Deadline Swap

Deadline Deal- KC Royals trade Rick Ankiel and Kyle Farnsworth to the Atlanta Braves for Gregor Blanco, Tim Collins and Jesse Chavez.

Gregor Blanco is a 5'11 170 lbs slap hitting average fielding centerfielder who has hit 3 HRs from '06-10 between the minors and bigs, what does he provide to the Royals? Nothing really, he doesn't run the bases well, doesn't play above average defense which he would need to be worth something, overall he is a below average player who probably does nothing more than move Maier to a corner OF spot where he loses his value. Blanco is the type of player that should be stored in AAA and brought up as an injury fill in.

Jesse Chavez - 6'2 Righty throws a mid 90s fastball with a 90 mph bump slider along with a high 80s change up. His fastball didn't appear to have much movement on it Sunday as he got tagged for a HR but he can throw hard and seems to be another possible reclamation project for McClure who had done well with Tejeda and Farnsworth the last couple seasons.

Tim Collins - Collins was the key to the deal for the Royals, he came into the season ranked as the #10 and #19 rated prospect for the Toronto Blue Jays(part of the SS deal with Braves) by Kevin Goldstein and Baseball America. Collins as I'm sure you've read elsewhere is a short hard throwing lefty with a 94 mph fastball and good 12 to 6 curve. He is only 20 and has dominated every level he has been at never recording a K/9 below 10.5 at any stop. Collins will report to AAA Omaha where he and Louis Coleman will hopefully team up as bullpen stoppers in AAA this season and in KC next.

Overall this trade is a major win for the Royals adding a couple BP arms one of which could be a real contributor with an AAA 5th OF fill in type for two soon to be Free Agents while also clearing room for younger players who need opportunities to play. Dayton Moore deserves alot of criticism for his mistakes with the big league roster in the past but the signings of Rick Ankiel, Kyle Farnsworth and Scott Podsednik turned out to be halfway decent. He got decent play from Podsednik and a half seasons worth from Farnsworth while Ankiel thanks to injury didn't block anyone. He overpaid for two of them but in the end it worked out to 5 prospects and some ok play. If GMDM continued to net those type of results from free agent signings I would be cool with it as should most Royals fans.

Ranking of the 3 deals:
#1 Sean O'Sullivan and Will Smith for Alberto Callaspo
#2 Tim Collins, Jesse Chavez and Gregor Blanco for Rick Ankiel and Kyle Farnsworth
#3 Lucas May and Elisaul Pimentel for Scott Podsednik