Juan Cruz signs with the Royals

[kramnoj]

Per http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090228&content_id=3897376&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb Juan Cruz has signed a deal that will pay him $2.25 million for this year, $3.25 million for 2010 and a club option for $4 million for '11 with a $500,000 buyout. The article says that the Royals are giving up their 2nd round pick to get Cruz.

 

The Royals really seem to be trying to make a push. Who knows, with a fair amount of luck, they could maybe win the division with a mid-80 win season.

[Brian the Automator]

While Juan Cruz will certainly help them in the short-term, giving up a 2nd rounder when you're a team that needs all the help they can get seems to be short-sighted. This seems to be the plan that the Pirates go with every year, and the plan that the Brewers used to go with. It just seems to me like the Royals will never be able to compete until they completely tear the team down and start with a clean slate.

[Ennder]

That division is weak so I guess it makes some sense to just see what happens.

[JohnBriggs12]

While Juan Cruz will certainly help them in the short-term, giving up a 2nd rounder when you're a team that needs all the help they can get seems to be short-sighted. This seems to be the plan that the Pirates go with every year, and the plan that the Brewers used to go with. It just seems to me like the Royals will never be able to compete until they completely tear the team down and start with a clean slate.

 

That's a big stretch. The Royals have been drafting near the top of the draft for years and where did that get them? The 1st rounders they still have to show for it now are Grienke, Butler and Gordon but none of those guys will be around forever. In the past 30 years the Brewers have had 3 2nd rounders who had significant careers: Glenn Braggs, JJ Hardy, and Yovanni Gallardo. That's it in 30 years. Well more than half never played one game in the majors. This is not a major risk they are taking. The AL Central is wide open. The Royals have a shot. They owe it to their fans to take that shot. Cruz and Soria give them a great 1-2 punch in the pen.

[Brian the Automator]

That's a big stretch. The Royals have been drafting near the top of the draft for years and where did that get them? The 1st rounders they still have to show for it now are Grienke, Butler and Gordon but none of those guys will be around forever. In the past 30 years the Brewers have had 3 2nd rounders who had significant careers: Glenn Braggs, JJ Hardy, and Yovanni Gallardo. That's it in 30 years. Well more than half never played one game in the majors. This is not a major risk they are taking. The AL Central is wide open. The Royals have a shot. They owe it to their fans to take that shot. Cruz and Soria give them a great 1-2 punch in the pen.

The fact that teams try and fail on drafting players in the 2nd round doesn't mean that they should throw the towel in. Cruz is a fine bullpen arm, but if the Royals are serious about contention, they have a bigger need than someone who's going to give them 60-70 innings.

 

This mediocre attempt at trying to stay competitive while rebuilding is what absolutely kills small market teams. Fans may think that their team owes it to them to stay competitive, but having a fire sale and going all out to rebuild is what will ultimately give your team the better mathematical shot at staying competitive for the long-term, and will probably give them a better shot at going all the way.

 

KC has been projected by the usual sources as finishing in 4th place behind the ChiSox, Twins, and Tigers. I find myself agreeing with them. If Juan Cruz is just a means to try to battle for 3rd place, I'd take the 2nd round pick (and the cash saved to try to draft higher-risk players) any day of the week.

[owbc]

The Royals aren't going anywhere this year or next year or the year after. They continuously make moves that place them in the lower tier of small market teams that consistently finishes in last place. While it is true that draft picks (even high rounds) don't usually pan out, you can increase the probability by getting more draft picks and by hiring scouts/executives to make smart decisions. The Royals do not have the spending power to win any way except through the draft. Instead, they choose to spend millions of dollars on mediocre free agents with little upside. They will always have the lowest or the second lowest payroll in the division--kind of like the Rays. The only proven way to win it that situation is to draft, draft, draft.

[JoeHova]

I don't think signing a good/useful player to a fair contract is ever a bad move. Ever. You play to win the game. Playing to net draft picks is not inspiring to anyone and can even backfire on you (like with CC and Ben). Of course a team should be cognizant of how likely they are to contend in a given year and try to be realistic, but there's nothing wrong with trying to speed up the process a little. This isn't a franchise-crippling Jeff Suppan-esque deal. This is a fair contract to a good reliever who can help a team win. If it's a fair contract for a good team, why isn't it also one for a bad team? I don't get the logic, unless the signing is blocking good prospects (which it isn't in this case).

 

Also, didn't the Royals set the all-time MLB record for biggest signing bonus outlay last year? They can use a later round pick to sign a 2nd round quality player away from college, it's not crippling at all to lose a 2nd rounder.

 

One last point- people here may take an extra 2nd rounder over trying to finish in 3rd but KC fans evidently don't share those feelings. During the recent year they finished 3rd (2003) they had by far their largest attendance since the strike. Their attendance last season was 200,000 less than it was during their 3rd place finish season. Trying to improve the team, even if only marginally, can have tangible benefits.

[Ennder]

The Royals aren't going anywhere this year or next year or the year after.

 

I would normally agree with you but that could be the weakest division in baseball so I just can't get too upset about them going for it. Some team will luck into 85 wins I'm sure but there isn't a single team in the division with 85 win talent.

[giffted1]

I don't see the Royals as a legitimate playoff team now or in a couple of years. They should be stocking up on draft picks for when Hosmer and Moustakas are ready, not losing them. Signing players like Meche, Guillen, and now Cruz is just a waste of money.

[nate82]

Juan Cruz is going to be a valuable trade piece for the Royals and we all know how closers and closer types are over paid in MLB. I could see a Linebrink kind of a trade for the Royals either this year or next year. You can bet that Cruz will be in a lot of rumors of being traded during the deadline for the next two years.

 

I don't see how this is a bad move by the Royals. If Cruz was a type B free agent he would have gotten about what Hoffman got money wise and a longer contract. The Royals got Cruz on a deep discount and it didn't really cost that all that much. Losing their second round pick for one year is not going to kill the team. If the Royals do trade Cruz I bet they will get more talent in return than if they didn't sign him and kept their second round pick.

 

I believe this is a win win situation for the Royals.

[kramnoj]

This isn't a franchise-crippling Jeff Suppan-esque deal.

 

I find it hard to consider Suppan's deal crippling, considering he was a major part of the two best teams the Brewers have had over the last 16 years. This year he will be significantly overpaid for his expected production, but he should be better than any other pitcher lower on the roster. Next year, sure, it could be ugly, but I don't think one out of 4 years is crippling.

[Never Outhustled]

As JoeHova said, losing their 2nd round pick won't impact the Royals much, because they're willing to pay overslot for picks. They drafted and signed Tim Melleville in the 4th round last year. He was clearly a 1st round talent, but was demanding big money. They'll do that again.

 

For a conservative team like the Brewers, losing a 2nd round pick would be crippling.

[Brian the Automator]

Juan Cruz is going to be a valuable trade piece for the Royals and we all know how closers and closer types are over paid in MLB. I could see a Linebrink kind of a trade for the Royals either this year or next year. You can bet that Cruz will be in a lot of rumors of being traded during the deadline for the next two years.

It's not so much that Juan Cruz is a dud of a player and has no value, it's just that if they were going to be able to sign a player of that free agent ranking, you would think they would sign a player that has a bigger impact. Their depth chart is really pedestrian, and Cruz has averaged just 67 innings pitched per year since his first full season in 2002.

 

If they're really hell-bent on sacrificing the long-term for the short-term to some extent, they could have done a much better job.

 

This along with the recent release of Esteban German after they signed him to a 1.2M deal this offseason just re-inforces my thought that there's no real cohesive plan in KC.

[ILuvDaBush]

I agree that Cruz will have beaucoup value this trade deadline or next, and the second they forfeited is more than complemented by this year's haul of Sample/Mellville/Montgomery/Hosmer. If Cruz puts up another season like he had this past year, I would think they could get a top 100 prospect, which is more than they could probably net in the year's draft. But the biggest winner has to be the AZ D-Bax. They get a supp. 1st and a second rounder.

[endaround]

Thing is the Royals are already paying Farnsworth $4.5m and Mahay $4m while running Mike Jacobs and his $3.25m salary out to1B in the best 1B/DH market ever. Cruz is a nice player but the Royals are actually covered for set up men while thin almost everywhere else.

[kramnoj]

Thing is the Royals are already paying Farnsworth $4.5m and Mahay $4m while running Mike Jacobs and his $3.25m salary out to1B in the best 1B/DH market ever.

 

As far as I can tell, the only 1B/DH market remaining is The Big Hurt. I'm not sure he would go play in KC for a couple mil. You could make the point that the Royals should have not traded for Jacobs and signed Abreu/Giambi, etc, but there was no way of knowing that those players would choose to sign in KC.

 

Cruz is a nice player but the Royals are actually covered for set up men while thin almost everywhere else.

 

Cruz is only making $2.25M this year. He will presumably be worth his salary and find enough IP.

[JJHardy7]

I guess I don't see why Jacobs as a player is that bad compared to his salary. KC may have been able to sign a better player for that amount...but that player would've had to come to KC. Again, I'm saying as a player since I don't recall what they gave up. I know it also would've been better to trade for him 3 years ago when he was cheaper and pre-arby. endaround, why is this such a bad deal? I'm not saying this to be a jerk or anything. I just might be missing something. I know his obp is not all that great (roughly .300 for his career if I remember right) and he doesn't hit for average. He does have some decent power, but he's far from a 'perfect' player. I think he's one that is a 'fit' for a team like KC though.

[kramnoj]

Jacobs is awful defensively, worse than Fielder, according to some metrics. There are also projections out there that have prospects for the Royals who are expected to do almost as well offensively, while offering better defense at lower cost.