Thursday, February 13, 2014

The Futures of Colon and Giavotella

On Tuesday, Fox Sports' Jeffrey Flanagan brought us this article on the futures of Johnny Giavotella and Christian Colon. Obviously, with the signing of Omar Infante, both players Royal future have become a bit hazy. It would seem that barring anything unforeseen neither may soon get the opportunity to Be Royal.

Giavotella has always been a personal favorite of mine. I saw him first hand in about 60 games a few years ago for the Naturals, when the team would win Team of the Year honors from Baseball America. He was a beast. His range was always limited, but all season long he shot lasers all over Arvest Ballpark and occasionally provided fans with highlight reel plays.

Unfortunately, even I have jumped off the former 2nd round pick's bandwagon. In three separate big league stints he has hit a collective .240/.278/.335 over 113 games. Sure, the argument can be made that he has never truly been given a shot, but I would counter that even in those stints he has completely failed to capitalize.

At this point, even when I squint I can't imagine a future with the Royals for Giavotella and I have a hard time imagining that he offers any value in the way of a trade. the Royals could either do Giavotella a favor and pawn him off for next to nothing or they could stash him in AAA as a reserve until he runs out of options. Giavotella's case isn't enhanced by his lack of versatility. If you can hit enough to be a second baseman, you aren't hitting enough to be a left fielder.

As for Colon, I still think there is some potential there. Unlike Giavotella, Colon can play both middle infield spots. I'm hopeful that the Royals even get him some time at third and maybe even left in 2014. If the Royals can do this Colon could develop into a top notch reserve type of player. I think it is time for the Royals to develop Colon for what his true ceiling is as opposed to the ceiling they thought they had when they drafted him.

I've been hesitant to join the Colon fan club, because quite frankly he has yet to show enough ability at the plate. I'm not going to start a riot because the Royals aren't giving a career .273 Minor League hitter a chance at the big league level. At the same time, I wouldn't be shocked at all to see him carry last season's momentum when he hit .319 over the final two months of the season into 2014.

Hopefully, Colon can return to Omaha in 2014 and mash. The Royals would then have a good problem on their hands. It would give the Royals that quality depth piece should Mike Moustakas, Infante, or Alcides Escobar fall to injury. Also, if Moustakas continues to collapse, Infante could slide to third with Colon taking second. If nothing else I expect to see the Royals former first round pick surface in Kansas City as a utility man by season's end. The Royals might try to get through a month or so without a back up middle infielder, but they won't make it through 162 games without one.

Follow me on Twitter @Landon_Adams!

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