Quick Thoughts

Sick Brag.

The Kansas City Royals finally made the move we all knew they eventually would, signing Jeff Francoeur to a one year $2.5M deal.  If signing one incompetent outfielder wasn't enough, Royals GM Dayton Moore went out and signed Melky Cabrera to a $1.25M deal with incentives.  That's two outfielders with above average arms to overshadow their defensive efficiencies and with bats that have OPS+'s of 88 and 86 since 2006.  If the war on WAR (wins above replacement) has confused you, and you don't quite get the concept of replacement level, these two players are replacement level.  When someone says Jayson Werth had 5.0 WAR last year just think, Jayson Werth gives the Nationals 5 more wins than Jeff Francoeur or Melky Cabrera could.  Got it?

It's easy to sit here and laugh about how the Royals acquired Frenchie, as we have joked about it for over a year, but in the grand scheme of things this isn't necessarily that bad.  The "process" may have taken a little longer than expected, but Moore has built the best farm system in baseball.  In 2011 the Royals aren't expected to win, they're just expected to ease in some of their top prospects, and as long as Frenchie and the Melk Man are appropriately used as place holders, it won't hurt the "process".  Of course it's $3.75M that they could have easily not been spent, and of course the Royals will have some ghastly black holes at the bottom of their lineup, but so long as Alex Gordon is starting every day and Will Myers, Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer get PT when they arrive, these signings will be forgotten soon.

BUT, and this is a pretty big but, if this kind of move dictates what Moore will be doing in 2012 and 2013, when the Royals are expected to be winning, then it'll be a problem.  A great farm system, and the Royals have an amazing one, can go a long way in building a great team but you can't only build from the farm.  You need some outside help.  Even the Rays had to sign Carlos Pena and trade for Matt Garza.  For what it's worth the Seattle Mariners recently signed Jack Cust for 1 year at $2.5M and Cust would have been one of the best hitters on the Royals last year but the Royals chose to sign Jeff Francoeur and Melky Cabrera.  Again, Frenchie and the Melk Man as good character guys and place holders for the future talent is fine, but Moore is going to have to start making some smart decisions, bringing in outside talent if the Royals are going to truly succeed.

Cliff Lee rumors are heating up, especially now that Crawford is off the board (more on that later today).  The Yankees are rumored to have given in to Lee's demands, offering a 7th year, the Rangers are visiting Lee in Arkansas for a third time and after missing out on their main target (Crawford), the Angels are focusing some attention on Lee.  I'll gladly report rumors of teams talking to Lee, but at this point speculating on which team is ahead at this point just seems pointless.  We'll know about where Cliff Lee signs when he's, well, signed.