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Chris Lubanski has signed a minor league deal with the Toronto Blue Jays. As the fifth overall pick of Kansas City in 2003 he spent seven years in the Royals minor league system.

Lubanski was once part of a group of players many believed would turn Kansas City around. As a 20 year old in the High Desert league in 2005 he hit 28 homers, 39 doubles and drove in 116 RBI but hasn’t shown that type of power since. The following year he hit 15 homers while compiling a .282/.369/.475 line at Double-A and things have pretty much went downhill for him since.

I’ve kept tabs on Lubanski since the start of the 2006 season and all the signs point to a guy on his way out of baseball.

At the Triple-A level he’s struggled to hit for average, a bad sign for a guy whose power swing has never developed. His stolen base numbers have dropped, his strike outs have gone up, and he’s a defensive liability even in left field.

An organization switch may bring minor improvement but it’s likely Lubanski may never receive more then a complementary cup of coffee as a baseball player.

Popularity: 3% [?]

The Kansas City Royals are interested in bringing back journeyman reliever Jamey Wright for the 2010 season according to Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star. Wright was 3-5 with a 4.33 ERA and 1.48 WHIP in 65 relief appearances with Kansas City in 2009 after joining the club as a non-roster invitee.

Wright who has never had dominating stuff on the mound has been helped out by his ability to induce ground balls. Last season he recorded a 59.1% ground-ball rate.

As far as middle relievers who can operate as swing men in a pinch, Wright is about as effective as any on the open market. Should he not return to Kansas City his laid back attitude and recent success as an early relief option make him an attractive option for a number of teams looking for arms at low cost this winter.

Over a 14 year career he has pitched at the big league level for six different organizations. Since 2003 he has joined Kansas City, Colorado (2004, 2005), San Fransisco (2006), Texas (2007, 2008) and Kandas City (2009) all on one year deals. In the majority of those situations he had to earn a roster spot out of spring training.

His best season during that span came in 2007 while with Texas. Wright initally won the fifth starters role for the club but was later moved to the bullpen. He finished that season 4-5 with a 3.62 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP.

Of the 420 career games Wright has pitched in 246 have been as a starter. His last start came in 2007.

Wright certainly won’t demand a large amount on the open market but may accept a contract guaranteeing a roster spot. It’s unclear how the Royals plan to fill out their bullpen.

Popularity: 5% [?]

The Royals agreed to terms with RHP Brad Thompson on a one-year minor league contract. Thompson could be an option at the back end of the Royals rotation, the bullpen or as minor league depth in 2010.

The front end of the Royals rotation figures to made up of Zack Grienke and Gil Meche. Trade rumors have swirled on and off about Brian Bannister who could be the team third starter. He finished the season 7-12 with a 4.73 ERA after dealing with should fatigue midway though August. Kyle Davies (22 starts) and Luke Hochevar (25 starts) also were parts of the rotation for the bulk of 2009 but after seasons in which neither right hander proved to be reliable starters there’s cause for concern.

Davies regressed last season seeing his record go from 9-7 to 8-9 while his ERA rose from 4.06 to 5.27.  Hochevar who has now spent two seasons in the Royals rotation has a career line of 13-26 with a 5.88 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP in 284.2 big league innings.
As a minor league free agent, Thompson was able to agree to a contract before Friday. The contract doesn’t include a spot on Kansas City’s 40-man roster, but he stands a pretty good chance of making the roster out of spring training, whether it’s as the teams fifth starter or out of the bullpen. Thompson, 28, had a 4.36 ERA in parts of five seasons with the St. Louis, including a 4.84 ERA in 32 appearances (eight starts) in 2009.

Popularity: 5% [?]

The Kansas City Royals are committed to using Alex Gordon as their third basemen in 2010 a source recently told Foxsports.com.

Gordon who was spending his third season in the majors struggled all season finishing with a .232/.324/.378 line in 49 big league games and actually found himself demoted to the minors for the majority of the year.

Coming off a solid sophomore season in which he compiled a .783 OPS with 16 homers and 59 RBI, the Royals were hoping Gordon would take a big step forward in 2009. Things didn’t exactly work out and Mark Teahen led the team in starts at third base with 99.

The Royals recently traded Teahen to the Chicago White Sox but acquired another former first round pick who plays third base in Josh Fields (2004). Fields showed power when prompted into the role of a regular in 2007 connecting with 23 homers and 17 doubles in 418 at-bats.

Since that time Fields has been a liability at third base and hasn’t shown much at the plate to steal at-bats away from Gordon, a player the Royals still view highly. When acquired it was expected that Fields would either find time at a corner outfield spot, perhaps at the expense of the Royals trading David DeJesus, or in a bench role. The information released today only confirms those thoughts.

Popularity: 6% [?]

In the days following the World Series teams begin to decide if they are going to pick up player options, players start to tell newspapers how much they like each potential suitor and a laundry list of common sense baseball moves take place.

Case in point the Kansas City Royals.

The Royals have perhaps been the team with the most transactions revolving around it. The Royals started off the off season by picking up two players the White Sox had seemed to be down on and in the process dumped Mark Teahen and his position-less $5 million dollar salary.

In Josh Fields the Royals got a backup option at third base, a decent second option at first base and an occasional DH who with strong power swings could once again show shades of that 2007 season in which he hit 24 homers in 100 games for the White Sox.

The other player in the deal was infielder Chris Getz who seems to be relegated to a utility role as the Royals already have a second basemen in Alberto Callaspo. Last season Getz hit .261/.324/.347 and showed great speed as he was successful in 25-of-27 stolen base attempts. Getz doesn’t figure to steal many at-bats from Callaspo but gives manager Trey Hillman another nice part to play with, just hopefully he steals Willie Bloomquist’s at-bats and not Billy Butlers.

As for Teahen that decision seemed pretty easy to me. He enjoyed his best year in the majors in 2006 when the former first round pick  hit .290/.357/.517 with 18 home runs and 10 SB’s in just 109 games. Since that season he has been extremely mediocre with the Royals. He has never even come close to duplicating his 2006 season and for his career he is a .269/.331./.419 hitter. The White Sox figure to return him to third base and move Gordon Beckham to second base.

Then the Royals announced the declining of three options for 2010. Yasuhiko Yabuta who was owed $4 million in 2010 was given the $500,000 buyout which considering his 7.14 ERA and 1.82 WHIP in 43 appearances was about as oblivious as wiping after you use the toilet. Then again only a team like Kansas City could have gotten in this type of contract mess in the first place.

The Royals also declined the $8 million option for 2010 that was tied to Coco Crisp. Crisp had season ending rotator cuff surgery in both shoulders so giving him the $500,000 buyout again was an easy call. Limited to just 41 games in 2009, Crisp batted .228/.336/.378 with three home runs, 14 RBI and 13 stolen bases in 180 at-bats. Though the Royals declined his option there’s strong belief that the two sides could again partner up on a lesser amount in an incentive laden deal.

Then there’s Miguel Olivo who had his $3.3 million option declined, as the Royals opted to pay the $100,000 buyout instead. This one was a little tougher to call as the Royals are expected to non-tender John Buck in December and Olivo actually had a pretty productive season last year. He finished with a career high 23 homers and 65 RBI and his .249/.292/.490 line resulted in the highest OPS of his career. Olivo also set a career high with 19 walks last season… yes 19.. and he struck out 126 times. Another problem with Olivo is he never hit for any type of average and last seasons numbers are greatly inflated by what can mainly be deemed as a fluke-ishly high home run total. Had the amount been less it’s likely this option could have been picked up but considering the risk for the money the Royals couldn’t afford to roll the dice on this one.

So while the Royals have made a bunch of transactions they’ve only done  the ones that we already knew they would do in the first place. The team will still look for a catcher this winter, another outfield option and field trades for one of their starting pitchers as well. It’s not bad that the Royals did all this now, it’s just what was going to be done sooner or later anyway.

Popularity: 4% [?]