Sidney Ponson is now a Royal, and in addition to providing the 84 or so Royals bloggers with great material, this sets up something of a test for GM Dayton Moore and this "new" direction.
The easy thing here is to point out that in the past, a guy who shut down the Dominican Republic in the WBC would qualify as the Royals' opening day starter, so that's progress right there.
The e-mails I've received say some of you are worried this is a regression to the old Royals, when trash became treasure. But I think we're past that.
The Royals are saying Ponson comes in on his minor league contract to compete for a rotation spot, but don't believe it.
It would take a remarkable string of events for that to happen. Ponson will be in Omaha next month, and best-case for him is helping the big league team at some point this summer.
Ponson brings a catalog of baggage that includes two DUI citations, an assault charge against a judge in his home country of Aruba, past problems with stamina, and an ugly departure from the Rangers last year.
The Rangers are the most pitching-starved franchise in baseball, and even they dumped Ponson after he was 4-1 with a 3.88 ERA in nine starts last year.
The official reason was "disrespectful and adverse reactions to situations unbecoming of teammates," and GM Jon Daniels elaborated:
"We don't feel Sidney deserves to be here or wants to be here. We're not going to get into details other than to say we're clearly trying to put together a team here, in a true sense of the word. Based on some recent comments and other such things, it was pretty clear that he did not want to be part of that, and it's something we're not going to tolerate."
Damn.
Think about that.
The Rangers cutting a good pitcher is like a starving man turning down a steak. You know they had to have a good reason or six.
That's as damning a statement as you'll find from a GM about an active player, and we haven't even broached the widely-circulated knocks on Ponson about his drinking habits.
Ponson was 4-4 in 16 appearances (all but one a start) with a 5.85 ERA for the Yankees last year, before they dumped him, the sixth team to release Ponson.
Anyway, baseball will always have a place for a man who can pitch, and so when Ponson threw four good innings against the Dominicans, it was just a matter of time before some big league team gave him another chance.
The Royals are that team, and there is no reason to think they will hesitate at all to cut him at the first sign of doubles off the wall or trouble off the field.
This is a fine move, a virtual no-risk, if handled properly. Ponson starts the season in Omaha and provides organizational depth in case of injury or bad performance by any of the Royals' big leaguers.
Ponson will be 32 years old the entire season. He can apparently still pitch effectively. If the Royals call him up in the middle of the summer and he helps win a few games, beautiful. Good move.
But the test will be whether the Royals are truly willing to cut ties with him if there are any problems.
There is no reason they shouldn't, of course. They have nothing invested in him and should have at least a couple capable big league-caliber pitchers in Omaha at the start of the season.
If Ponson acts up and the Royals release him immediately, it's a good sign that they can walk the walk.
If they hold on too long, it's a good sign that they're still too insecure and too desperate.
And if Ponson acts right and helps the big league team at some point this summer, well, then nobody cares about the past transgressions and the Royals will have made a nice little move.
Are we going to pay Ponson a bonus if he grows a mullett?? I'm only on board if he's contractually obligated to scream, "You're [Effin'] Out!" after each strikeout.