Kila Ka'aihue -- Royals

[Baldkin]

I'd love to see this guy in a Brewers uniform.

 

He's a bit old, but is a solid 1B, who does one thing amazingly well: He gets on base. Maybe he's not the prototypical 40 HR 1B type, but for a pre-arby guy, who can't seem to crack the Royals lineup for some reason, I'd love to see him in Nashville as Prince-insurance (or replacement...)

 

http://kingsofkauffman.com/2010/02/19/kok-prospect-16-kila-kaaihue/

 

Just curios what people would think it would take to get the guy?

[Tedaldtada]

Very interesting. What would it take to get him? Farris sounds like a player the Royals may overvalue. Same with Hopper.

[JohnBriggs12]

Appears to be incredibly patient, but in 555 PA last year, he drove in just 57 runs and hit .252. 1B has to be a run producing spot. This guy may be patient to a fault.

 

Since he was drafted back in 2002, my guess he's close to being out of options so why give up anything for him now?

[Baldkin]

His BABIP was only .277 last year, so he was incredibly unlucky.

RBI's are a function of number of runners on in front of you, not in your own performance.

 

I could see him, very easily, hitting 2nd or 3rd in the Brewers lineup, if he put up that .400 OBP in the majors.

 

Using the 'standard formula' BABIP ~ LD% + .120 (his LD% was 19%) his BABIP should've been about .310, which would've bumped his average into the .275-280 range.

 

As for, why give up something for him now... if he can be had on the cheap, the question is, why not? He'd be a better PH than Inglett, and a guy who could step in for Prince if Fielder is moved this season.

[And That]

Ka'aihue is slow in a Johnny Estrada sort of way and a bad defender. He'd be a good pickup for a team looking for better DH production, but he would be a liability for the Brewers.

[endaround]

Yeah, he's a platoon DH and really there are a bunch of those. Should he be on the Royals? Probably. On the Brewers? Not really.

[craigharmann]

The only reason I'd want him anywhere near the Brewers is to hear Uke riff on his name. Uke's So Taguchi was awesome, and I'm sure he'd go to town.