Catching Up On Departed Royals: “The Trade” Edition

The Royals had to make a lot of decisions and changes during the offseason. So far, they’re paying off, as they stand alone in first place. The rebuilt pitching staff looks good, the hitting is waking up, and it’s about as good a start as could have been reasonably expected.

But let us pause and remember those Royals who left the organization over the winter with a little “Where are they now?” examination.

The Trade

Myers at the plate. (Photo: Minda Haas)

One of the biggest moves of the MLB offseason was the Royals trade of Wil Myers, Mike Montgomery, Jake Odorizzi and Patrick Leonard for James Shields, Wade Davis and (eventually) Elliot Johnson. It’s natural to look wistfully at Durham to see how the Royals prospects are faring.

Wil Myers

I’m sure there’s a little part of every Royals fan who was hoping that Myers would flop outside of the Royals organization. Just a little. So far, however, that’s not the case. The Rays are playing service time games and stashing him in Triple A, where Myers is, understandably, raking.

Year	Age	Tm	Lev	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2013	22	Durham	AAA	84	68	11	23	4	1	2	14	1	1	13	22	.338	.440	.515	.955
5 Seasons		1728	1475	248	449	97	13	66	273	30	12	220	361	.304	.397	.522	.919

He’ll probably make it to the big leagues in June.

Of course he wasn’t the only part of the trade. The Royals also sent Jake Odorizzi and Mike Montgomery (as well as Patrick Leonard) to Tampa.

Mike Montgomery

Year	Age	Tm	Lev	ERA	G	GS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	WHIP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	SO/9
2013	23	Durham	AAA	4.91	1	1	3.2	5	2	2	1	3	4	2.182	12.3	2.5	7.4	9.8
6 Seasons		4.16	109	105	549.2	528	298	254	47	215	464	1.352	8.6	0.8	3.5	7.6

Montgomery gave up four runs in three innings during spring training and, so far, hasn’t been able to tap back into the talent that made him a top pitching prospect as recently as 2011. He was placed on the seven day disabled list on April 21 after making just one start for Durham.

Jake Odorizzi

Year	Age	Tm	Lev	ERA	G	GS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	WHIP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	SO/9
2013	23	Durham	AAA	4.09	4	4	22.0	17	10	10	4	9	30	1.182	7.0	1.6	3.7	12.3
6 Seasons		3.53	103	90	502.2	455	223	197	47	161	519	1.225	8.1	0.8	2.9	9.3

Odorizzi is still able to strike batters out, but he’s still averaging less than six innings a start due to more pitch count questions. He’s striking out 12.3 batters per nine innings so far, which bodes well for some success. If he becomes a bit more efficient he’ll be leaning more towards the #2/#3 starter ceiling rather than his #4 safe zone.

Patrick Leonard

Year	Age	Tm	Lev	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2012	19	Burlington	Rk	268	235	37	59	9	3	14	46	6	2	30	55	.251	.340	.494	.833
2013	20	Bowling Green	A	73	69	4	10	2	0	0	9	0	0	4	18	.145	.192	.174	.366
2 Seasons		341	304	41	69	11	3	14	55	6	2	34	73	.227	.308	.421	.729

Things haven’t gone as well for Leonard since the trade. He showed good power and on base ability with the Burlington Royals in the Appalachian League last year, but in Low A Bowling Green, he’s striking out a quarter of the time but with no power to show for it. He’s still just 20 years old and there’s time to grow, so if I’m a Tampa fan, I’m not worried, but from a Royals fan perspective, I’m not sweating losing his bat.

The Trade

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