Royals Acquire Jamey Carroll From Twins

Jul 1, 2013; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Twins third baseman Jamey Carroll (8) throws the ball to first base in the fourth inning against the New York Yankees at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

After defeating the Boston Red Sox on Sunday afternoon, the Royals announced that they had acquired infielder Jamey Carroll from the Minnesota Twins in exchange for cash considerations or a player to be named later.

Carroll has hit .230/.284/.262 in 202 plate appearances for Minnesota and offers the Royals another alternative in their search for a second baseman. Miguel Tejada had started to look like a fit as an everyday player but hurt his calf and was placed on the disabled list prior to Sunday’s game. Chris Getz is eligible to return from the DL on Monday and will likely rejoin the team (such a move hadn’t been announced yet) and Dick Kaegel of Royals.com tweeted that a platoon between Carroll (with a .491/.747 OPS split against righties/lefties in 2013) and Getz (who has been balanced over his career) should be in place.

Carroll is 39 years old and has a club option in his contract for 2014. If he eclipses 401 plate appearances, it becomes a player option according to Cot’s Contracts. Carroll has a career OBP of .351, so he at least has shown that to be a skill over the course of his time as a big leaguer. That seems to be the main positive I can see in this move (that and that it’s likely just going to be a cash deal, so the Royals gave up almost nothing to make it).

The Royals will have to make a move to add him to the big league roster, but after designating Francisley Bueno and Brett Hayes (done this morning to bring Salvador Perez back from the DL) for assignment, the Royals had a 40 man roster spot for Carroll. Irving Falu had been brought up after Tejada was placed on the disabled list, and he seems an easy option to make room for Carroll (or a returning Getz) – at least looking at it from the Royals perspective (and after the game, he apparently had his bags packed already). They may also designate Elliot Johnson for assignment as well, considering he’s been awful at the plate lately. Since June 23 (and, sure, this is a selective endpoint, but still), he’s hitting .024/.091/.024.

What I might have done would be to bring up Christian Colon, who’s been pounding the ball in Omaha (.333/.412/.467 since July), plug him into the second base spot and keep Falu up for utility help. In the past, Ned Yost has said he wanted to go with the hot bat at second and Colon has been that over the last six weeks.

Wally Fish provided a Twins perspective on the Carroll deal, suggesting that the Twins got better simply by moving Carroll off the roster and out of future lineups. It does seem that Dayton Moore loves to go get utility infielders, though.