From the Fish Pond (2/1)

In this edition of From the Fish Pond:  Ryan Theriot, the list of potential Market Fresh subjects grows, Jimmy Gobble, Horacio Ramirez, Eric Hosmer, Danny Duffy, John Sickles, Project Prospect, and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.

Market Fresh Update:

First off I wanted to drop a link to a post that Jordan Campbell did over on Cubbies Crib about SS-Ryan Theriot and his tenuous relationship with the Cubs.  I’m thinking a straight up Yuniesky Betancourt for Ryan Theriot trade would work out quite nicely.  No doubt that Yunie is more talented than Theriot, but in terms of actual 2010 value and likely production it’s Ryan by a mile.

The following Market Fresh candidates from the last edition of From the Fish Pond* have not been profiled:

RHP-Chris Smith (28):  was outrighted to Triple-A by the Brewers today
RHP-Dennis Sarfate (29):  DFA’d by the Baltimore Orioles on January 27th
RHP-Mike Eckstrom (26):  DFA’d by the San Diego Padres on January 27th
1B-Jesus Guzman (25):  DFA’d by the San Francisco Giants on January 22nd

*The name is growing on me …

Today five new potential Market Fresh subjects have been DFA’d:

2B-Gregorio Petit (25), Oakland Athletics
OF-Willy Taveras (28), Oakland Athletics
LHP-Dana Eveland (26), Oakland Athletics
RHP-Gaby Hernandez (23), Seattle Mariners
1B-Tommy Everidge (26), Seattle Mariners

One of the five will most likely be the subject of an upcoming post, and no, it’s not Willy Taveras.

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Former Royals on the Move:

On January 28th, the Colorado Rockies signed LHP-Jimmy Gobble to a minor league contract with an invite to spring training.  Before the days of screwing up the development of Alex Gordon, the Royals were busy screwing up the careers of Jimmy Gobble and Jeremy Affeldt.  After leaving Kansas City for Colorado in the summer of 2006, Jeremy has posted three straight seasons with an ERA+ over 130.  His 2009 season was the best yet, finishing with a 1.73 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, and 7.9 SO/9 in 74 relief appearances.  I don’t fault the organization for trading Affeldt in the least.  If there was ever a player who needed a change of scenery to right his career, it was Jeremy, and he was never going to blossom here.  Jimmy Gobble has not found the same post-Royal success but that may be due in part to the fact that Kansas City meddled and bounced his role around for a full six seasons compared to the 4.5 years that Affeldt was subjected to the same treatment.  Jimmy Gobble has never had the arm or the stuff of Jeremy Affeldt, but I still can’t shake the feeling that we were cheated out of what should have been with both guys by this organization.  Jeremy was able to rebound and rebuild his career.  I fear that Jimmy was permanently damaged, or simply not that good.  Whatever the case, I wish him the best of luck.

Another former Royals southpaw was signed to a minor league deal today.  LHP-Horacio Ramirez has signed a minor league contract with the San Francisco Giants.  The quote on Rotoworld sums it up pretty succinctly, “Ramirez hasn’t even been passable since going 12-4 with a 4.00 ERA with the Braves in 2003.”  Last year in Kansas City he was given a turn in the starting rotation despite doing his best to pitch his way out of the spot.  Fortunately for Royals fans, his first start* was so bad that Dayton and Trey were unable to ignore reality any longer and by June 6th he was designated for assignment.  Ho-Ram took his act to the Washington Nationals organization and spent the rest of the season pitching in Triple-A for the Syracuse Chiefs.  He started 16 games for the Chiefs with a 5.40 ERA, 1.59 WHIP, 3.7 SO/9, and 1.40 SO/BB in 85 innings pitched.  Again that was in Triple-A.  I honestly have no idea what San Francisco is doing by even offering Horacio a minor league contract, but I’m elated it’s the Giants and not the Royals who are doing it.

*Also known as throwing batting practice to the NY Yankees.

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Royals Stories, Links, and News:

The Wilmington Blue Rocks unveiled their new logo and uniforms last week.

Over on Royals Review, CentralChamps2009, examines whether or not 1B-Eric Hosmer was really that bad in 2009.  To keep it short, I’ll simply say that I completely agree with the conclusion.  Hosmer is far too young with far too little professional experience to give up on at this point.

Royals Review examines the Royal position players with upside for 2010.

Keith Law expressed some concerns about LHP-Danny Duffy’s “ugly arm action” and Kyle Boddy over on Driveline Mechanics offers some thoughts on the matter.  John Sickles writes in his Baseball Prospect Book 2010 that “some scouts worry that his delivery is hard on his shoulder.”

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Other Stuff:

Speaking of John Sickles’ Baseball Prospect Book, I just got my copy in the mail today.  I pre-ordered it several month ago and I’ve been anxiously awaiting this day.  I had half a mind to not post today just so I could curl up with a blanket and start reading.  If you haven’t already done so, take a moment to order a copy for yourself.  If you are independently wealthy, go ahead and offer a copy for all your friends and family who are baseball fans too.  This is the first year I have purchased a copy of his book and if I had to sum it up in one word, that word would be, wow.  It is an impressive work, and one that will be an indispensable part of my baseball library.

Project Prospect has now revealed it’s top 25 prospect list.  Indians C-Carlos Santana, number 5 on the list, remains the only player from the AL Central to make the cut.

The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum is struggling financially and it isn’t all due to the recession.  I’d like to get on my high horse on the topic, but I can’t.  I am a huge fan of baseball, I am a huge fan of baseball history, I am the only person I have ever met that has manually added* every Negro League Player I could find into my Earl Weaver II Baseball league on the old 386 and 486 PCs.  All that said, I can’t get on a soap box here because I have never taken the time to go check the Museum out.  Now I am reading about the financial problems, questionable decision making and leadership, and now speculation by some that the entire thing should be moved to Cooperstown.

*I didn’t just add them, I broke down their stats into groups and assigned their traits, like power and contact, values from 1-10 when building their player profiles in the game.

The financial problems make me sad, the problems with leadership makes me mad, and the thought of losing a piece of Kansas City breaks my heart.  I can only do my small part, and as such I will be taking my boys to check it out this summer.

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