May 28, 2011; Toronto, ON, Canada; Toronto Blue Jays right fielder Jose Bautista (19) hits a single in the 3rd inning against the Chicago White Sox at the Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-US PRESSWIRE

If you really break it down from the beginning, I would say the Royals received the best haul in the deal.  Huber was a talented 21 year old catcher and was the fifth best prospect in 2003 and 2004 according to The Baseball Cube.  Around this time Bautista was struggling just to find some stability and a solid home.  Afterall, he ended the 2004 season as a 23 year old utility man with 40 strike outs and seven walks in 96 plate appearances.  He didn’t show many signs of pop as he ended the season with three extra base hits, all of which were doubles.  So, who would be able to predict that six years later he would belt over 50 home runs?

Huber, in 2005, led the Texas League in batting in his first full year in the Royals system.  At this point, the trade seemed to be working in the Royals favor.  This landed him a promotion to the big club where he hit .218 in 25 games notching six RBI and 17 hits in his first major league season.  Also, Huber was only the designated hitter or first baseman due to a knee injury that cut his 2004 season short in August after the Royals received him.

We turn to now, where Bautista is, arguably, the most feared right-handed power bat in the game.  His big breakthrough came in 2010 when he hammered a major-league leading 54 bombs.  This garnered him major attention and his first All-Star appearance and a Silver Slugger award.  In his stellar 2010 he also finished fourth in the MVP balloting.   He followed up his breakthrough campaign with a solid 2011 where he led the majors again with 43 home runs and finished 3rd in the MVP balloting.  An injury stalled his 2012 season but he was able to put on a show for his former team’s home town fans as he finished second behind Prince Fielder in the Home Run Derby.

Huber played a total of three seasons for the Royals, compiling 98 at bats.  He collected 20 hits, 7 RBI, and struck out 26 times.  The Royals decided to part ways with Huber in 2008 and received cash from the San Diego Padres in a trade that took place in March of 2008.  He finished a brief stint with Padres that year hitting .246 in 33 games.  His last run in the big leagues ended up in Minnesota as he had 2 at bats for the Twins in 2009.  He has recently been playing for the Melbourne Aces in the Australian Baseball League.  Obviously, this trade didn’t end up in the Royals favor but there were a number of other teams who moved on without Bautista, so it’s really hard to have a gripe with a trade like this.  It’s just too bad Joey Bats wasn’t able to break out in Kansas City instead of Toronto.

That being the case, I went through and constructed a roster of players made up only of those players the Royals traded at the deadline. For this purpose, I considered a “deadline trade” anything within three weeks of the deadline (prior to 1986, the deadline was June 15 each year).

Warning: Some of the names to follow are painful memories of awful teams, bad deals, and it’s not for the faint of heart:

C – Matt Treanor (1997)

Before his 2011 stint with the Royals, Treanor had been drafted by Kansas City in 1994. On July 29, 1997, the Royals traded him to Florida for left-handed pitcher Matt Whisenant, who made 142 appearances as a Royal with a 5.05 ERA.

1B – Matt Stairs (2006)

Stairs was a part of some of the worst Royals teams ever, hitting 39 homers from 2004 until July 31, 2006 as a Royal. The Royals got right-handed pitcher Jose Diaz from Texas for him. He threw 25 innings in the Royals organization before going to Japan.

2B – Mike Aviles (2011)

July 15, 2012; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Boston Red Sox shortstop Mike Aviles (3) hits a 2-run home run in the second inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE

Last year, Aviles was struggling with the Royals and his defense was suspect. With Alcides Escobar and Johnny Giavotella around, the Royals found him expendable and sent him to Boston for infielder Yamaico Navarro and right-hander Kendal Volz. Aviles went on to produce a .775 OPS for Boston the rest of the year and started out hot in 2012 as well.

Volz pitched in Double A before retiring earlier this month. Navarro didn’t fit within the organization and had some character problems (he was arrested for a DUI earlier this month) and was flipped to Pittsburgh for Brooks Pounders and Diego Goris.

SS – Rey Sanchez (2001)

Sanchez didn’t have a lot of power, but when he was with the Royals he showed he was fine as a contact hitter and provided solid defense at short. After two years in Kansas City, Sanchez was traded to Atlanta at the deadline in 2001 for minor league outfielder Alejandro Machado and pitcher Brad Voyles.

Machado would be traded in a deadline deal in 2003 for Curtis Leskanic as the Royals found themselves in contention.

3B – Alberto Callaspo (2010)

When he started his Royals career, Callaspo looked like he might develop into a potent bat at second base. In 2009, he hit .300 and had 60 extra base hits. In 2010, his name came up in trade talks and the Royals, with other options to play third base (where Callaspo had played more and more starting that year), they dealt him on July 22, 2010 to the Angels for righty Sean O’Sullivan and lefty Will Smith.

O’Sullivan pitched as a spot starter and long relief guy for the Royals until being traded to the Blue Jays for cash. Will Smith has surfaced as a member of the Royals starting rotation after injuries and solid work in Omaha.

OF – Tom Goodwin (1997)

The Royals grabbed Goodwin off waivers in 1994 and put him in their lineup starting in 1995 where he proceeded to steal 150 bases in two and a half seasons.

On July 25, 1997, they traded him to Texas, getting Dean Palmer in return. This is an example of one of their more successful deadline deals, as Palmer went on to hit .278/.335/.487 in over 200 plate appearances the rest of the year and hit as a Royal in 1998. Goodwin went on to play until 2004, carving out a decent career for himself.

OF – Jose Bautista (2004)

If you blinked in 2004, you missed Bautista’s Royals career. He played a grand 13 games with the Royals in a season where he made appearances for four different big league teams.

He’s in here because he’s a fun name to include – the move a the time was of little significance to anyone. Nobody though he’d go on to lead the American League in homers two years in a row. He wasn’t even a full time player until 2010. On July 30, the Royals sent him to the Mets for an infamous name among Royals fans – Justin Huber.

OF – Jermaine Dye (2001)

Jun 11, 2009; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago White Sox right fielder Jermaine Dye (23) before the game against the Detroit Tigers at US Cellular Field. The White Sox won 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-US PRESSWIRE

Ugh.

That’s almost all you can say about this one, right? The Royals turned a young All-Star and Gold Glove outfielder into Neifi Perez. I don’t even want to talk about this move. It’s too painful. At least in the other notable trades of Johnny Damon and Carlos Beltran, the Royals got something of value (though barely) – Perez is among the worst everyday players in recent memory.

July 25, 2001 is a painful memory.

SP – Kevin Appier (1999)

This one hurts, but after 1998 was lost to shoulder surgery, it doesn’t hurt as much as Dye’s trade. Appier wasn’t the same after the surgery but still ended up in demand at the deadline. On July 31, 1999, the Royals sent him to the A’s for Jeff D’Amico (NOT the former Brewer), Brad Rigby and Blake Stein, all right-handed pitchers.

Appier wasn’t much more effective for the A’s and ended up bouncing around the league before returning to the Royals in late 2003. D’Amico and Rigby both put up ERAs above 9.00 as Royals, though Stein at least approached league average as a pitcher for Kansas City until disappearing from baseball after 2002.

RP – Octavio Dotel (2007)

The Royals signed Dotel to a one-year deal and it wasn’t a surprise when they looked to move him at the deadline in 2007. They put him in 24 games where he earned 11 saves but they didn’t need a closer very much in a year where they lost 93 games and had Rule 5 pick Joakim Soria pitching well enough to take over the role.

Dotel’s time with the Royals is just a blip on his nomadic radar (13 teams in 14 years). For 7.2 innings of work, the Braves sent Kyle Davies to Kansas City on the last day of the month and the rest is history.

Other notable deadline departures:

• Jon Lieber to Pittsburgh (1993)
• Mark Davis to Atlanta (1992)
• Jeremy Affeldt to Colorado (2006)
• Kyle Farnsworth to Atlanta (2010)
• Mike MacDougal to Chicago (2006)
• Wilson Betemit to Detroit (2011)
• Tony Graffanino to Boston (2005)/Tony Graffanino to Milwaukee (2006)
• Buddy Biancalana to Houston (1987)

Prince Fielder. Credit: Scott Rovak/USA TODAY Sports via US PRESSWIRE

In doing so, he’s the second player to win the contest twice (Ken Griffey Jr.) and the first to win in both leagues after winning in 2009 while with the Milwaukee Brewers.

He got on a roll in the final round, blasting eight homers with just one out and finishing with a 12-homer round and beating out Jose Bautista. Fielder hit a total of 39 homers inside Kauffman Stadium and landed a few in the fountains. His longest homer was estimated at 476 feet, one of the longest shots in the stadium’s history.

Mark Trumbo also stood out with massive power all night, including a shot that landed on the Royals Hall of Fame. Trumbo nearly made it to the finals, but after tying Bautista, lost a “swing off”.

Robinson Cano, who was met with a chorus of boos from the Kansas City crowd after snubbing Billy Butler (after saying he’d choose a Royal for the squad) finished with zero home runs in the first round after winning last year’s derby.

Carlos Beltran was the only National Leaguer to survive the first round. The former Royal still hit 12 homers in the second round, but Trumbo, Bautista and Fielder all surpassed his count.

In the end, both sides ended up accumulating a good chunk of change to charity. Homers hit with the “golden ball” contributed $18,000 to charity and State Farm donated $3,000 for each non-gold homer. It added up to $615,000.

For young Royals fans who may not remember, the Royals and Blue Jays have a history together.  In October 1985, the Royals played the Blue Jays in a thrilling 7 game playoff that stood as possibly the most exciting series in Royals history…  for about 11 days until the Royals defeated the Cardinals in the greatest World Series ever played.  (Please note, some Cardinal fans have disputed the notion that the 7 game 1985 World Series was in fact the greatest ever played.  However, they are wrong.)

The Blue Jays have the misfortune of playing in the same division as the financially rich Yankees and Red Sox, and the pitching rich Tampa Bay Rays.  While faced with this stiff competition, the Blue Jays still compiled a .500 record in 2011, both winning and losing exactly 81 games.  In 2011, the Royals won the season series with the Blue Jays 4-3.

The Blue Jays feature a few new players on their roster this year.  Arizona and Toronto traded second baseman in a deal that sent Kelly Johnson to replace Aaron Hill who has only been a shadow of himself since his 2009 All Star season.  Hill batted .225 with 6 HR and 45 RBIs for Toronto in 2011.  He made Alcides Escobar look like a slugger.

Pouty Colby Rasmus is getting a fresh start with the Toronto Blue Jays Credit: Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE

Famously homesick former first round draft pick and Alabama boy Colby Rasmus came to the Blue Jays in a multi-player deal with the Cardinals last July, and played centerfield for the last several weeks of the season.  The Cardinals, and now the Blue Jays continue to offer him additional chances to prove himself due to his tremendous five-tool upside, but even at only 25 years old, patience is wearing thin with his sullen attitude.  So far, he hasn’t proved to be much of an upgrade over Rajai Davis who remains on the bench and available if needed.

Omar Vizquel, one of the greatest defensive infielders in the history of MLB, is now a bench player for the Blue Jays Credit: David Richard-US PRESSWIRE

The Blue Jays also carry one of my all time favorite players, 9 time gold glove winning 45-year-old Omar Vizquel now rides the bench for Toronto as a utility infielder.  He hasn’t played for Cleveland since 2004, but I still just can’t picture him in anything other than an Indian’s uniform.  I haven’t seen Vizquel play for a while, but he was a defensive highlight machine back in the day.  I always loved watching him make plays, the same way I love watching Alcides Escobar play right now. (Well, with the possible exception of the 12^th inning in Oakland late last Wednesday night.)  Vizquel is a great veteran presence in the dugout and the locker room.

Even with Vizquel on the team, the average age of the Blue Jays is only 29.1 (there are 10 “older” teams) compared to the Royals 26.9.

Toronto pitching was only slightly better than the Royals last year, with a team ERA of 4.32 compared to the Royals 4.44, with more strikeouts at 1169 compared to the Royals 1080.  Toronto pitching also plunked 77 batters last year, which was good for second most in the AL behind the brush-back pitch happy Boston Red Sox.  The Jays were close to the middle of the pack in most every pitching category, except wild pitches – they led the league in 2011 with 73.

The Blue Jays proved they are a socially conscious organization by giving their closer Sergio Santos paternity leave immediately after the 2012 season began.  I remember the days when players would rush to the hospital to be with their wives who were struggling to hold off the birth until after the final out of a game, only to appear in the lineup the very next day.  It wasn’t that long ago.  Santos returned to the team last Sunday and will be available to the Blue Jays during their series with the Royals.

The Toronto Blue Jays feature slugger and former Royal Jose Bautista Credit: Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE

And then there’s Jose Bautista.  Bautista crushed American League pitching last year with a .302 batting average and league leading .608 Slugging, 1.056 OPS, 132 Walks, 24 IBB (some players never get intentionally walked during their entire career!) and 43 home runs.  Not bad for a 20^th round pick.

Did you know Bautista played 13 games for the Royals in 2004?  I wish I could say I predicted he would turn into the hot hitting player he has become today.  I guess it just shows that the experts know better than us amateurs, right?  Oh that’s right, they didn’t predict it either, did they?

The first game of the series is scheduled for Friday evening beginning at 7:10 pm.  This is of course a Buck Night, and a Fireworks Friday night, as well as a Thumb Band night (whatever that is) for the first 20,000 fans.  Retro batting jerseys will be distributed to the first 20,000 fans at the 6:10 pm game on Saturday, and the 1:10 pm Sunday game is a family fun day.

So take your family to the K this weekend and have some fun watching the Royals take on former Royal Jose Bautista and the Toronto Blue Jays, and get yourself a thumb band, or a batting jersey, or a little face paint while you’re there.

Thanks for visiting Kings of Kauffman. You can stay current on all the Kings of Kauffman content and news by following us on Twitter, Facebook, or by way of our RSS feed.  You can also send your questions to our mailbag at KoKMailbag@gmail.com and follow Alan Barrington on Twitter to be notified each time he posts a story and receive his incredibly insightful sports commentary.

Bautista holds off Ellsbury in American League

Outfielders Jose Bautista of the Toronto Blue Jays and Matt Kemp from the Los Angeles Dodgers led their respective leagues in balloting for Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game as conducted by members of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance and announced today.

Bautista, who has an American League-leading 1.133 OPS to go along with his 24 home runs, was named on 50 ballots, not including one ballot that placed him at third base.  Bautista was joined in the outfield by Curtis Granderson of the New York Yankees, who received 48 votes, and Jacoby Ellsbury of the Boston Red Sox, who tallied 23 votes.

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Kings of Kauffman is a proud member of the Baseball Blogger’s Alliance – a website founded to foster community among baseball blogs.  One of the activities we do every year is formally announce an All-Star lineup, compiled from votes by all blogs within the BBA.

This is that ballot for Kings of Kauffman.  Instead of a full roster, top to bottom, we’ll submit a starting American League lineup as our vote.  My rationale behind the choices wasn’t based much on deep regression models and variable ratios or other big mathematical figures.

I just looked at who’s been the best at each position:

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