"I don’t if you can follow this link, but the article is about their new rule five player which they got from San Diego. Interesting to note, R. Hernandez was who they released in order to make room for this kid on the 40 man roster. My understanding of rule five pick’s are that in order for them to stay with the organization they have been chosen by, they have to stay on the major league roster all year or if they don’t, they go back to the original team, in this case San Diego. Rule five players are fun to watch as it’s like watching a minor leaguer develop at the major league level. A couple that comes to mind of recent are Andrew Cisco for the Royals and the Cardinals had Hector Luna. They usually are very talented but often times are so very raw it can be interesting to watch them. Typically they will drive a major league manager crazy. Luna ended up being traded because of his erratic play. Anyway, thought you might want to know.
Here is the link: http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/app/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061210&content_id=148152&vkey=news_milb&fext=.jsp
In addition, it is my understanding the Royals are in pursuit of Miguel Batista who pitched well for Arizona last year. If that were to happen the rotation would be probably something like the following:
Meche
Batista
O. Perez
L. Hudson
with De La Rosa, Elarton, Grienke, and Bannister (Floyd’s boy – trade from the Mets on Burgos)
With Burgos gone now, and this would have been the situation anyway, Octivio Dotel will be closing. He was hurt last year. Interestingly enough, the Cardinals were also in pursuit of him and also pursued him in 2005 before he signed with Yankees. Hopefully he stays healthy. If you remember he came out of the Astro’s organization and was part of the trade with Royals regarding C. Beltran.
If the Royals don’t sign Batista, don’t be surprised to see them test the trade market for another arm. However, the trade market is pretty thin and would take a stud in order to get any A list Royal minor leaguers. My guess would be someone like a Reggie Sanders for someone who is desperate for a DH or left fielder. My guess, is they may wait until after spring training starts to see where they feel where the likes of M. Maier (on 40 man roster currently), A. Gordon (#2 overall prospect in minor league ball) & B. Butler (#13 overall minor league prospect) belong.
Also keep in mind they had the #1 pick in the draft last year. L. Hochevar is listed as the number #30 overall prospect in baseball. If he is as advertised, he will either be in the major leagues by the end of the year or will be much higher than #30. I doubt they really want to rush him much (see Zach Grienke project).
Anyway, this got a little long, but thought you might want to know. Pitchers and catchers report in about 65 days!"
Charlie
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