Much Ado About Nothing

After four days of swirling rumors, offers, discussions and headlines, the Winter Meetings have drawn to a close. Some teams, like the Angels and Marlins, had their team in nearly every players’ updates and both teams added impact hitters and southpaw starters. The Marlins almost signed half the free agent class, it seems.

The Royals had a much quieter week.

They weren’t completely uninvolved. On Wednesday night, they traded Yamaico Navarro for a pair of minor leaguers. Thursday morning they selected Cesar Cabral – then traded him to the Yankees for cash.

Now, they have an open spot on their 40 man roster, a little bit of cash and the same roster they had on Saturday night
before everybody in baseball converged on Dallas.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Looking at the projected lineup for 2012, the Royals return their stash of highly-touted rookies and a team that finished sixth in the American League in runs scored and tenth overall. They’ll return fully stocked bullpen that held its own and if they can control their walks next year, could be among the best in the league.

The Royals did a lot of their work before the Winter Meetings, trading Melky Cabrera to the Giants for Jonathan Sanchez, then signing Jonathan Broxton.

So as rumors rampaged over Twitter and the Royals were linked to Gio Gonzalez or James Shields, with Wil Myers as the cost, they ended up doing nothing.

The team needs to improve its starting pitching, but unless a move comes along that allows the Royals to do so without trading some of their best prospects, or if they get the right price on a free agent who could upgrade the staff, the Royals seem content to stand pat.

Or they could be waiting to finish off the last parts of a deal. With the Royals, you never really know until it’s announced. They run a tight ship at One Royal Way, and if the Royals are doing anything in negotiations, they aren’t letting on. After signing C.J. Wilson, the Angels may want to move Ervin Santana to fill other spots. The Rays have all sorts of pitchers who could be available. Even the White Sox may be rebuilding and ready to move John Danks or Gavin Floyd.

With an open roster spot, the Royals could get a left-handed reliever, a veteran utility man, another starter. They could call up someone. They might just leave it open until after spring training.

Roy Oswalt is still unsigned, however. Hmm…

What do you think happens?

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