Royals 2014 Fansided Faux-Winter Meetings Recap

Justin Masterson imagines how he would look in powder blue. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

The Previous Moves

My primary goals were to find a replacement for Shields in the rotation and to locate a player who could be an impact bat in the lineup. Fortunately, there were quite a few pitchers available in free agency. While the rest of the GMs were fighting over Scherzer, Shields and Jon Lester, I figured it was the perfect time to pounce on a potentially undervalued asset.

And so, for a two year, $20 Million deal with incentives for All-Star appearances, Justin Masterson is the latest member of the Royals rotation. Yes, his 2014 season was ugly by virtually every conceivable metric, but Masterson also battled through a knee injury for much of the season. Just a year removed from an All-Star appearance, and with an excellent defense behind him, Masterson is just the type of player that the Royals would logically gamble on.

Now, for the trades. To fill the right field/designated hitter void, and to get a potentially powerful bat in the lineup, John Lamb and Cody Reed were sent to the San Diego Padres for Carlos Quentin. While Quentin has been injury prone, moving over to Kansas City would allow him to spend time as the Royals designated hitter, taking some of the wear off his knees. If healthy, Quentin could truly change the look of the middle of the Royals lineup.

Finally, Tim Collins was sent to the Chicago Cubs for minor leaguer Bijan Rademacher. Since we could non-tender players, Collins was someone I considered for that list. The fact that the Cubs were willing to part with a player with a bit of pop and some speed, instead of the nothing that would have come across by releasing Collins, made this worthwhile. Maybe Rademacher becomes a fourth outfielder for the Royals, or maybe he ends up as minor league fodder. Either way, he has just enough potential to be intriguing.

For more in depth analysis on these players, click here. Now, on to the newest moves.