A Bad Rerun

By Seth Herrold
Johnny Damon, Jermaine Dye, Carlos Beltran and now… David DeJesus. If anyone else thought the Royals’ move to deal outfielder David DeJesus to Oakland for pitchers Vin Mazzaro and Justin Marks felt like a bad rerun, you’re not alone.

I have been a Royals fan for a painfully long time and I have seen this all before. The team develops quality young outfielders and trades them off as soon as their value gets high for young players who are going to turn around the franchise in a small matter of years. The problem is the young players the Royals get in return never benefit the team to the level of the player Kansas City trades.
Angel Berroa, AJ Hinch, Roberto Hernandez, Neifi Perez, Mark Teahen, Mike Wood and John Buck. Those are the players the Royals received in the three prior trades and none of them are still with the team in a meaningful way. Mark Teahen is the only name in that list that I wish the Royals still had and they traded him in another move that hasn’t panned out. The Royals got a rookie of the year in Berroa, who turned out to be a one-year wonder, and a solid player in Teahen, but they gave up two players who became part of World Series-winning teams in Damon and Dye. Dye was even the World Series MVP the year the White Sox won it all. Beltran has been a part of post-season playing teams in Houston and New York. In short, all three trades can be considered bad moves on the part of the Royals. They gave up so much in those moves and, based on where they are today, they got nothing in return.
The DeJesus deal does feel different from the trades involving Damon, Dye and Beltran, though. For one, the move was made by General Manager Dayton Moore, not Allard Baird, who made himself a hated figure in Kansas City with his uncanny ability to trade away talent for little to nothing in return. Moore, for the most part, has made good moves for the team, excluding that Teahen trade last year. Also, DeJesus isn’t as young as Beltran, Damon and Dye were, but he was still one of the better players on the team, especially after this past season when he broke out in a career year.
You can look at this move as one that is benefitting the team, but it’s hard not to put it in the category of the previous three big-name trades the Royals have made. Yes, Kansas City needs pitching, especially with the talk surrounding an angry Zack Greinke. Yes, Mazarro showed signs of being a solid pitcher in Oakland, filling in for the injured Brett Anderson this past season. Yes, DeJesus is aging. At the end of the day, however, DeJesus had a career revelation last season. He is a leader in the clubhouse for a team with some of the best young prospects in the game and that is something you need for these young players. He is a very popular player in Kansas City.
I have seen it before and I’m afraid I’m seeing it again. If Mazzaro and Marks are still in Kansas City in four years, I will be shocked. I also expect DeJesus to have some big hits in post-season play for someone other than Kansas City in that same time span. The Royals are trying to become contenders again, but with this move, they took a giant step backwards.