio Ramirez, Brian Bannister and Luke Hochevar competing for three rotation spots.
Putting a big-potential lefty like Hill into that rotation competition sure would strengthen Moore's case.
A conditional player-to-be-named is a small price to pay for a guy who would be under club control four years and just might turn the rotation from good to really good.
Looks like Hill will be going to the Orioles for a PTBN. Good speculation but doesn't look like he's coming here...unless he fails to crack that vaunted Orioles starting staff.