Royals add to Outfield "Depth"

The Kansas City Royals added another piece to the Omaha Storm Chasers outfield today when they announced the signing of former Royal great Endy Chavez to a Minor League deal.

Chavez has played in 974 games at the Major League level. Over that time he has hit .269/.286/.333 but has received enormous praise for his glove work. In fact, Chavez may lay claim to the greatest catch in MLB postseason history. If you don't remember it, you can view it here.

Just a few days ago, I wrote a few paragraphs regarding the type of outfielder the Royals could target to complement Jeff Francoeur. I talked about a left handed hitter, or at least a guy that could eventually partner in platoon and also a guy that was very good defensively, so that if he didn't hit, he could at least offer some upgrade in the form of his glove. On the surface it appears that the left handed Endy Chavez fits that exact mold. However, a closer examination would reveal that Chavez isn't quite the answer that one might have hoped.

While Endy Chavez was an absolute stud defensively for a four year period from 2006-09, his defense has sunk to just slightly above average over the past couple of seasons. Also, despite being left handed, Chavez has never displayed much in the way of a platoon advantage and his .676 career OPS against right handers is almost identical to the .675 he posts against southpaws.

Ultimately, the signing was just a Minor League deal and you will never hear me criticize a Minor League free agent signing. There is no point. The risk is so insignificant that there isn't any reason for people to be critical of these types of additions. My only point, is that Chavez doesn't fill the role that I have been advocating the Royals to attempt to fill. This doesn't mean I don't like the addition from a depth standpoint, merely that I believe Kansas City should continue to search for a lefty outfielder that could complement Frenchy on the Major League roster. I do not think Chavez is that guy.

As of now, the Royals are likely out on any other Minor League additions in the outfield department. They already have Alex Gordon, Lorenzo Cain, Francoeur and Jarrod Dyson for the Major League roster, David Lough fighting for the 5th outfield spot and Xavier Nady, Willy Taveras, and now Chavez on Minor League deals. Basically as of now they have nine players between the outfields of Kansas City and Omaha. The Royals don't necessarily need to, but I still believe it makes sense to add one more outfielder on a Major League deal for 2013, if the right player presents himself. With Cain's injury history, Francoeur's poor performance, and some question marks that still surround Dyson, depth could be extremely important.

Royals Add Depth, Poised for Playoff Push

With eyes on contention for 2013, the Royals announced the signing three Minor League free agents on Wednesday afternoon. Obviously, for any team that is giving any sort of thought on truly contending depth is critical. A 162 game season is a grind and you can't take any chances in losing ground simply because of an injury to a bullpen piece or fourth outfielder.

Today the Royals added relievers Dan Wheeler and George Sherrill, as well as speedy outfielder Wily Taveras. All three of these players have achieved some form of Major League success and it wouldn't be a huge stretch to envision any of them providing some small contributions at the Major League level in 2013. Here's a brief rundown on each of the three players.

Dan Wheeler

Wheeler spent most of the 2012 season in Triple-A Columbus for the Cleveland Indians. In 36 appearances he went 3-3 with 5 saves and a 2.32 ERA. Dan Wheeler is probably best remembered for a three year stint in Tampa during which he averaged roughly 67 appearances a season and recorded a 3.24 ERA.

In the two season since that time, Wheeler has thrown 61.2 innings between Boston and Cleveland to an ERA of 5.25. Interestingly, Wheeler's drop in performance directly coincided with the shelving of his slider in favor of a cutter. The cutter was likely a big factor in Wheeler's rising ground ball percentage, but he has sacrificed one of his best weapons in favor of it. Hopefully, Wheeler can find his slider and become the effective pitcher that he once was in Tampa Bay and before that Houston.

George Sherrill

Entering the 2012 season, I thought George Sherrill was an attractive option as a lefty specialist out of the bullpen. Despite Sherrill missing the entire 2012 season due to Tommy John (he likely won't be healthy until May), I still think he is a good option in this capacity. For his career, Sherrill has absolutely dominated left handed hitters, allowing a triple slash of .186/.245/.285.

Quite simply, a Minor League contract for George Sherrill provides the Royals with a solid bullpen piece that will require no 40-man roster spot until the time he is needed at the Major League level. All Sherrill really needs to do to be a valuable Major League piece is get healthy. At this point in time the Royals really don't have a loogy on the roster that has near the track record of Sherrill.

Willy Taveras

It must be hard to be the first outfielder acquired by an organization that just traded away their top prospect who happened to be an outfielder. As Royal Revival contributor Dan Ware stated, this signing feels like deja vu. In fact, given the Royals bizarre affliction with speedy outfielders, it is almost surprising that it took this long for the Royals to get their hands on Taveras. (Although, I do recall rumors of their interest in him in the past.)

For an interesting read on Taveras's incredible ability to get on base via infield hits, check out this post by Fangraphs writer Jeff Sullivan. According to the post, Taveras is a career .500+ hitter on bunts and out of any player with 500+ plate appearances between 2002-2012, he has more infield hits and bunt hits per plate appearance than any other player. Jeff's conclusion? Dude needs to bunt more.

Taveras is a good depth piece to have in the Minor Leagues. His skill set screams fourth outfielder and while he can't hit a lick, he's the kind of guy who could provide a critical stolen base on a cool September night. What we shouldn't do is pretend like the Taveras addition is a warning signal to Jarrod Dyson or Lorenzo Cain who are both, without a doubt, and without question better players than Willy Taveras.

Wrap Up

These are good additions by the Kansas City front office. These types of signings go without praise and notice in many instances, but in every Major League playoff chase there will be players that come up with timely hits or key strikeouts that weren't in the picture on Opening Day. Creating depth is a good thing and while the Royals may have strong bullpen depth or a quality fourth outfielder already there is no opportunity cost for stashing away these types of players in Omaha.

If the Royals truly plan on contending in 2013, depth will be key. It won't be as key as the James Shields acquisition. However, the Royals need to continue to find ways to marginally improve. Hypothetically, if they are an 85 win team right now, they need to push themselves to become an 86, then an 87, then an 88 win team. There likely aren't many more big moves that the club can make, so depth, good in-game managing, quality roster shuffling, and incremental gains in value will go a long way in pushing Kansas City over the top. Good work today.