Buzz: Royals open to Trading SP in Spring Training
In his most recent Rumblings & Grumblings column for ESPN.com, Jayson Stark the Royals have let teams know they will consider trading starting pitchers Gil Meche or Brian Bannister during Spring Training.
Stark adds, “Of course, both guys have to prove they’re healthy this spring. And at the moment, the Royals wouldn’t seem to have enough starting-pitching depth to make trading away a starter really feasible. But they still appear intent on listening, especially if they get young pitching back.”
Meche, 31, was 23–24 with a 3.82 ERA in his first 64 starts after signing a five-year deal with the Royals, but he was just 6–10 with a 5.09 ERA in 23 starts last season, during which opponents hit .281 against him.
He is due $12 million each of the next two seasons, after which he can become a free agent.
The 29–year-old Bannister is 28–37 with a 4.83 ERA in 85 starts in the three years since being traded by the Mets to Kansas City, during which he has walked just 152 batters, while striking out 288, in 501 innings.
For what it’s worth, in late-November last year, Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com said the Royals had inquired about Mets OF Angel Pagan.
By the way, Stark says free-agent RHP John Smoltz is in no rush to sign a new contract.
Stark also writes about about the next CBA, the declining number of multi-year free-agent contracts, and the situation surrounding Johnny Damon, among other topics in MLB.
