Crown Gems: Royals Transactions

It’s been a busy week full of minor transactions for the Royals.  In this edition of Crown Gems is news on Edwin Bellorin, Yasuhiko Yabuta, Lenny DiNardo, Mitch Webster, Wilson Betemit, Alberto Callaspo, Miguel Olivo, Bruce Chen, John Bannister, Cody Clark, and Irving Falu.

Transactions:

• The Royals signed 27 year old C-Edwin Bellorin to a minor league deal on Friday.  He was signed by the Dodgers out of Venezuela in 1998 and remained in their organization through the 2006 season.  Bellorin comes to the Royals after spending the last three seasons playing for Triple-A Colorado Springs in the Rockies organization.  His major league experience is limited to 8 games and 13 at bats.  In nine minor league seasons he has compiled a line of 0.269/.312/.368 with 29 HR, 10 SB, 125 BB, and 332 SO in 2,360 AB.  Bellorin had his best season in 2007 when he hit 0.326/.369/.529 with 9 HR, 16 BB, and 27 SO in 221 AB.  That’s the good news.  The bad news is that his slash stats have been in decline ever since.  Last year he hit 0.277/.308/.351 with 1 HR, 9 BB, and 18 SO in 202 AB.  I can’t imagine Bellorin is anything more than a Triple-A insurance policy at the position.
• The other transaction news from yesterday is that RHP-Yasuhiko Yabuta opted for free agency.  It was about a week ago that the Royals declined options on Yabuta, CF-Coco Crisp, and C-Miguel Olivo.  On November 11th, Yabuta was outrighted to Triple-A along with LHP-Lenny DiNardo.  Like Yasuhiko, Lenny chose free agency but did so a day earlier on the 12th.
• The 12th was a busy day for the organization.  In addition to losing Lenny, the team tabbed former ML player Mitch Webster as their Midwest regional scouting supervisor.  The ties to Kansas and his KC residency are a nice note to the story, but what really matters is job performance.  Here’s hoping he comes through for the Royals in that regard.
• When it comes to team news on the 12th, there’s more.  The team confirmed that it had signed utility infielder Wilson Betemit to a minor league contract.  He’s 28 years old with a 0.258/.324/.432 line with 42 HR, 0 SO, 113 BB, and 327 SO in 1,143 AB and 7 seasons.  Another fact that is sure to get a lot of run is that he’s a former member of the Atlanta Braves.  Like the acquisition of Bellorin, Betemit’s value lies in providing Triple-A depth.  At his best he was a slightly above average part-time player at the plate and consistently well below average on defense.  It doesn’t help that he is several years removed from his best seasons.  If he sees significant time in the majors, the Royals season will likely be heading toward disaster.
• Also on the 12th, we learned that Alberto Callaspo just missed qualifying for arbitration via the super-two provision.  Alex Gordon, however, did qualify.
• Olivo was quick to file for free agency, as was LHP-Bruce Chen, on November 7th.
• On November 9th, 25 year old RHP-John Bannister was removed from the 40 man roster and outrighted to Triple-A Omaha after he cleared waivers.  He spent his brief time in the Royals organization pitching for the Naturals in Double-A.  In 14.1 IP, he had a 5.02 ERA, 1.256 WHIP, 12 H, 6 BB, and 9 SO in 8 games.
• The team also re-signed minor leaguers; 28 year old C-Cody Clark and 26 year old 2B-Irving Falu.  I wrote a bit about Falu just the other day since he is playing in the Puerto Rico Winter League.  As far as Clark is concerned, he hit 0.304/.366/.497 with 8 HR, 15 BB, and 27 SO in 191 AB for the NW Arkansas Naturals.  He also played in 3 games for the Omaha Royals and collected 4 hits and 2 walks in his 10 plate appearances.

Other Royals Related Links:

• Project Prospect posted some video of RHP-Aaron Crow pitching in his 3rd AFL start on November 9th.
• Dave Cameron via FanGraphs chimed in yesterday on the rumored trade of Alberto Callaspo for A.J. Ellis.  He appropriately titled his post Right Idea, Wrong Player.
• Matt Klaassen, also via FanGraphs, writes about David DeJesus’ value.

(Wally Fish is Kings of Kauffman’s lead blogger.  Subscribe to his RSS feed and add him on Twitter to follow him daily.)