Minor League Update - Lexington Legends

The mustachioed Legends of Lexington have started 9-10 to start the 2014 season. The club currently sits sixth in the seven-team South Atlantic League’s Southern Division, trailing first place Savannah (SF) by 2.5 games.

As a team, the Legends are hitting .249/.299/.350 with a league low 36 walks. The pitching staff has recorded a solid 3.31 ERA, ranking in the top half of the league. The staff has a league-high two shutouts this season.

Individual Hitting

 

MiLB.com/lexingtonlegends.com (Mary Lay)

Who’s Hot:

Outfielder and Missouri native Fred Ford leads the South Atlantic League with 17 RBI and ranks second with seven doubles. The 22-year old, who has also spent some time at first base is hitting .283/.338/.500 across 64 plate appearances in 18 games.

He and third baseman Michael Antonio each have two of the club’s eight total home runs. Antonio and outfielder Dominique Taylor have nine RBI, trailing only Ford on the Lexington roster.

Who’s Not:

Prospect Elier Hernandez is off to a slow start, hitting .206/.242/.222 in 16 games with only one RBI to this point.

Shortstop Humberto Arteaga may be turning the corner with seven hits in his last four ballgames, but his line is less than stellar at .239/.239/.254 – which of course means he has yet to draw a walk in 67 plate appearances out of the two-hole. Arteaga has collected hits in 13 of 16 games, but has scored only twice and driven in only two runs.

Individual Pitching

Who’s Hot:

Andrew Edwards ranks second in the league among qualified starters with a 1.06 ERA over 17 innings. Teammate Andrew Matt Tenuta falls just behind him with a 1.09 ERA in 24.2 innings and has allowed only 24 base runners thus far.

Luis Santos is 1-0 with a save as a tandem starter. In 14.1 innings, the right hander has allowed 13 hits and only one walk. He has struck out 13.

Who’s Not:

Andrew Fairchild was dominant in his first start of the season, tossing six no-hit innings April 8. He walked three and struck out seven in the outing and allowed one unearned run. However, in his next start, the 20-year old lefty surrendered nine earned runs in just 1.1 innings. He walked six and allowed two hits. To this point, Fairchild is 0-2 with an 11.05 ERA with four wild pitches.

Lefty Luis Rico’s three losses are tied for most in the league. He has allowed three earned runs or more in three of four starts this season, and has posted a 9.00 ERA to this point.

Recapping Recent Moves

November 20:

• Chris Volstad, Vin Mazzaro, Adam Moore, Brayan Pena, Clint Robinson, and Derrick Robinson designated for assignment
• Chris Dwyer, Juan Gutierrez, Donnie Joseph, John Lamb, Justin Marks, and Mike Montgomery added to the 40-man roster

Nothing real shocking here. Although, I think many were a bit surprised to see the Brayan Pena era come to an end. As far as the 40-man additions go, Juan Gutierrez is the only individual that I wasn't sure of entering the day. However, it doesn't come as a shock after his numbers in the Venezuelan Winter League (1.13 ERA, with 17 strikeouts in 16 innings). The only player that wasn't protected that could be a big loss for the Royals in the Rule V draft is Robinson Yambati (although, there are conflicted reports regarding his eligibility). Fortunately, with the Royals bullpen depth they won't be devastated if they lose him. 

November 28:

• Clint Robinson and Vin Mazzaro traded to Pittsburgh for Luis Rico and Luis Santos. 

There's no reason to get worked up about this trade. Both Robinson and Mazzaro were on their way out the door regardless of whether a trade was completed or not. At least this way the Royals get back a couple of young arms to fill out one of their Rookie League team's bullpens in 2013. Hopefully, Clint Robinson gets an opportunity to get regular at bats for the Pirates. I've interacted with Clint on multiple occasions and he is absolutely a class act. 

As far as the trade goes, I received this quote from Dayton Moore:

"I don't always make trades, but when I do I prefer Dos Luis."

November 29:

• Royals and Felipe Paulino agree to a one-year deal worth $1.75 million with $250K in possible incentives

I never really bought into the idea that the Royals were actually considering non-tender Paulino, but apparently Felipe's camp did. Paulino made $1.9 million in 2012, and despite his injury issues he was almost assuredly going to receive a bump in salary for 2013. MLB Trade Rumors projected that Paulino would make $2.7 million in 2013 through arbitration. The fact that Dayton Moore was able to convince Paulino to take $1.75 million is pretty incredible. Basically, the Royals floated out the idea that Paulino might be injured and without a job and were able to use that possibility as leverage to strike a deal with Paulino that saved an allegedly cash deprived organization $1 million.

It is for this reason that despite Bob Dutton's recent comments that every Royals official would be surprised by a Luke Hochevar non-tender, I believe there is still a very strong likelihood that he will not be extended an offer. The Royals are obviously hopeful that they can get something out of him via trade, and for that reason they won't to play up the possibility that he won't be a free agent in a few days. Time (24 hours) will tell if this assumption is correct.